{"id":4062,"date":"2025-07-09T20:03:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/?page_id=4062"},"modified":"2026-08-16T13:28:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:28:44","slug":"october","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/?page_id=4062","title":{"rendered":"October"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Next Month<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October brings a definite change of season to the allotment. There are still plenty of crops to harvest, but attention is increasingly turning to clearing beds, protecting winter crops and planting for next year. Garlic and autumn onion and shallot sets can go in now, while fruit bushes and green manures can make good use of newly cleared ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Autumn Alliums<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prepping and Planting for a Flavourful Year Ahead<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Autumn is the perfect time to get garlic and hardy varieties of onions and shallots into the ground. A little effort now will give them time to establish roots before winter and a head start when growth resumes in spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose the right spot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alliums prefer a sunny, well-drained bed, ideally one that hasn’t recently grown onions, garlic, shallots or leeks. Rotating where you grow them can help reduce the build-up of pests and diseases, particularly onion white rot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remove weeds and loosen compacted soil before planting. On heavy ground, adding well-rotted compost or other organic matter can help improve the soil structure and drainage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prepare your sets and cloves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose firm, healthy garlic bulbs and onion or shallot sets, avoiding any that are soft, damaged or showing signs of mould.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separate garlic bulbs into individual cloves shortly before planting, keeping their papery skins intact. Use the largest, healthiest cloves for the best chance of producing good-sized bulbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlic needs a period of cold weather to encourage the cloves to divide and form a bulb. Planting in autumn allows winter to provide this naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garlic can be planted from October onwards. Plant individual cloves pointed end upwards, with the tip around 2.5cm below the soil surface, approximately 15cm apart and with about 30cm between rows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autumn-planting varieties of onion and shallot sets can also be planted during October and November. Plant them about 10\u201315cm apart, with just the tip showing above the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you choose varieties specifically intended for autumn planting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aftercare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds have an irritating habit of pulling newly planted onion and shallot sets from the ground. Netting or fleece can protect them until their roots become established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep the bed weed-free, but otherwise autumn-planted alliums need relatively little attention over winter. Avoid waterlogged ground, which can cause bulbs and cloves to rot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvesting & Clearing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Harvest remaining summer vegetables as they finish and lift maincrop potatoes and beetroot before severe frost arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pumpkins and winter squash should be harvested once mature, ideally leaving a short length of stalk attached. Allow their skins to cure somewhere warm and dry before storing them in a cool, frost-free place for winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear away finished crops and other dead plant material. Healthy material can be composted, but diseased plants and troublesome perennial weeds should be disposed of appropriately rather than added to the compost heap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take down supports for beans, peas and tomatoes as crops finish. Clean and store them somewhere dry if you intend to use them again next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sowing & Planting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hardy varieties of broad beans can be sown outside during October for an earlier crop next year. On heavy or wet ground, starting them in pots or waiting until spring may be more successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhubarb can be planted now, along with bare-root fruit bushes such as currants and gooseberries as they become available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October is also a good time to plant strawberries and grapevines, provided conditions are suitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting Winter Crops<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cover autumn salads and Oriental leaves with cloches or fleece as temperatures fall. This will provide some protection from frost and extend the harvesting season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check netting over brassicas and other winter crops. As autumn progresses and other food becomes scarce, pigeons are likely to take an increasing interest in anything green on the allotment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking After the Soil<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Don’t leave cleared beds bare unnecessarily over winter. Sow a suitable green manure where the ground won’t be needed for some time, or cover the soil with compost or other organic material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

October is also a good time to start or rebuild a compost heap. The mixture of spent crops, garden waste and autumn leaves provides plenty of material, although avoid adding diseased plants or seeding perennial weeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try not to work or walk over the soil when it is waterlogged, as this can damage its structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning Ahead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make a note of what worked well this year \u2014 and what didn’t. Which varieties performed particularly well? What did you sow too much of? Which crops weren’t worth the space they occupied?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few notes made now, while you can still remember the season, can be surprisingly useful when the seed catalogues appear and planning starts again for next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next Month October brings a definite change of season to the allotment. There are still plenty of crops to harvest, but attention is increasingly turning to clearing beds, protecting winter crops and planting for next year. Garlic and autumn onion … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4062","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4062"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4438,"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4062\/revisions\/4438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whetstoneallotments.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}