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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: tottieheed on April 28, 2012, 11:55:48
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Hullo
This is my first attempt at growing spring onions. They are planted in a tray in the kitchen and have grown to about 5 or 6 inches tall. They are a healthy looking colour. The problem is that they are very thin and limp and will not support themselves. They are lying along the tray rather than standing up in it.
Is this normal for young spring onions and will they perk up as they get larger? Do they need a dose of Viagra?
Thanks once again
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You may have to transplant them to something deeper.
I generally start mine off in a tray and they are around 3 inches now and I am just about to plant them in a container. I will dib a hole around 2" deep and plant one per hole. I find they will then grow taller and thicker and some nice spring onions will develop.
Hope that helps
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I sow mine in modules or small pots..and once big enough, I plant them as they are..no thinning or pricking out...all just in group and into ground. They get thinned when I start using them up.
Tottie..your onions propably are ready for going out..once they get their 'feet' in..get plenty of light, moisture and light' lunch..they will perk up and getting more upright.
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Most onions will fall over like this if they are kept indoors where it is dry and at a nice constant warm temp.
I try to move them to a cold frame/greenhouse/poly when they are a couple of inches high and they soon firm up - any new growth should be slower but stronger.
I plant out like goodlife but I nicked the idea of chriscross1966 after years of poor germination and very limited success!
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I plant mine directly outside from seed, why all the faffing about?
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Well I personally just do it because I like to faff around and waste my valuble time.
If you read my post it actually says why I do them in modules - years of poor germination and limited success - so I thought that I might use the tried and tested technique of one of our respected members. Silly me.
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That is exactly same reason I do em in modules..I get much more reliable germination..and end up using much less seeds. Same packet of seeds will yield me enough for two summers spring onions.. ;) No waste!
..and that same apply for many other seeds!
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But seeds are so cheap, 99p for 1,000 seeds?
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Yes..they are cheap..but that 99p packet will last for me two years and I can even give some away..or swap.. ;D If I do sow straight into ground..I would not get much crop out of it.
When ever I grow something..I like to see the space well filled..and I can achieve this by pregrowing things in modules and planting where ever I want them..knowing that the space is used.
If I sow row of spring onion seeds..and end up having a foot long gap here and there..I only end up sowing the gaps again..and still having no guarantee that they will germinate in second time.
For me is much easier to sow in comfort of the greenhouse with a cup of tea next to me..have full trays of seedlings..plant them when they are ready..and job done. ;D I don't have to repeat it again. It could be soil 'issue' that particularly onion seeds are not successful here. They will grow fine once planted as seedlings.
Like with other things..there is as many ways of doing things as there is do'ers..and not all methods suit everybody... ;) That is challenge of gardening..finding the perfect way that works best.
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Doesn't matter how cheap they are if they dont germinate or don't grow and you dont get any onions.
Different people do things in different ways to suit the conditions around them - I grow everything in modules except for carrots and parsnips. You call if faffing but I happen to like this way of gardening and it produces better results for me.
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Looks like I'm a faffer too!!
I will stick them in something deeper and harden them off for week before planting them out.
Thanks folks for the help
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thin them, or they wont grow
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Another one for the faff gang here! tried many a time sowing direct and only had good results once, so going with module sowing this time to see what the results are like. many seem to have had great success so just taking good advise. Thanks people ;D
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. . . I shall be faffing again, as the first lot did not germinate!!
Debs
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Wish I could " faff". I only have a small area of garden for growing veg and I soon get my jobs done. Oh for the day when I can spend a whole day faffing.
That day will be when I can get an allotment, have my own greenhouse, a BIG shed..........
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For a slight variation on a theme, I sowed my first lot in a tray and they are ready for planting out now. I empty them out and tear them up into clumps of 6 or so and then plant them with a dibber giving that bit more space for them to grow. Worked great last year.
The second sowing were direct in the soil and they are about 1 cm high now. Hopefully they'll follow on from the first. As for the cost, I'll be saving my own seed. Bucketfulls for nothing.
