Moving onions and marigolds after seeds have been planted?

[snortman]

Okay, so Mister Klutz (me) dumped all my burpee onion seeds in one spot by accident. Is it possible to spread them out some once they start sprouting? Or did I pretty much ruin them by not trying to pick the seeds up and move them before covering them?

Would I be able to spread marigolds too if I did the same thing for them?

Yes, this was my first garden. The other veggies I planted were already seedlings/saplings, so hopefully I spread them out far enough (and I couldn't dump them all in one spot).

Thanks!

[applestar]

I hafta tell you this isn't the right time of the year to sow onion seeds, especially in the south but I really think anywhere except maybe in the Southern Hemisphere.

But you might be able to grow them as green onions or scallions if you feed with high nitrogen fertilizer and if you can keep them watered and mulched to keep their roots cool.

So yes, onion seedlings are very forgiving about being transplanted. When they are sturdy enough, water the area really well until the soil is soggy, then hold them at the base (not by the easily damaged green shoots) and extricate from the ground and any entanglements with neighbors with a steady pull. They have thick brittle roots but not very many.

Marigolds develop fibrous and larger than you might think root systems that tangle with eachother rather early, so try to separate them as soon as first true leaves show. With marigolds, I would use a plastic or metal table fork to dig them up.

[GardeningCook]

Or, if it hasn't been too long since you dumped the seeds (as in just a day or two), you could pick up the soil in your hands & sprinkle them around now.

[snortman]

Or, if it hasn't been too long since you dumped the seeds (as in just a day or two), you could pick up the soil in your hands & sprinkle them around now.

Yeah, I probably should have tried that. It's been about 12 days, so the marigolds have probably already germinated, though with what I've read in the last day about onions, they take about 25 days, and now it sounds like they don't like warmer weather of the south. Shouldn't Lowes know those things and take the seeds off the shelf? It looks like I should have planted them in March, September, or October.

[GardeningCook]

Nah. Gardeners are willing to try all sorts of things - including growing "out of the box", so to speak. And since so many seeds remain viable for years after the packaging date, many of us love scarfing up seeds when they go on sale towards the end of the season & use them the following year(s).

As far as onions not liking the south, that all depends on the type of onion. Onion varieties fall into three types - short day, long day, & intermediate. Depending on where you're located in the south, short-day & intermediate-day onions should deal with the heat just fine. However, keep in mind that when growing onions from seed as opposed to sets or plants, the seeds take a LONG time to get beyond the "hair" stage, which can make one think they're unhappy.

[rainbowgardener]

" Shouldn't Lowes know those things and take the seeds off the shelf? " They should, but they don't. All those places are national chains and they just ship seeds to every store in the country at the same time.

If you want guidance like that, you need to go to a good local independent nursery. It's important to support those places anyway so all the big boxes don't drive them out of business.

[snortman]

You couldn't sense my sarcasm dripping through on that crack about Lowes? My wife actually has more gardening experience than me, but she's really not wanting to be involved in tending a garden this year ( or any year in the future). She was volunteer farm labor when she was growing up, on a hefty-sized farm. She told me the other day that I should have tried moving the seeds after I let them dump into about 3 holes.

Well, I will keep an eye on the onions and marigolds (along with the other plants, of course), and won't give up hope. And hopefully once the marigolds and onions start coming up I can relocate them some.

I do like going to the local independent nurseries also. She just happened to be stopping by the big store on the way home for some other stuff and grabbed what I had asked for.

There's a local garden club that meets once a month that I'm hoping to start going to soon, to talk with other local gardeners and learn.

Thanks!

[jal_ut]

With a spill like that you can just get a spade and carefully go under the spilled seeds taking some topsoil with it. Put this in a bucket, then you can mix it all up well and go make a furrow and sprinkle the mix into the furrow. Cover lightly.

A spill that is scattered over a wider pattern is a different story. Hard to pick it up. Guess you can let it grow and maybe transplant some, or just call it weeds and get new seed?

Onions transplant well. Also for green onions they can be quite close together. Have fun!