Onions from seed--6b

[mikestuff49]

Does anyone grow onions from seed in 6b? If so, what date do you plant seeds to have transplants ready for the spring?

[Tormahto]

I direct sow. But, I'm curious about transplants, so I'll keep my eye on this thread.

[zendog]

I'm not 6b, but 7a, so a little warmer. I grew Alisa Craig exhibition onions (sweet yellow) and Cabernet F1 (beautiful burgandy red) from seeds last year. I started them around February 1, planting one 200-plug flat with 100 cells of each. I kept them under lights until my tomato and pepper seedlings had to be potted up and demanded all the space under the lights at which point the onions starts were kept outside most days when it was warm enough and inside at night if there was any threat of frost. I also was running my lights 16 hours a day and didn't want to risk triggering the onions to start bulbing up. I think they were way too small for that worry, but I was just overly cautious.

I planted them out around April 1 and they did great. I think I would start them earlier this year to get more time for them under the lights and have them be larger when I plant them out. Since the varieties I grew bulb up based on day length I want them as big as possible by then so they make the largest possible bulbs. My results were much better than I've ever had growing onions from those dried out packs of onion starts or sets, plus it is cheaper and there are a lot more varieties to choose from if you start from seed. I gave a bunch away to friends and they all did very well with them.

Here are the onion seedlings at 14 day (chard to the right)

seedlings.jpg

Cabernet F1 at harvest. Don't be impressed with the ribbon. I'm in an urban area and my onions were the only ones entered in the category, lol.

onions1.jpg

[mikestuff49]

Thanks, zendog,

I will probably start mine next month. It seems like they were very slow to germinate and the early growth process under lights took a while as well.

[zendog]

That sounds right to me. A month more growth on mine would have been nice when I planted them out. They came out great, but larger transplants would have been easier to deal with.

[greenthumbomaha]

Check out The Garden Pit videos, one of the original youtubers. I think he did an update to onions too. No need to start in individual cells. Dense planting works fine, just make sure you use a deep pot. I've used both methods and had equally good results. Saves a lot of space under the lights.
I start seeds the end of January, and I buy transplants too.
A local nursery sells Dixondale, and they have new selections this year. Their plants have always done well for me. I only buy long season varieties.

- Lisa

[mikestuff49]

Greenthumbomaha,

Thanks for the video. Anyone have a suggestion for the soil mix? I've used soilless seed starting mix in the past. I wonder if amendments would be useful.

[zendog]

Anyone have a suggestion for the soil mix? I've used soilless seed starting mix in the past.

I think I used Lambert Germination Mix (purchased from A.M. Leonard when they had a free shipping offer) as a test with some seedlings last year and am pretty sure I used it for the onions, but usually use ProMix BX for all my seed starting and it works great. The Lambert mix was almost too fine and held a bit too much moisture so was prone to overwatering.

[Lonejack]

I usually start my leeks and onions on New Years day here in Kansas City 6a and plant the starts out in mid March. I use Promix BX for all of my seed starting and also potting up. I start them thickly in 2 lb. yogurt containers for the extra depth. Somewhere around 30-40 in each tub. Lately I've just been buying Dixondale starts for my bulbing onions. I can get them locally for $2.50 a bunch. I just start a couple varieties of leeks and bunching onions now.

ETA - I fertilize them with MG liquafeed tomato and veggie fertilizer (9-4-9) at 1/4 strength (~1/2 tsp/gallon) at every watering.

[greenthumbomaha]

Oh my, I apologize for the in your face video. I meant to post only a link, learning curve.
later found his more comprehensive video on the subject. He is very bare basic but has good info.

Lonejack , we are cut from the same piece of cloth. I repurpose perennial containers for deep roots, and also feed regularly with the blue stuff. I'd be interested to hear which Dixondale varieties your garden center orders.

