Onion Set Questions

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

Hello Gardeners

I was at my grandmother's house a few days ago.
She gave my a small box with four different bags of onion sets

Apparently she had ordered the smallest quantity of each from the seed store.
But she still had a lot more than she needed.

So now I have a couple hundred onion sets... and a couple questions too.

1. How many weeks before (or after) my last frost should I plant them?

2. One bag contains what are called "multipliers." they look like big, segmented onion sets or shallots.
What do I do with these?

3. I have some onions I started from seed growing indoors.
Will the onions grown from sets produce bulbs sooner?

If you have any answers, or general advice pertaining to onions sets.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

CFG

[jal_ut]

You can plant onions early, several weeks before your last frost. They are frost resistant. Separate the shallots and plant the individual cloves. I like to plant shallots in the fall like garlic. When planting the onion sets, just put them barely deep enough to cover so the wind doesn't blow them away. Onions bulb when the days are long enough for them. The sets and your started onions will bulb about the same time, if they are of the same variety.

Try the search feature for more onion discussions.

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

How many is "several weeks" before the last frost?

I couldn't find the date to plant these things in any of my books or catalogs.
Very frustrating.

CFG

[orgoveg]

My "last frost" date is May 15 (zone 5b) and I put my onion sets in around mid March. They come up when they're ready and the frost won't kill them.

From the sets, you want to pick out the bulbs that are about the diameter of your index finger. The smaller ones won't get very big and the larger ones are more likely to set seeds (which you don't want).

I have yet to successfully grow onions from seed (except scallions), but I believe that they will not produce large bulbs the first year. I think they become your "sets" for the second year.

[Bobberman]

Plant them a month or more before the last frost. I plant mine in a shallow ditch type row by just throwing them in and covering. I thin them when I use the small ones in salads! They are very easy to plant. Seeds I plant some direct in the garden since they are so tiny and hard to transplant! The little seeds will make good greens for the tops and will get larger over a very long growing season like over 100 days and will not usually mature unless in a warmer climate. The onion bunches with the green top in a bunch make nice large fall crop for the sweet large onions like bermuta!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Take a look at this link, it may help.

https://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/01-019.htm

Eric

[gardenvt]

Very interesting article. I am growing leeks, onions and shallots from seed which I started on Feb 4. So far, they are doing quite well.

The planting out date, based on our avg last frost date of May 15, can be any where from April 15 to May 15. I'm planning on May 1. Fedco says that is right for this area.

Johnny's Seed says larger the transplants do best. It's my first time growing the onion family so I expect I will learn a lot this year.

Mine are in 98 cell plug flats and a few 6 packs.

[garden5]

Eric, thanks for posting that article! I've often wondered how the commercial onion sets were grown. You've solved a mystery.

I want to eventually get some of the 100+ cell flats just for growing onions.

[jal_ut]

How many is "several weeks" before the last frost?

Four to six weeks.

My last frost is usually around May 25. I like to plant onions as early in April as the soil is ready for planting. Yesterday, April 1, I planted onions. Some were sets, some were bare root seedlings.

Our local garden store sells onion plants in bundles of about 70 plants. I have had really good luck with these. It is amazing to see those little match stick sized onions turn into this:

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/onion_bd.jpg[/img]

[wordwiz]

Jal,

Is that how you dry them? I thought I read someplace to put the foliage over the bulb to lessen the chance of sun scald. Your method looks much easier.

Mike