Transplanting onion & leek seedlings.

[Vanisle_BC]

Two questions:

1. Can you plant onion seedlings in open holes without filling them in, as some people do with leeks?

2. Is it possible that leek seedlings' first leaves are tubular like onions? I have 2 flats of seedlings labelled as leeks but the young leaves look like tubes.

[imafan26]

I have grown American Flag and King Richard Leeks. They both have tubes. The only allium that I grow that has flat leaves are chives and garlic chives. Leak leaves are flatter and not as round as green onions. They are also milder than green onions.

Transplanting onions. I have always poked a deep hole and transplanted onions or on very rare occasions, I trench them. It depends on how much you want to blanch the onion stalks. I have long stemmed Tokyo negi that are better if they are kept hilled up. I start almost all of my onions and leeks from seeds. I usually grow them in 1 gallon pots and they are grown bunched up and not really separated, except for the bulbing onions.

The white parts of the leeks and scallions are what most Westerner's consume. In Hawaii, we eat mostly green onions or Welsh onions. We eat the green leaves. Because of that, I usually prefer younger onions with smaller and less fibrous leaves. I do sometimes keep green onions longer, but the leaves are only good for hekka. The Shimonshi leeks I have take two years to mature and the base is thick and sweet. Shimonishi leaves are mild as well, but too big and tough for saimin.

[Vanisle_BC]

So Imafan, do you fill in the holes after you put onion seedlings in them; or do you leave them open? I would do that just to save myself a little work.

And do you grow your onions to maturity in bunches rather than spaced individually? I've never tried that.

My mature leeks have flat leaves but the first leaves of the seedlings I'm looking at are tubular, making me wonder if they aren't leeks at all and I've mis-labelled them - ?????

[imafan26]

I do fill in the holes if I am trench planting or planting individual bulbing onions. My onion seedlings would not be very stable if I left the holes open.

It is possible that you have mislabeled them. It depends on the variety you have. I have mistaken my leeks and Texas onion seedlings for the bunching onions before since they do look alike in the seedling stage.

I usually keep my bunching onions and leeks in pots. I start them in 4 inch compots and transplant them into one gallon pots when the seedlings are about 4 inches tall. The ones in the picture are mostly Tokyo long green negi. They have relatively long bases. These are about two years old now, so I have started a few new ones to replace them. They are still sweet, but getting tough to use for a garnish. I thought the Tokyo longs were Koba onions. Koba have smaller bases and smaller leaves. Some of the onions on the far side of the bench with the smaller leaves are Koba. I usually keep my bunching onions and leeks in clumps. It is time consuming to plant them out and I would run out of space if I did that. Bunching onions and leeks do fine for me together in the pots as longs as it is not too crowded. You can thin out seedlings as you use them if you want to get bigger bases. The bases are not that important for me as I mainly use the leaves. I treat it as a cut and come again crop. I can cut the tops off completely and they will regrow in a few days.

[TheWaterbug]

I poke holes and push in the seedlings. I never bother filling in the holes myself, but when I water them in, the soil typically collapses around the hole and fills it in anyway. They all grow.

[Vanisle_BC]

I poke holes and push in the seedlings. I never bother filling in the holes myself, but when I water them in, the soil typically collapses around the hole and fills it in anyway. They all grow.

That's what I do with leeks. Are you saying you do it with onions too?

[applestar]

You are supposed to plant leeks and scallions/bunching onions deep because you actually want white blanched portion on the bottom. But bulb onions are supposed to be snuggled 1/2 inch to 1 inch at most on the bottom because the bulb will develop on top of the soil and eventually develop the outer “paper’ skin. The bulb can and will push aside the soil if loose enough, but can get too waterlogged if buried too deep and excessively watered, inviting fungal disease. Water gets in the neck.

Bulb onions try to fall over as they grow, so you will need to ‘hill’ them just enough to support them but not bury them. Bulb onions that Fall over will grow irregularly/unevenly filled out bulb