Onions???

[digitS']

I'd say 12 weeks.

My greenhouse is unheated until the middle of March. I started onion seed in January one year and absolutely had to cut them back ... or up-pot.

I wasn't real happy doing that but had done it once before. It sets them back but that's the intent.

Steve

 

[digitS']

If I relied on direct-sowing tomato seed, I'd be down to like 2 varieties. Coyote is new to me but that volunteer certainly ripened tomatoes. Good Nugget should work but I don't think there would be any chance of a ripe GN cherry until September.

See above for my experiences with Walla Walla sweet onion seed sown outdoors in late August. One year, it worked. Edit --- But, this isn't there.

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

Steve, what zone are you in there? My onion of choice is Candy, which I love and have grown before with success, just not at this place.

 

[digitS']

Zone 5

Although that may be changing.

If we are gonna be skipping subzero winter weather.

Steve
have grown Candy a couple of seasons with okay results

 

[Beekissed]

I'm with you on that...normally I'd be in zone 6 but now that we are getting subzero teens each February, that would seem to indicate that I am now in a 5b zone in my state.

I'd like to see if this wood chip method is a game changer when it comes to planting in the fall for growth in the spring. Others are doing it but I'm not sure if it will fly in my state/zone.

 

[catjac1975]

https://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/temperature.html
Here is a great table for seed germination. Note the onions. I would think it is a good possibility

I'd say 12 weeks.

My greenhouse is unheated until the middle of March. I started onion seed in January one year and absolutely had to cut them back ... or up-pot.

I wasn't real happy doing that but had done it once before. It sets them back but that's the intent.

Steve

What size were the bulbs when you planted them out. Was it a success?

 

[catjac1975]

I would think the seed will live through the coldest temps but only start to germinate at 35 degrees. Seems worth the experimentation.

 

[digitS']

Well, they usually don't resemble bulbs when they go out. More like dog hair. I'm okay with that. The greenhouse can get warm on a sunny, late winter day but they go out early to be hardened off.

The time I started the onion seed in January, they resembled chives but a pale green. Perhaps they had fish emulsion somewhere along in there. The soil in the flat must have been depleted but they did fine once they were in the garden.

Onions are a fairly successful crop in recent years for me. Knocking on wood. Mom cooked with lots of onions, me too. Even if other flavors went missing, we had onions.

Steve

 

[buckabucka]

I would think you could use regular onion seed for green onions. All my onion seed gets sealed in ziplock bags, and placed in a container in the freezer for winter. I get two or three years out of the seed that way. Not that I don't always order something new, but I like having a bunch of varieties going.

I test sprout in a sprouter in February, and then plant those sprouts directly in cells.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm none too fond of green onions, but love the big sweet onions. I have a feeling they will do well in this wood chip method due to the water retention of the chips and the shallow rooting that goes on there...I'm thinking a person could just rake back the chips a little and seed on the surface of the soil, then replace the chips when the onions are up, to keep that soil moist.

I planted many onion sprouts this spring but these chips were not composted down at that time, so not a single onion survived this transitioning garden...we'd never been able to grow more than simple green onions in this space. Now that things are more stable and the nutrients in the soil are more available, I think they will do well.