Growing onion from Seed

[SPierce]

I did a search, and the answer was probably right in front of me, but I missed it! so please help me out if ya can.

Several weeks ago, I planted some onion seed and they're growing wonderfully! In fact, most of them are now about 2-3 inches tall, but they feel very thin and rubbery.... is this normal? They're also not straight, they bend and tend to weave together a bit too.. Do I wait for them to grow taller, or harden them off and transplant them out? Separate them out into different cells? I am watering them on a regular basis, but I'm not sure if I should be giving them any other care?

[jal_ut]

Sounds just right. When onions first come up the new leaf is bent double. Don't worry about it. Soon they will send up another new and larger leaf, and then another etc. until they have a dozen or so leaves. Each layer of the onion bulb has its own leaf.

If you are growing them for scallions, just wait until they are large enough then pull some to eat and thin them as you go. If you want to go for bulbs, you need to thin them to one plant every three or four inches. One way to do that is to transplant them when they get their second leaf. Just lift them with a fork or shovel, separate and replant with the correct spacing. I would never pull them for transplanting. You break too many roots pulling them.

Oh, I re-read your post and see that these are planted inside. I would put them outside to harden for a while then just separate them and plant them out. Onions are quite cold hardy and will survive a light frost.

[SPierce]

Sounds just right. When onions first come up the new leaf is bent double. Don't worry about it. Soon they will send up another new and larger leaf, and then another etc. until they have a dozen or so leaves. Each layer of the onion bulb has its own leaf.

If you are growing them for scallions, just wait until they are large enough then pull some to eat and thin them as you go. If you want to go for bulbs, you need to thin them to one plant every three or four inches. One way to do that is to transplant them when they get their second leaf. Just lift them with a fork or shovel, separate and replant with the correct spacing. I would never pull them for transplanting. You break too many roots pulling them.

Oh, I re-read your post and see that these are planted inside. I would put them outside to harden for a while then just separate them and plant them out. Onions are quite cold hardy and will survive a light frost.

Thank you very much! I've been fingering them after I posted this thread (to see about separating them) and they DEFINITELY smell like onions! I do have some more coming up, and they're bent double. Some stalks have grown, they're just pretty flimsy so I was getting worried about them.

I've got about 4 inches of snow on the ground, so can't plant them yet, but as soon as things get back up into the 40's near the end of next I'll start the hardening off and put them into the ground!

What depth should I be planting them at? Put some of the green below ground, or the white root only below ground?

Hopefully I'll have better luck with seed than I did with my sets last year!

[jal_ut]

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

Here is a picture of some onion seedlings from last season. As you can see the seed leaves are folded over. Also note that it snowed on them, yet they not only survived, but made a nice crop.

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/onions_bunching_7_4_2010.jpg[/img]

These are bunching onions and behind those are some yellow onions, both planted from seed directly in the garden. Onions do quite well sown from seed where they will grow.

[SPierce]

I can always depend on you to quell my worries ;D I'll get my little guys out and about into the ground next week, and stop overly worrying! Ah, the joys of being a beginner gardener... there are always so many questions!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Here is a [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34147&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0]Onion Topic[/url] from last year.

I will be planting my onions out sometime early April. They are about a month old. Some are ready for their first hair cut.
6 varieties of onion and 1 leek
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20Propagation%20Greenhouse/OnionsMarch4th2012002.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20Propagation%20Greenhouse/OnionsMarch4th2012005.jpg[/img]

SPierce, How big are you onion seedlings? I wouldn't rush into planting them, unless you need room to start other seedlings.

Eric

[SPierce]

Wow; your onions look fantastic! Your greens are all straight up, while mine are down and around all over the place. Not sure if I did something wrong, or they aren't right, or if they just aren't supposed to stand? They are roughly 2 weeks old, and about 2-3 inches high.

here's a really crappy webcam photo of what they look like right now:
[img]https://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c25/Liskarialeman/Photo136.jpg[/img]

and thank you for that link. I did come across that one as well in my search, but my onions looks so different I'm not sure which direction to go- or whether to scrap them and start over?

I also had no idea that they need trimming; should I be doing so with my seedlings?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Some onion growers wait until their seedling reach about 3" and cut them back to 1 inch. I'm more of a 4" down to 3" maybe a little more.

You may have to build up courage, but I recommend you cut yours. You could try a large toothed comb and scissors.

Eric

[SPierce]

Some onion growers wait until their seedling reach about 3" and cut them back to 1 inch. I'm more of a 4" down to 3" maybe a little more.

You may have to build up courage, but I recommend you cut yours. You could try a large toothed comb and scissors.

Eric

Thank you ;D I will give them the dreaded "chop" tomorrow- it's really all about what's best for them! Since I have them all in the same pot right now, would you also recommend that I separate them out into flats, or is it OK to leave them in the pot they're in now? I can still see little stalks that are poking through the dirt- so there's more onion seedlings getting ready to come up!

[DoubleDogFarm]

SPierce
Eveyone has slightly different ideas when it comes to growing vegetables from seed. I prick and pot up everything, except onions and leeks.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Vegetable%20Garden/CopyofDSC03378.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Vegetable%20Garden/DSC03382.jpg[/img]

I think your pot is fine. It has more soil depth than my 1020 flats.

