Hi all hope every body is ok and not feeling to stuffed after christmas.
I want to try and grow more onions from seed this year, and wondered if they keep as well as onions grown from sets. I seem to remember hearing that they dont.
Any thoughts?
Paddy
I have grown from seed and sets and haven't seen any difference in keeping quality. But do go for varieties that are indicated as good keepers as some varieties don't store well.
Also red onions never seem to keep as long as white or brown onions, so I always use these first.
I am a bit curious about onion growing. Last year I used sets and the onions were one of the things that worked OK, despite the rain and cold. This year I have decided to do red onions and shallots from sets but yellows from seed, just to see how it is done, as sets are quite pricey I find. How do you get a decent crop seeing as how the sets are already big but seeds obviously start from scratch?? do you have to plant seed onions earlier? harvest later? I find the concept a bit confusing...
i believe the traditional day for sowing onions from seed was boxing day!!
The sett, although initially bigger than a seedling has no roots and its first job is to deplete the stored resources just making new roots, then it stands still while leaves are produced. The seedling starts out hell bent on getting fat and although it will not finish first it will finish well. Setts are more convenient but do come at a price.
Sowed a packet of Ailsa Craig on Boxing Day, pricked out the best 80 this afternoon, all around 1.5 inches high. Grown on a shelf in my kitchen where the temperature is between 50 and 70 ( I sadly have a min/max gauge on the same shelf !).
Grown the same way last year, my best one had over a 7inch diameter.
I also start my sets on modules in a cold greenhouse as soon as I get them, planting them all out in late march, and I've still got stores of red and yellow from set and seed to last well into spring.
So, if you have the room in a warm place, go for it ..
I have always planted sets in the past but this year I`m doing both sets and seed, I have sown seed yesterday of Bedfordshire Champion and now wait to see what happens. My Onion set will be going in around mis to late march depending of the weather, So come August I shall compare both results
There seems to be an enormous problem of onion fly when growing onions from seed. I have never had this as I usually grow from sets. The problem seems to be when thinning out the onions.
If you grow them indoors and then put them out as reasonably sized plants in March/April will this avoid the thinning/onion fly problem?
always grown from seed don,t think I,v ever had this problem but then I always grow them in G/H andplant them on at app4/5 inches
marg
oh so in fact I should start off the onion seed indoors? and not straight in the ground? I didn't realize that...