[andyk]

what is the best onion to grow from seed as i cant plant sets as yet as the plot is still been cleaned of weed roots i planed to grow from seed in the greehouse does it need to be heated? and was goingt o try what my father in law used to do that is plant about six seeds per cell then plant them out as a clump then pull some early and let the others grow on

[muntjac]

my old man used to do that and he kept " the gaffer " appy all through summer . i just do sets in the spring  so cant help with seeds  

[David.]

I used to heat a greenhouse over winter with all sorts of fuscia/geranium/etc. cuttings in but the cost of fuel means I now start heating in April, too late for onion seed (Jan), so I use both overwintering setts and some spring planted setts (as they will/supposed to last/store longer than the others).

Even if you sowed under glass you will probably only delay plating (beyond spring planted setts) by 2 weeks.

I have also tried early plantings of setts in peat pots in a cold frame, but without success.

[theothermarg]

planted some called radar app 3 weeks ago in cells they are around 3" highat the moment. I always grow them from seed this year they grew well very satisfying

[andyk]

thanks that one for the shopping list what do they keep like?

[DD.]

my old man used to do that and he kept " the gaffer " appy all through summer . i just do sets in the spring  so cant help with seeds  

So do I, having tried onions from seed once, and hving to remove their dripping remains after 2 months.

[gobs]

Hi, I like your plan, but as DD warns, there are things to look out for(I,ve been doing onions from seed for 3 years), sow a lot more than you need.
I saw outdoor ones end of August(Derbyshire sunny slope, not in the frost pocket), so I think heated greenhouse is unnecessary; and indoor ones in Jan, kept in cold window.
They are ready to plant out more or less at the same time, in May. When you usually have a bit of a drought (ignore this year when they drowned and rotted), so look out for watering them!
As far as varieties concerned is a matter of personal taste, most of them will do fine. I do not like large ones, as they are too mild and tend not to store that well.  Golden Bear is a proven favourite of mine: good flavour, medium size, fast to mature, stores well, also like red baron for its strong flavour.
Let us now, how you got on,
gobs

[theothermarg]

yesI agree I grew some golden bear this year it could be those in the picy grew several types and am not good about labeling  :oops: I feel sure that seed grown onions bolt less than set grown. I havn,t tried radar before but they germanated well and will go on growing in cells till I clear the ground to put them in. I agree they don,t need extra heat in a greenhouse in fact it would prob bring them on too fast and they would get a hell of a shock when you plant them out
marg