Growing sweet onion

[garudamon11]

Hello, I'm planning to grow sweet onion and I've got treated cow manure and potting soil and a rather large container so I guess I'm all set but I have a problem, my balcony wont get any direct sunlight in the winter, should I plant sweet onions now or wait for the summer when theres direct sun?

[CharlieBear]

How hot is it? If the temps are going to be say over 23 C for most of the growing time then maybe it would work in the shade now, otherwise it is probably best to wait until early spring.

[gixxerific]

This is a hard one, onions are vaery different in that they require certian amounts of sunlight before they start to bulb. If my thinking is right the temp helps but is not the real kicker when it comes to onions.

I'm still trying to figure out their mystery.

[garudamon11]

The winter here isnt cold at all, but I think sunlight might be a problem, I'll sow some seeds to see how it comes out

[garden5]

Well, if you can help it, try to get your hands on some plants like these https://www.dixondalefarms.com/.

Gix and I have both tried growing them from seed, and while we did have some success, we both have done better growing them from plants. It's a good idea to get the plants to grow well first, then to move on to seeds, since you have to start seeds at a different time than from starting plants (earlier).

As far as when to plant goes, you'll just have to see for yourself and experiment.

I hope this helped you.

[garudamon11]

My sweet onions sprouted

[img]https://img854.imageshack.us/img854/5003/sweetonion.jpg[/img]

I guess they need to be thinned out, how many should I keep in this pot?

[greenstubbs]

With from what I've seen the last 2 months I was there, I'd say now is the time. It would be nice for more sun in winter as summer is just to hot for them.

[jal_ut]

gix brings about up a good point about the sunlight. Whether they bulb or not, onions grown from seed can make some very nice green onions. I can't say how well they may do without some direct sunshine.

[garudamon11]

I'll try that with the extra ones then and let the others grow to see what happens I put 2 sweet onion seeds inside where they are going to get much more direct sunlight and I think the container is large enough for them to grow.