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Doesn't matter how cheap they are if they dont germinate or don't grow and you dont get any onions.
Different people do things in different ways to suit the conditions around them - I grow everything in modules except for carrots and parsnips. You call if faffing but I happen to like this way of gardening and it produces better results for me.
I even do my carrots and parsnips... tried it last year and had tons of carrots and a parsnip patch with plants perfectly spaced that gave me two meals worth of parsnips off each one.... but for onions it's a no-brainer.... I keep the seed packet in my "greenhouse jacket" pocket and sow a pinch in a strip module or a quarter-trays worth of modules about once a week.... they don't get a set row really, quite a lot end up in big pots ... but it works... same with salads....
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I did them direct into windowbox type trays last year. 2 rows to a tray, one lot in multipurpose and another in garden soil. All were yum, yum and no problems. Repeating that this year with only multipurpose and they are going nicely. Getting a fair bit of flopping in the March sowed ones but the new leaves are standing tall. The March sowing lived in the GH until it got another leaf, then was hardened then put out. Aprils sowing is still lurking in the greenhouse. May's will go into the space left in the pot from March's lot.
Might be a middleground between faffing and not faffing?
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I also do the 'faffing' bit even with parsnips.
I pre chit seeds in the fridge, sow two seeds per toilet roll insert, thin out the weakest and plant out before root shows - since adopting this technique I save lots of time achieve the best results I have ever had with no fretting about germination resowing etc.
As for using up seed, this year I used last years parsnip seeds (shock horror always supposed to buy fresh parsnip seed) had a very healthy 90% germination so had lots of chitted seed to pass on to others.
Sorry not my intention to hi jack thread picked up on the 'faffing' bit!
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Another faffer here ;D
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I may have to resort to faffing with my parsnips and carrots ala chriscross. All this rain has made the soil so cold and so far no germination - wait and see I suppose!
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I dont know who it was, but could have been another forum.... :P he was sowing in clumps? and what he said made sense to me anyway, he sows in a clump, make sure he weeds it well first, then they come up faster than the weeds, and he pulls them up as a clump, I mean you very rearley just eat one or two dont you? seems like a good idea?
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I tried it all and still fail. Tried in modules this year, there were seedlings but, when I planted out they all died, even though they were under fleece. Out of a direct sown row there are about 3 onions growing... Luckily I still bought sets as usual. I just conclude that I am not able to grow spring onions, which is a shame as I like them.
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I'm not having much luck with spring onions either. I thought maybe it was the seed as it was a year or two old so i've bought a new packet and tried again the other day. Sowed them in mpc in a plastic tomato punnet, fingers crossed.
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If you are not having much luck with spring onion why not try growing Welsh Bunching Onion.
Once you have them established the you only need to split the bunches and transplant them to create more bunches.
When you need onions you simply dig up a bunch take off what you want and put the rest back and they will grow on.
Iff you are up my way (location in profile) i will willingly gave you some i would even consider paying you to take some.
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I've heard about these bunching onions, think i'll give them a try. Shame i'm a bit further North than you Davy.
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If you're prepared to wait, Davy's onions will eventually spread enough so we can all benefit!! ;D ;D ;D
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I have some ONION BUNCHING (SPRING) - TOKYO LONG WHITE - 1200 SEEDS I got for 99p seem to be doing fine.... without the faffing!!
It could be the soil that's your problem with the onions? try and replace some of it, and see what happens? you have nothing to lose by doing that have you
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When sowing spring onion seed, do you cover them?
(wondering if this is where I'm going wrong ::))
Debsl
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It could be the soil that's your problem with the onions? try and replace some of it, and see what happens?Now wouldn't that be lot of 'faffing about' when you can germinate loads of seedlings in a bit of compost and they will grow fine once plonked into soil. Replacing some of the soil sounds like much bigger job to me.
It can be the soil..and it can be pest..it can be due local environmental conditions...or it can be any combination of any of the things and many other things too.
