onion seed collection

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Just pulled and cured my onions today. and I took the pom-poms off of some of the ones that went to seed. I would like to keep them to plant them for next year's plantings.

Is there a specific method that I can use to extract the seeds from the little green pods?

[jal_ut]

I like to leave the flower on the plant and let it stay in the ground until the seed is ripe and the seed is ready to fall. You can take a paper bag and just shake the seed into the bag.

Otherwise, just put them in a cardboard box to dry up.

[orgoveg]

Reinforcing what jal-ut said, I left mine in the ground last year until the flowers finally looked dry. The seeds didn't germinate this year, so I think I need to wait even longer next time.

[garden5]

Agree with the above, let 'em stand. They will dry out on their own and be way easier to harvest.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Well, definitely too late to leave them in the ground. But I will let them dry more before I start deseeding!

Thank You!

[soil]

try digging one up and putting it in a pot. we had a gopher eat one that was going to seed, it fell over. I stuck it in a pot and so far the seeds are maturing even without a root system or a bulb. once its in the pot you can get it out of your beds and let it take its time to finish making seed. I have saved my own onion seed a few years now. nice giant onions as long as you collect seed from the best plants.