growing onions from seed...

[chickenchalupa]

I'm considering starting my onions from seed this year and i want to know how to start them indoors for transplanting outdoors in th spring. thanks!

 

[vfem]

I tried this last year and failed miserably. Mostly because a cat decided my onion bed was a litter box shortly after I transplanted them.

I started them in peat pots and moved them to the 'litter box' after they were about 3 weeks old, and hardened off outside for a good 7 days first. (Bringing the seedlings in and out to get used to the sun and weather.)

Anyways... I wish you better luck.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Since my cats didn't get to my onions, I've had pretty good success in getting them to grow from seed.

Typically I start them in a tray and follow steps similar to what vfem does. Overall I think onions are pretty easy to grow from seed and are pretty tough with regards to weather and handling.

 

[digitS']

I wasn't gonna admit to already having started onions growing but . . .

It is always best to do thorough soil prep before transplanting them out in the garden. The little things suffer so much from weed competition. If you have an extra week or so to eliminate those pesky weeds, things go so much better for the onions. Setting them out and then having something like chickweed seed germinate around them is NOT the way to go.

And then there's the steady growth the onion seedlings can make indoors. I do not like shearing them with scissors, altho' others take that route. Keeping the little darlings under control is sometimes difficult.

Oh well, in life - timing is everything. Ready or not, here they come.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Make a cat-friendly bed and plant catnip there. You won't have any mouse problems!

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I tried onions from seed a few years ago and ended up buying sets instead. I am trying them again this year. I did the shearing thing last time and I haven't read anything this year about it so I wasn't going to do this. Everything I have been reading says that for really big onions you need to have really big tops so I was going to let them go.

What does everyone else do.

 

[ducks4you]

I planted both last year. After I harvest the sets, and was clearing out ALL of the weeds , I found about 50 little onion sets. I need to check to see if they survived my storage. If so, I'll be planting them as sets this year. I just bought 4 packages of onion seeds. I'm starting practically EVERYTHING indoors this year, including flowers. Yeah, I'll be buying sets this year again, BUT, I'd like to get OFF of this rollercoaster and save seeds and do it all from home. (My only successful "home-based-business!" )

 

[Lavender2]

I tried onions from seed a few years ago and ended up buying sets instead. I am trying them again this year. I did the shearing thing last time and I haven't read anything this year about it so I wasn't going to do this. Everything I have been reading says that for really big onions you need to have really big tops so I was going to let them go.

What does everyone else do.

I started seed Feb. 12 and I'm following directions for my area - U of M - growing onions

I usually buy seedlings from the nursery grown this way ... hope it works ...

Ducks - I forgot some onions in the garden one year. When I went out in Spring they were growing new tops!
Other than heavy snow cover - I have no idea how they survived through our winter!
I left them and they quickly bolted and went to seed. I had grown several types and I wasn't sure if the seed would be pure so I didn't try planting it.
I left a few in the ground last Fall just to check it out ... .. if the snow ever melts ...

 

[vfem]

See, this is where guilt sets in...

the majority of my garden has all been started from seed! (Hence, FromSeed.blogspot.com) but I was so frazzled with the onion issue I bought sets. I got them in the ground in October, and they are going GREAT right now. Not to mention my elephant garlic is looking awesome.

I was also told to be prepared for a super long season starting onions from seed... something like 140+ days to maturity? Then again, I don't remember if that is spring planting or Fall planting either.

Mother Earth News has a great article on onions and garlic if I can find it.

Steve.... I am WAY jealous! That looks like one healthy tray of starts. What type are you doing? Or are you doing many? I'm just doing yellow, but I wanted to do spanish.

 

[digitS']

Those are Utah Sweets, Vfem.

There is nothing, nothing, nothing wrong with growing onions from sets. I'll have some! Your choice of varieties are fairly limited, however. Maybe not too many onions can be treated this way - where they are grown from seed one year, stored over-winter, and replanted the next spring.

Most of our experiences with over-wintering by accident or on purpose seems to be that the plants immediately bolt to seed. The stress of cold weather may prompt this, too.

There's also nothing wrong (especially for us northern gardeners ) with buying plants that have been grown in Texas or somewhere warm and transplanting those. Heck, an entire industry would suffer if we stopped doing that! It seems obvious to me that my greenhouse is just not as wonderful a place for tiny onion plants as some pleasant location outdoors, a good deal farther south.

Growing from seed indoors is only a little difficult - altho' maybe I shouldn't think so given what I just said . . . But, the choice of varieties we can grow from seed is very, very broad .

I'll have the Utah Sweets and Walla Walla but also Tokyo White bunching onions. There may still be some Four Season bunching onion seed and I really should check again at the garden center for some Red Mars seed . . . I really wanted to try Red Bull onions this year and forgot to order them .

Steve