I always seem to have problems with onions every year. Leeks and scallions are much easier to grow in my own personal opinion. For one thing, my onions never seem to germinate consistently though I seem to have gotten a good batch of seeds this time around. I'm growing a yellow and red variety - 'Copra' and 'Ruby Ring'. Also, I haven't been able to grow an onion larger than two inches in diameter. But I plan on doing things a little differently this year, which I hope will pay off come harvest time. For starters, during the past two years, I've tried growing onions both from seeds and from sets. Both years, most of the onion sets I planted ended up bolting so I'm done with them. Also, I'm not setting my onions out this year until the weather has warmed up significantly (maybe the last week in May here in Vermont). Hopefully that helps too. If anyone has any additional onion growing advise, please let me know!
Finally, I had wanted to start my onion seeds in soil blocks but haven't been able to source the ingredients. I ended up sowing 3 seeds in each plastic cell. Now I have to decide whether to thin them now or let them be. When grown together, onion seedlings are generally easy to divide at planting time so I may just let them be. Though I'm sure they'd be much happier thinned down to one at the start. What do you think?
I've had similar problems with onions, and this year I'm skipping the seeds and buying slips. I planted some last fall, and I'm planting some more next month. So far, so good. They're pricier up front, but if they make bigger onions they will pay for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI mass sow my onions in one container and separate them at planting time. I do this to save space under the lights. I had some large onions last year and some not so large, but I think that had to do with the soil fertility in different areas of my garden because they all were started the same way. Hopefully I can work that out this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm planting onions this year as well but I'll be planting mine in first two week of March as they grow better roots in cold and then when it's warmer start growing bulbs. You might want to add alot more compost to your area if you want large bulbs as they like very rich, well drained soil and lots of sun. I don't do seeds as it takes at least a year to get to 'sets" and then another 4 month to get normal onions. Best of luck with yours!
ReplyDeleteMy onions never seem to get very big either, although I usually end up buying plants and don't get them into the garden until late. I sowed my onions in one container and separated at planting last year, and this year I have several plants per cell and will be leaving them until planting. Unless I find out that the separating causes harm and set backs to the plants, I think it's the way to go.
ReplyDeleteLast year we grew onions from seed and we planted slips. Of the two the slips were the more successful. Like Grafixmuse, I attribute it to the soil. The loose, well composted and aerated soil seemed much better for the slips than the dense and heavy stuff I planted the seeded onions in. Carrots in the same locations had the same outcomes.
ReplyDeleteYour onions have sprouted well.. Personally we had such a sad success with growing onions and garlic hat I have given up on them. Hope yours turn out well. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteNow see, it is leeks that I have trouble with. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you use artificial lighting make sure they get enough dark each day. I set my lights for 12 hours which is pretty conservative. But they will start seeing the out of doors in late March when the light is about that long. Remember that the onions will start to bulb when they get days that are long enough. Don't give them long days as seedlings.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always thin my seedlings. I tried it both ways, and they grow much better if they have room. Thinning is hard though. You can't just snip them off like you can for other seedlings. If the growing point is below the soil it will just send up new leaves.
Oh and at my last house I could never get my onions to bulb well, but here I can. I think the soil plays a really big role.
I've only grown leeks from seed, never onion. I remember buying seedlings years back. They didn't bolt but the onions were quite tiny. Hopefully they do well for you.
ReplyDeleteThomas-
ReplyDeleteI live 10 minutes north of you in Milton, VT. I grow huge, yummy walla walla onions every summer that my family fights over! I buy slips for Depot Home & Garden in Essex...it is a small locally owned store that I love.
In the past I have had a community garden plot and the earliest I could get them into the ground was May 15th because of lack of access to the garden sooner. Every year they are ready to harvest by late August.
Thanks for a great blog!
The CSA I volunteer at advised that 3 per block/cell is fine, at least the way they have been growing them. All of their onions (and turnips, actually) bulbed very nicely despite having three close together.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that is also probably attributed to the soil quality as well.
I've heard that you can clump onion plants together. We always buy the Copra seedlings from Johnny's, space them about 4" apart and we get huge onions which store well til spring.
ReplyDeleteWhere I live we never sow anions from seeds, neither do we do it indoors. We mostly sow sets, and as far as I know, both onions and garlic sets like to be sown in the fall, or in early spring. This ensures that they have enough time to grow to a decent size by the time fall comes and it's harvest time. They do like it to be cold outside when are sown, and people say that if you do it in tha fall they will sprout earlier and get bigger. I've only done it in spring though, in march, and I always get onions at least fist sized or even bigger in the fall. I think you sould try it one year just to see if it works for you. I hope it helps :)
ReplyDeleteps: I live in Romania, if it helps to compare the weather zones :)