Topic: Overwintering onion seed 'Hi Keeper'

[albion]

Can anyone advise me on whether I can sow these in a nursery bed then transfer them when they are big enough to their final positions before the onset of winter as it does not say if you can or not on the packet. Not grown overwintered onions before. Thanks.

[PurpleHeather]

I have to admit that we usually grow our over-wintering onions from sets bought from the garden centre.

I assume that you have bought yours as seeds and are unsure of the process from baby onions.

My first thought is to lift them now and dry them then plant them out as sets when over winter onions are usually planted Nov- Jan.

Maybe you might find the following site and links usefull

http://www.ehow.com/info_8383647_sow-onion-seeds-overwintering.html

[Stevens706]

I sowed my seeds 29th Aug last year in pots then planted out when large enough, so sowing in a nursery bed would be the same.

[Ellen K]

Hello

I grew Senshyu (Suttons) and HiKeeper (T&M) from seeds last year.  Starting them off in a seed tray in August then planting out October time.

None of the Hi Keeper plants survived the winter and I lost about half the Senshyu - but the survivors all went on to produce a good sized onion.

They seem to need to survive the winter as tiny plants and don't start to make a bulb until March.  Then you feed them with copious amounts of tomato food and away they go.

On some of the packs it suggests you sow them in the ground like spring onion seeds then thin them out in the spring and that may be the way to go if we have another tough winter and you thin the survivors to a complete row.

But the nursey bed thing is fine too.

Good luck, i will give them another go this year and you get a lot fewer of them bolting if grown from seed, definitely.

[albion]

Thanks some good advice there very helpful.