Spring onions grown from seed - planting out

[antipodes]

hello,
As I fail totally to get spring onions to germinate outdoors, this year I have done some under glass and also indoors. I now have litle green shoots about 7cm tall.
But what do I do with them now? I guess that I cannot keep them in little pots as they won't thicken up, but are they too fragile to go out?
And how do I plant them? Do I dib them into the soil and water them in like leeks?
I really would like to grow some, this is the 3rd year I have tried but if I don't succeed now I am just giving up, which is kind of ridiculous really. Can anyone help?

[antipodes]

[Chrispy]

What I do for spring onions, is I use plug trays like this....

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9906494&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=plug+tray&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1271064417461&isSearch=true
I sow a pinch of seeds in each hole.
When the roots have filled the plug and start poking out the bottom, I plant out in the bunches by dibbing a small hole in the ground and pop the plug in, with about an inch between each plug.

Works really well, when I want some I just pull up a bunch, and as there are small gaps, the next ones in the row don't get disturbed.

[antipodes]

Oops. Mine are in little pots, about 12-15 to a pot, that's too many to plant in a bunch I guess, they will not develop properly?

[euronerd]

antipodes, I do exactly the same as chrispy and it works a treat. Your little potfuls will probably be ok once the roots have a free run.

Geoff.

[Geoff H]

I am wondering why you cannot germinate them. Are you on clay soil that might cap over and stifle the seed? If so i would take out a drill as normal but use potting compost to cover the seed. I tend to take out quite a wide drill for spring onions, water the base of the drill, sow the seed on to the damp soil and then rake over dry soil. The only problem I have is with the weeds that germinate as well and it is a pain extracting them from the salad onions without pulling the seedlings out.

[antipodes]

The strange thing is that I have normal, sandy loam which works quite well for many other things. Normal onion sets work a treat, other seeds like parsnip germinate OK (carrots are a problem but I am not teh only one for that!)
I have tried many varieties, from the Lisbon whites, to other whites, this year I have tried a red Dutch variety! It can't be the seed as in pots it works ok ??? I wonder what I am doing wrong? I have sowed some too, just to see if they come up anyway.
Could something be eating them? Onions are usually so hardy, it seems silly to cloche them...

[chriscross1966]

I start them off in modules, frequently any spare modules in a tray that was doing "one big seed per" of anything else (be that beans or squash  or even other onions) will get a dozen or so seeds on it...... come plant-out time the big modules can be broken down into smaller clumps , otherwise stab them in at 2-3" intervals per clump after hardening off..... I've got loads due to go out this weekend.....

chrisc

[antipodes]

Ok, I will try in little clumps then!  Ooooh if they actually work I will be so excited! I bought a nice variety, they have green tops and red bottoms and are supposed to be mild. If they work I will post some pics ;) 
Thanks for all  the encouragement!

[allaboutliverpool]

I have grown those onions from a pack bought in Nice.

They are very easy so 'here's to success'   ;D
[attachment=1]

http://allaboutallotments.com/index.html

[George the Pigman]

I have also had very limited sucess with growing spring onions in beds - even though the bed is full of good compost. Is that most peoples experience??

[Glen]

Yes George.

I also have tried to grow White Lisbon Spring Onions in beds and although they have grown they have never really got to any size, with very small bulbs on the bottom - certainly not like allaboutliverpool's above.

The soil in my raised beds is excellent so I don't know why they just don't grow well?

[aj]

Onions actually seem to like being moved. They seem to thrive in spits and spurts, and if you think about it, the way the seeds grow, growing in clumps is in their nature. They seem to protect each other as well when in clumps.

All my onions start off as pinches of seed in modules. It's a great way to grow.

[non-stick]

Read this thread with interest having struggled to get mine to work, germination is dreadful. Just sown some in cells and will see how it goes.

Mine of useful information this site.

[tim]

Oh, yes - 10+ to a plug. Market packs are always in 10s.

Or in growbags?

[1066]

I'm hoping for better success this year as mine didn't seem to get much thicker than a pencil last year!
Are they thirsty plants - I'm wondering this as parts of last summer were quite dry here and I didn't really water them much (if at all!)

1066

[tim]

Who needs them thicker??

[Jayb]

Pinch and modules works everytime for me too  ;D

[antipodes]

well, and here was I just chucking the seeds into the ground and wondering why I never saw them again! I will keep sowing in pots then and try planting them out once they get big enough.

Mine of useful information this site.

You are so right non-stick! I don't think I would have made it this far without A4A!

[Geoff H]

When you sow into the ground do you sow into a dry seed drill? When I first had an allotment 30 years ago one of the old guys  told me to water the base of the drill after drawing it out, sowing the seed on the damp soil and drawing dry soil over the top. This puts the seed in contact with damp soil and you get quick germination. This I have always done since and it works extremely well for me. If you have not done it try it as well as sowing in modules etc. Its easy to do and if it works then it makes life simpler. I have never had problems germinating salad onions - they always come up like a mini forest. It is one of those things where I find normal seed packets are not big enough so i buy them from Moles Seeds.

[antipodes]

When you sow into the ground do you sow into a dry seed drill?

Yes I do actually, maybe that is a bad idea? But as you water afterwards, can't see it making much difference? Ah well, on Saturday I will plant my little shoots and see how I get on :) And check if the seeds I sowed anyway have done anything...