starting onions from seed

[y6plot]

Thanks for getting back to me about potting blocks for onions. I think I will try some in the 2inch blocks as you mentioned. I may also try the tiny blocks transplanted into the 2 inchers. When you sow 4 or 5 seeds to a block and then plant them out don't they crowd each other a bit? Is it necessary to thin them out?

[fortyonenorth]

As long as you increase the per-block spacing when you transplant, you shouldn't need to thin them - that's the theory at least. If you plant single onions 6" OC you end up with 4 onions per square foot. A multi-block of 4 onions gives you the same thing. As the onions grow, they gently push against the others in the group.

Some varieties seem better adapted to this method than others - Copra has performed better than other storage types for me and Tropea Lungea (Red Long of Tropea) has also done nicely. Based on my few years of experience, multi-planting also seems to work better on well-amended, moisture retentive soil. On lean, mineral soils, the bulbs tend not to size-up as well when planted in groups.

Originally posted by y6plot:

When you sow 4 or 5 seeds to a block and then plant them out don't they crowd each other a bit? Is it necessary to thin them out?

[WI LO M]

There's a good reason why suggested onion spacing is 6" per plant. If 4 or 5 were planted together, all would be competing for the same nutrients. Alliums are not exactly the most proficient feeders and don't like company, even their own kind.

[fortyonenorth]

I know that's the conventional wisdom and I haven't been growing onions long enough to refute that assertion. I'm only speaking from my own experience. Our style of cooking makes more efficient use of smaller onions anyway, so trading off per-onion size for overall yield and ease-of-maintenance, works for us. I wish I were more organized and had a lot of gardening space - I'm not, and I don't - because I'd truly like to conduct side-by-side trials of the two planting styles. I wouldn't suggest that anyone abandon singles planting, but if you have the time and space, it's worth a try.

[Dick Shannon]

For three years I have started my onions in paper pot/tubes. Not wanting to go back and re-seed any I put at least 3 seeds in each.

This year with better records I can attest that under my conditions it would have been better had I thinned out all the pots about 1 week after they were established in the garden. Since I didn't do that I got the following results.

180 pots planted
280 onions harvested, plus a dozen or so used during the season (thinned from spots where there were doubles)
total pounds harvest in September --------- 30 lbs.
good quality onions, to put in storage -- only 13 lbs.
weak, skinny, small or fat neck onions ------ 17 lbs.

So next year I plan to thin them.

good luck all,
Dick

[eems_reeses]

We started onions this year for the first time from seed. They're about 3 inches tall, but they are falling over in their pots. Could this be from too much heat? We have our lamp about 18" above the trays, I don't know if that would make a difference?

Thanks much!

[Dick Shannon]

I have to give mine a "haircut" about 3 times before I finally set them out in the garden.

The tops on mine grow up to 5 or 6 inches before they bend over. I put my florescent lights down to about 3 or 4 inches from the little onions.

What are they growing in? I start mine in seed starting mixture, but about every third time I water I use a little Algoflash (liquid fertilizer). It's a very weak fertilizer, but if they are growing inside for several weeks I figure they need something.

Good luck.

[ShortSeason]

Dick or Lisa, Out of curiosity, I wonder when you are able to actually plant your onions outside? If starting your seed in mid January, how many weeks or months do they grow indoors? I am usually not able to plant until after Memorial Day due to long drawn out winters, so have been planting sets thus far. Growing seeds under the lamps can be quite spendy on the old power bill.

[LisaInOregon]

Onions can take a fair bit of cold, so while we get frosts til mid-May and can't plant summer crops til after Memorial Day, the onions get planted out somewhere in March-April. This year the earlier-planted onions are doing better even though there was several inches of snow the week after they were planted that tried to flatten them.

If onion seedlings get too warm, then too cold, then warm again, they tend to bolt. That's what makes the timing hard.

And climate is so different in different places that it's hard to generalize...

Originally posted by ShortSeason:

Dick or Lisa, Out of curiosity, I wonder when you are able to actually plant your onions outside? If starting your seed in mid January, how many weeks or months do they grow indoors? I am usually not able to plant until after Memorial Day due to long drawn out winters, so have been planting sets thus far. Growing seeds under the lamps can be quite spendy on the old power bill.

[Dick Shannon]

Originally posted by ShortSeason:

Dick or Lisa, Out of curiosity, I wonder when you are able to actually plant your onions outside? If starting your seed in mid January, how many weeks or months do they grow indoors? I am usually not able to plant until after Memorial Day due to long drawn out winters, so have been planting sets thus far. Growing seeds under the lamps can be quite spendy on the old power bill.

I started mine about the first week of March, not January, and transplanted them into the garden about 8 weeks later. I was going to be away this year and didn't want to leave my babies in someone else's care for too long. We've been getting our Frost Free date earlier and earlier, so I should probably move back to the end of February.

My problem seems to be losing newly transplanted onions to cutworms. The number of onions that died in infancy was high this year.

Good luck all,

Dick

PS -- I think I figured my extra costs for running the lights last year, and it came out to only $4.00 per month. My power company splits the cost up into delivery charge (constant), a few other fixed charges, and then a small charge per kilowatt hour. Because so much of my bill is fixed, it doesn't cost me much to add an extra 80 or 90 kilowatts per month.

[SallySec]

I give you guys credit, I have tried onions for three years now from seed and sets...just cant get them right. I tried four different kinds. I can get chives to grow...can get greens...but never good bulbs. This year I got impatient and dropped a few bean seeds in the bed planted for onions...next thing I knew the beans took over and I couldnt even find the onions. How did you all do?

[Dick Shannon]

This year I started with 200 Rossa di Toscana, and 100 Australian Brown. But when I went to plant them outside I had only 180 little paper pots with Rossa, and only 70 with the Australian Brown.

Subtract for further losses due to cutworms --

Subtract for my own stupidity (ouch) -- I used mulch to cut down on watering, but it had the unintended consequence of promoting rot in the mature bulbs --

NET HARVEST was lower than other years. So gardening is all about learning, and trying to put your best effort out there against whatever nature sends your way.

But it's fun and so I'm going to try again this year.

We like to add onions to almost everything (not oatmeal - yuck).

Besides starting from seed, or growing sets -- you could try buying onion plants -- I've seen them listed in several catalogs, just be sure you get the correct day length.

Best wishes to all for a great 2013 growing season,

Dick Shannon