The main things is as long as we find the way growing that suit us, the soil and conditions so we actually benefit from it. For me the benefit of sowing indoors and transplanting out weighs the sowing 'straight'..so much so that I prefer to do it with many other crops too. It is not anymore time consuming than the way you do it..but instead it gives me more opportunity to 'play' with timing of my crops and get full benefit of the space what is used.
I actually just thought of this thread other day when we had heavy lot of hail belting down to ground..it damaged many plants that was already outside..as well would have spoiled seed rows sowed 'straight' in ground ..but instead I was looking at the downpour and feeling smug about it that my seeds and seedlings were still inside of the safety of the GH..otherwise I would be doing it again.. ::)
When sowing spring onion seed, do you cover them?..yes..but only 'just'.
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I didn't cover them, but i think its would have been a good idea though, as it has been cold lately, and could affect the germination rate and success
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If you're prepared to wait, Davy's onions will eventually spread enough so we can all benefit!! ;D ;D ;D
Not quite yet but getting there
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/stumpinsci/Picture468.jpg)
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/stumpinsci/Picture467.jpg)
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/stumpinsci/Picture466.jpg)
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If you are going to sow spring onion seed direct then the two main factors you need are moisture and a bit of warmth.
As most seeds we plant germinate in the dark quicker there is nothing wrong with covering them. If i were to do it i would do it the same way as i do my parsnips, with lengths of wood. The wood will keep the soil moist so no need to water, make the drill a little deeper than normal for the onion to stand then all you would have to do is check them every couple of days.
Some times gardening is a learning curve on what meathod suits you.
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/stumpinsci/Picture443.jpg)
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There is definitely something I am doing wrong, as sets work fine, I get lovely onions and garlic so it can't be the soil. I would love to do onions and shallots from seed as sets are so expensive, but if I direct sow they don't germinate and I tried indoors then planting out and they all died :( I don't really know where it goes wrong. For info, I also have trouble with leeks in the same way and so usually end up buying plants to plant out. I have direct sowed some this season and so far they are rubbish, just little grassy bits so far. I tried some indoors last week, but I expect they will be quite small to plant out, sowing them this late. Last year I ended up planting out leeks found in a garden centre, end of August! Actually they did OK but I think June is really the better time.
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If you are have so much trouble then all i can recomend is you get some Welsh Bunching onion
(http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r111/stumpinsci/Picture-1.jpg)
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Thx Davy, they look really nice!! Where would I get seeds for that? And do you have the Latin variety name as I need to look for the French equivalent :D Are they like chives, in that they will come back every year?
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Ah a quick wiki and I answered my own question! It's called "Ciboule" here and I have eaten it many times! I think I know someone who might be able to give me some ;)
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Antipodes, have you tried Ishikuro spring onions in modules? I sow them in the 12 or even the 20 section modules in a cold GH, 9 or ten seeds per section, and usually 6 or seven germinate (an average 'pulling') Plant them out when they have hardened off and the rootball is quite compact, each clump 5 or 6 inches apart and you can pull them at any stage, even leave them to grow the size of small leaks, at which time I make a spring onion and potato soup which is delicious.This variety is so versatile when grown like this, I have never had any success any other way. I think the secret is to keep them in the modules until they have a good rootball and are a bit sturdier.
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Hmm maybe that's the way to go - or maybe I need to fleece or cloche them? As I have no GH and am in a small flat it's hard to find a way to grow them under cover.
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Yes I must be a faffer to! ::) I have clay soil in my half allotment and find it is invaluable to be able to sow, harden off then plant out in my clay soil
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Thx Davy, they look really nice!! Where would I get seeds for that? And do you have the Latin variety name as I need to look for the French equivalent :D Are they like chives, in that they will come back every year?
Sorry for my late answer, I would say more like a weed as to chives, with the bunching onion all you do is dig some up take of what you want and put back what you dont or split them into small bunches and transplant them where ever you want them to grow..
If you dont have a GH can you not make yourself a small cold frame.
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Hmm maybe that's the way to go - or maybe I need to fleece or cloche them? As I have no GH and am in a small flat it's hard to find a way to grow them under cover.
Sell the flat, buy a greenhouse, [/simples} :D