Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Pompey Spud on February 03, 2010, 13:30

Title: Onions from seed.
Post by: Pompey Spud on February 03, 2010, 13:30

My Red Baron and Mammoth seedlings are doing well.

Just one quick question which i cant find in any of the books i have or, I can't read.

How do you sow your seedlings? Depth etc. I assume it's not like Leeks?

Thanks

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: kingdhesiii on February 03, 2010, 13:41

Hope you can actually see your ground, mines covered in show again.

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: mumofstig on February 03, 2010, 13:49

Well, they are sown outside at about half an inch down, ......
So, when you transplant them that's the right place to put them...you're right..... :D  not deep like leeks :D

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Trillium on February 03, 2010, 16:23

I must be lazy because I prep my seed pots, dampen them, and when the water has drained I sprinkle seeds on top, add about a 1/4" of potting mix on top and gently press down with a bit of wood so the seed has good contact with the soil. And wait.

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: zazen999 on February 03, 2010, 18:07

Do you mean how do you transplant them - rather than sow them?

Same as most seedlings; stick them in at the same depth as they are in the soil before transplanting.

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Bigbadfrankie on February 03, 2010, 18:17

transplanting?? mine have not come up yet

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Pompey Spud on February 04, 2010, 00:13

Spot the mistake.

I did mean transplant.

Thanks

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Fisherman on February 04, 2010, 04:55

Tried Long Red Florence onions sown in peat pots last year with 4 or 5 seeds per pot covered with 1/4" of compost. Once the seeds were big enough in late March they were planted outside a few inches apart with no thinning. Good results and they dried and kept well.

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Salmo on February 04, 2010, 10:24

I did a small trial last year.

Two rows of onions were direct seeded in the ground at the end of February. These were eventually thinned to 3 inches by taking out some for spring onions.

Two more rows were planted out from modules at the end of March, sown on the same date at the end of February, as described by Fisherman. Modules containing 4 plants each were planted at 12 inch spacing.

At harvest the numbers of onions in a row were the same but the direct sown yielded slightly more and were more even and a better shape. The evenness and shape was to be expected as they had to push their neighbours out of the way as they grew.

There were pros and cons for both methods.

Direct sown.
pro - slightly more yield and better shaped onions
pro - bonus crop of thinnings
con -  may not be able to be sown early enough in a bad Spring or on heavy soil.
con - risk of poor germination.
con - need careful hand weeding during the early stages.

Module sown
pro - can sow very early regardless of weather and soil.
pro - poor germination is not a risk as more modules than needed can be sown.
pro - by the time the modules are planted out at the end of March/early April the soil
        will  have warmed up and cultivations will have killed a crop of weeds.
pro - it is easy to hoe between the modules and little hand weeding is needed.
con - have to sow in modules and look after them for 2 months
con - no thinnings for spring onoins.
con - slightly less yield and not so pretty.

All my onions will be in modules this year.
 

Title: Re: Onions from seed.
Post by: Pompey Spud on February 04, 2010, 17:42

Thanks Salmo

Some good info there