Invest in onions!

[Chuck52]

Well, why not? At least you can eat them. The 401k thread depressed me, so yesterday I started some onion seed. I've never had much luck direct seeding onions in my garden, but I was reading one of the many seed catalogs I got this year and came across a method for growing my own transplants that sounded worth trying. It said to use 4-5" pots filled with seed starting mix, and spread the seed with about 1/4 " spacing, but not to worry too much about the spacing. Then cover lightly with more starting mix. This should be done well before planting time, so I figure late February is fine for the middle of Missouri. When the seed sprout, you let them grow maybe 3" and then cut them back to 1", using the trimmings like chives. Do that until about two weeks before planting and then let them grow. It said you could separate the transplants from the mass and that they were pretty tough. The cut them back again, and plant them in the garden. I'll probably still get my usual onion sets, which is what I call the dry bulbs rather than the bundled green plants, but if this works I'll have a yellow onion I don't see around here as sets, Jumbo Utah, and I also started some bunching onions. If they just sprout and give me some green tops at least I'll see some early green!

I've also ordered a seedling heating pad and will be starting tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and probably some other stuff in March. I'm hoping the heating pad helps with the seed starting. I haven't had great luck in the past, but I figure that since I keep the house under 70 degrees during heating season, one of my problems is that the seeds want 70-75 degrees. I've got an enclosed indoor mini-greenhouse thing with lights, but still get rather straggly seedlings. Maybe this will help.

Chuck

 

[Egon]

Have you tried starting the onion seeds in the fall?

Some onions have nice flower bulbs.

 

[Chuck52]

I don't know how fall planting would do here. If we plant our flower bulbs too soon, we invariably get a warm spell and the flowers come up only to freeze. I do plant garlic in the late fall and it then has a head start in the spring, so I guess that would work for onions, too. If they come up and then freeze do they survive?

If this goes well I may branch out to other varieties of onions. The bulbs we get around here are just a generic yellow, white and red, while there are all kinds of seeds available. The transplants (which some folks call onion sets) are more varied, but I haven't had as much luck with them as the dry bulbs (which I call sets). The bulbs are also available mail order, but the price is much higher than the local bulbs, and seed is pretty cheap since you get lots of onion seed in a pack. I like the idea of trimming the tops and using them....bet they'll be great on a ham sandwich!

Chuck

 

[Egon]

Onions are biennial I think. I've used onions/leeks/scallions bought in the grocery store, planted them and then the next year harvested the seeds.

Attached picture shows Leek flowers.

 

[jimmyj]

Our earliest and best scallions are ones that grow in early spring from fall planted sets.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

One thing I've not noticed in this thread is the mention that onions are particular to day length (amount of sun exposure) and the various varieties are classified as long day, short day or day neutral. You should select a variety based on where you are located.

When shopping for seed, typ you will see info on the day length that variety is classified as.

Here is some info on onions.

Growing Onions

 

[Chuck52]

The bulbing variety I bought is Jumbo Utah, which is probably either a long day or day neutral variety as it was developed in Utah. That should be good for me in Mid-Missouri....in fact since the 36th parallel is the southern border of the state I suspect any variety would do OK, unlike trying to grow the short day varieties in a more northern state.

Thanks for the link to the onion site. It pretty much agrees with what I was getting from the seed catalog about growing starts, though I think I probably should have started them earlier.

Is anyone really in to growing multiple varieties of onions? I've only grown the red, yellow and white varieties I can get sets for locally, though I did try some Vidallia transplants one year without much luck. I do see both that variety and the Texas sweets as transplants, and I would think those are short day varieties. Since they are sold here, and have been since I started noticing, they must do OK even if we are above the 36th parallel.

I'm slowly converting to all raised beds in my garden, and that should really help with onions because my soil it pretty heavy and clay-like. My raised beds are all being built by adding lots of compost, leaves, grass clippings and the like, all blended into the native soil which is pretty good for growing most veggies except for being so heavy.

Chuck

 

[Chuck52]

My onion pots look like chia pets! I hope the individual seedlings really are easy to separate like the seed catalog said. Anyway, it's nice to see some green, even if it is just in a pot on the windowsill.

Chuck

 

[nate_m]

Like the OP, I am trying onions from seed this year for the first time also. (still have a sack of sets just in case)
Here are some pics I took last week as the seedlings were just pushing up through the dirt. I thought they looked kinda neat because they didn't look like the other stuff I start from seed (tomato, pepper, DW's flowers)

~Cheers!

 

[Chuck52]

Nate, those look just like mine when they started, but now they're all up and almost to the point when I'll trim them back. This morning I gave them a little Miracle Grow for being good boys.

Chuck