Eric

[SPierce]

Thank you. So I should be planting them out once they start getting another set of leaves?

I don't' know where I'd be without this forum; you guys are so awesome- and it's wonderful to see that even though different gardeners do things differently, everything tends to work it self out!

[applestar]

Hmmm....looks like photos were lost from the older threads but this is the right topic.

I sowed some seeds for Red Whethersfield And Yellow of Parma onions today.
I haven't beeen very successful growing big bulbing onions from seeds, but I like to try anyway.

I'm also sowing Walla Walla onion seeds in case the ones that I sowed outside and had started growing back in October don't make it through this winter.

And I'm still planning to order onion plants -- probably Alisa Craig but maybe Red Zeppelin, too -- but they it won't be time to plant them until last week of March or so.

[digitS']

I will start seed soon - flats of potting soil in an unheated greenhouse.

The only special care required of me is moving them under cover if the box of dirt might freeze solid. I don't think that can be good. Starting in January has proven a little too early for here. I also don't like clipping too-tall and yellowing seedlings because it has taken too long too get them in the garden.

AppleStar, my problem with sowing Walla Walla Sweets in the last week of August was that the plants too often bolted to flowering in the spring.

Onions may not be very frost tender but they are not as tuff as their public reputation might have it.

Steve

[imafan26]

I planted Texas grano and garlic back in September in the herb garden. However the water timer died at the garden during the holidays and as a result most of the garlic and bulb onions are gone. It is too late to start more, but some of the leaks and a few of the bulb onions did survive. I don't think any of the garlic did. I will probably replace them with green onions, or chives instead.

[applestar]

I got the backup Walla Walla started today, so if the fall-sown ones fail one way or another, hopefully I will have back up. This year, I'm going to try sprouting them inside, then putting them out in the garage once they stand up.

So far, the garage temp has been hovering in the 40's with dips into the 30's. They should be able to survive that, and, once things start to warm up after mid-February or so, it should get a bit warmer. Also, by then I can consider trying to put them outside in some kind of protected contraption -- I SO hope I will have built a cold frame by then, but if not, at least a clear storage tote or something....

[jal_ut]

Onions are day length sensitive and bulb when the days are of the right length. They are also a cool weather plant so need to be planted early to grow while it is cool. In the South onions can likely be planted in December and they will be old enough to bulb while the days are still short. Hence Short Day Onions for the south. In Northern latitudes planting time is later when the days are longer, hence Long Day Onions for the North.

If I plant seed here the best I can hope for are some the size of golf balls. (or plenty of green onions) If I plant sets or small plants, I can get some nice large bulbs.

Some types are said to be day neutral.

[rainbowgardener]

yes, for me here right on the border between north and south, day neutral onions seem to work best for me. Candy is one I have had success with.

[digitS']

Candy did okay for me (once I stopped trying to grow them in partial shade ). But, I've grown lots of varieties of long-day and intermediates onions with good success here at about 48° North.

short day -- 11 to 13 hours of daylight
intermediate -- 13 to 14 hours of daylight
long day -- 14 hours or more of daylight, to form bulbs

Here is what Oregon State University has to say on short day onions in the north: "If you grow short-day onions at northern latitudes such as Oregon, when the days reach short-day onions' critical photoperiod (11-13 hours of daylight) it is only March. The soil is still cold and the onion plant will still be tiny, forming only a tiny bulb." link

Okay, OSU is at about 45° North latitude. That line runs through southern Montana, central Wisconsin, southern Ontario, Vermont ... like that .

I actually tried to grow Granex here once. Hey! I don't like to be left out! If folks were enjoying that onion in Texas and Vidalia Georgia ... I could eat them ... as anyone might ... eat a golf ball sized onion. I don't think some even made it to that size, rushing to form bulbs!

Steve

[imafan26]

I planted my onions and garlic in September. The sprinkler timer died and so did most of the onions. A few did survive. I think all the garlic is gone. I won't be able to plant more until the fall. It is too late for me to plant anymore from seed. Good luck with yours.

[rainbowgardener]

It probably is too late for garlic and for onions from seeds, but you could probably still pop onion sets in...

[imafan26]

There actually are no onion sets sold here. Everyone who plants onions plant them from seeds in the fall. The big box stores will bring in onions but they are usually not the ones suitable for this climate. They probably send everything out to every store in the country without really paying attention to regional considerations. I can only grow short day onions. If I start them now, they won't have enough top growth to bulb up.

I planted them out of season when I did not know better, and garlic too, I ended up with no onion bulbs and garlic that was smaller than what I started with. It was elephant garlic-- I should have ate them instead. I didn't know I could not grow elephant garlic in Hawaii.

[applestar]

Couldn't you grow day neutral varieties from seeds more or less year round? I guess no sets because of the extra cost and paperwork involved in live plant shipping to Hawaii?

Onions are said to be shallow rooted and that's true but the initially seedlings grow surprisingly deep roots and I found shallow-- 1" or less depth seed starting containers were too shallow.

Mine are starting to sprout now