Onion experts...

[lesa]

Some of my onions went to seed in 2011. I never got around to planting them last year-but I would like to give it a shot now. From what I understand, the seeds do not require light to germinate. Correct? Can I grow little onions now until spring, and then plant them outside for a harvest in fall? Thanks!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

not an expert but this is about the right time of year to start onion seeds in the house in your zone. and i found they don't need a lot of light to germinate. but they may need it to make them grow well once they've sprouted. when planting the seeds lightly cover them with soil and put them somewhere warm.

 

[digitS']

I am immediately intimidated by responding to an "expert" thread, Lesa! Sowing seed early and setting out the plants works for me.

Saved onion seed isn't common around here. After all, I am not trying to grow them to the time when they bolt. In fact, I'm not real sure if I could keep most of the bulb onions thru the winter to reach their flowering stage. Freezing would probably kill them after bulbing. I might have to bring the bulbs in and store them, then replant in the spring.

Walla Walla has been started in August and it has bolted in the spring. That's why I don't start it in August! But anyway, I saved seed once and tried starting from that. It grew just like purchased seed. I learned later that I should have given it some time in the freezer. That's the seed not the bulb . . . Anyway, that worked with Walla Walla. Whoa.

Steve

 

[journey11]

The only onions I've grown from seed were bunching onions. I treated them just the same as my tomatoes and other seedlings.

I am not an expert either, but from what I understand on bulb onions, you grow your seeds into sets and then replant and harvest the following year. They also go to seed on their second year if left in the ground. The sets you buy in the spring are going into their second year. I was also told that the larger the onion set is, the more likely it is to go to seed too soon and that you want to select for the smaller sets if you want bulb storage onions. That seems counterintuitive in one way...you would think a bigger set would equal a bigger onion. But I guess it makes sense. When I go to the feed store to buy my sets here soon, I am going to be digging through the little bin, picking out all the tiny onions so I can try it out. Or maybe a better experiment would be to separate them when I get home and plant two patches and make observations from there. I think I would embarrass myself less with that second option.

 

[lesa]

Ok, I guess it is time to get out my starting pots! Steve, I really had no intention of saving onion seeds. I neglected to harvest a few onions in the fall, and lo and behold they were still alive in the spring. So, by midsummer they were flowering. I was surprised to see how much the honeybees enjoyed those blossoms... I can always buy some starts if the experiment doesn't work!

 

[digitS']

There are always a few plants from sets that will bolt their 1st year in my garden.

I'm not very kind to those and may just break off the stalk. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to save seed from plants that are that premature.

I will quickly move beyond my geographical experience talking about onions in other locations. I think that my problems with late-summer sowings of Walla Walla seed is just because it is usually colder here than in that valley, 200 miles south. If I'm talking about 500 miles or 1,000 miles south, then there is the response to day length. And then, I'm really talking thru my hat.

I believe that the yellow onion sets that we see around here are either Stuttgarter or Ebenezer varieties. I forget which but you can buy the seed for one or the other. I think it would be kind of fun to grow a whole hat full of those but I may not have the best place to store sets thru the winter. I haven't been able to keep the spring-purchased ones very many weeks, either.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

If you plant your onion seeds now they should be just a bit on the small side, but fine to transplant into the garden at the proper time this spring.

I have started onions from seed. I think that onion plants actually do better for me than onion sets.

Plant the seeds. Once they germinate and are growing well, I snip the tops down to about 1 1/2 inches. This encourages the growth of more stem material - the better for them to grow and produce in the garden.

Like sets, onion plants are easy-peasy to plant and I seldom lose an onion. I make a trench, water the seedlings well and separate the plants. Then I lay each plant on the down side of the trench and cover with the other side. In a few days the plants have straightened themselves and are growing well.

I have also started scattered onion seeds in the early garden close together and then transplanted them further apart in rows later in the season. Either way works well.

By the way, if you do want to grow to seed, you can remove the onion from the garden and put it into the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Then return to the garden. The onion - a biennial - thus it tricked into thinking it is the second year and often goes to seed all in one growing season.

Love, Smart Red

 

[seedcorn]

Good info, smart red

 

[journey11]

I'm not very kind to those and may just break off the stalk. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to save seed from plants that are that premature.

Those are the ones I pull to eat first for fresh spring onions with my dinner.

Good point, Steve...genetically, those may be at a disadvantage if your aim was to grow and save seed for storage onions.

Thanks for sharing your tips, Red! I am working on learning how to save seed for just about everything I like to grow. Onions are such an important staple.

 

[thistlebloom]

Neat trick Red! I made that into a mental sticky.

I am an onion unexpert, but I was pleased with the crop from last year, although some of them didn't cure so well and went to rot early.
I grew the little red cippolini (sp?) a few years back from seed, direct sown, and they produced well and also stored surprisingly well in the garage.

I don't know why I didn't grow them again last year....