Topic: Growing onions from seed

[Tenuse]

Hello everyone,

I have sown some onions in a seed tray and they have been coming up for the last week or so.

I am aware that they come up as a "loop" but now that they are starting to pull their tops out of the soil, they all seem to be dying back a little - going frizzly at the tips. Is this normal? It looks to me like they might die back to the "bend"?

Ten x

[cleo]

Hi Tenuse

Are you sure it`s not just the old seed case?-give it a few days

Stephan

[philcooper]

It's a problem with onions and leeks if you don't cover them with "enough" compost - but if you do they don't germinate as well (for me anyway)

What I do is prick them out as soon as they about 1" long (bent or not) into either another tray (which leads to tangled roots at planting out time) or 7cm square pots or modules about that size (which takes up a lot more space)

They need to be pricked out so that the bulb bit is just below the surface.

There is then a delicate balance on the watering front - too much and the drown, not enough and the repeat the symptoms you have now. I find that using a bit of Cheshunt powder helps the survive the dampness

[Tenuse]

Ah this is interesting, I planted them a half cm or so deep spaced an inch apart in the seed tray with the intention of leaving them in there for a while, would I be better off pricking them out into small pots instead then?

Ten x

[philcooper]

If you want them for ordinary cooking use that should be ok.

The giant onion growers prick them out into pots after sowing 1" apart.

I prefer to sow a bit thicker than 1 per inch inch and cover with vermiculite and then prick out.

Less work at the beginning but more at the end and my allotment soil is pretty poor so the compost from the pot gives them a good start.

Phil

You pays your money and takes your choice

[Tenuse]

Well my poor onions are still hanging on, I have put them in the lean to cold frame in my back garden as I didn't want to raise any wussies...

They're still a bit frizzly at the tips (not seed cases cleo) but it doesn't look too drastic.

Anyway I still have 160 seeds of each variety left so I can always try again if these go wrong...

I will leave them for a while then prick them out into paper pots I have made, then let them grow on for a bit and then plant them in the allotment!

And hopefully they will grow big enough to make me do this:  :'(

Ten x