My garden center charges $5.99 - $7.99, and they keep ordering short day onions with Texas in the name because of the large number of railroad workers residing in Omaha from a company merger. Might be worth a little detour to KC for onion shopping. Dixondale just offers the one leek so when I use up my onion seeds I will buy bulbing plants going forward.

Red bunching onions from a mmmm swap were amazing. Those are totally a joy to grow in containers.
- Lisa

[ddsack]

[mention]zendog[/mention] I love and grow Ailsa Craig onions every year too! They are not the best storage onions, but the taste is so worth it (love raw onions) and they usually make it through winter, and I do try to use them up first. The last two years I also grew Blush F1, which is a pink/red onion. It didn't size up as much as I would like, but I planted started seedlings in the ground late and it was a too dry when bulbs were maturing. They do store well. Maybe I will try your Cabernet F1's next year instead.

[zendog]

I loved the Alisa Craig oniona cut into long thick strips tossed on the grill with some Anaheim pepper strips. They were great. I think I'll grow them again, but mine kept very poorly and I need to try to get them to last longer since I had to toss about half of mine within a month of curing. They started to rot from the middle. I'm not sure if it was how I cured them or if I harvested them too late and that let something get into the stems. But because of the memory of those ones on the grill alone, they'll get another chance.

Cabernet F1 was great and I'll probably grow it again, but I'm thinking of adding one of the long red onions like Red of Florence. I like the idea of growing onions that are different than what I can buy in the store, like Alisa Craig and the long red types. I'd be curious if people have other suggestions of unique onions that are worth growing.

[Lonejack]

Lisa - you must be talking about the Union Pacific - Southern Pacific merger back in the late 90s. What a fiasco that was! I work for a RR with its HQ here in KC.

I get my Dixondale bunches at a place called Planter's Seed and Spice located just north of downtown KC in the river market area. Off the top of my flat head they offer Candy, Red Candy Apple, Superstar, Copra, 1015Y Texas Supersweet, Yellow Granex, Highlander, Walla Walla, Yellow Spanish, and a red and white bermuda, and usually a red cippolini. It varies a bit from year to year though. They get a huge shipment in early March. They also have about a dozen varieties of seed potatoes too.

That place is really a home gardener's nirvana with all of the seed starting supplies you could ever want, seed racks galore with probably a couple dozen seed companies represented, all types of potting mixes including the Pro-mix BX I use. I could spend half a day there. Luckily it's only a mile from my office so I can pop in there on my lunch break any time I want.

[Shule]

[mention]mikestuff49[/mention] They'll sprout and grow in cooler temperatures than tomatoes.

I hear if you want big onions, you should direct-sow them. Growing them in containers, I hear is if you want them to be smaller (or have smaller bulbs, I mean). I don't know, though; that's just what I've heard. Onions are pretty easy to start in an unheated greenhouse, though.

Instead of all-out direct-seeding them, you might try pre-germinating them in a plastic bag with a paper towel or some such, and then direct-seeding the germinated seeds. I haven't tried that, but in our soil (where many species of plants have trouble germinating), I would want to try that.

Alisa Craig is a nice onion!

[brownrexx]

I quit growing onions in my area about 3 years ago when a new pest called the allium Leaf Miner arrived but I did grow from seed in 6b prior to that.

I planted in soiless mix in mid February and when the seedlings got too tall I gave them a "haircut" and used the trimmings in cooking. The seedlings usually had 2-3 haircuts before plant out.
A couple of weeks after germination I started feeding them with a weak liquid fertilizer every week until they were planted outside. As the weather warmed, but before it was safe to plant in the ground, they lived on the covered front porch in their trays, no repotting needed.
I grew Copra and they were still tiny when planting out so I could actually have started the seeds earlier than mid February.

[GoDawgs]

I grow mine pretty much the same way as brownrexx only I start mine in August for mid October planting out. They are started in three mini furrows in each container. And I too give mine haircuts and although I've read elsewhere that not cutting them makes bigger onions, I've found more information about the benefits of keeping them trimmed.

[Paquebot]

(4b/5a zone here.) I'll throw something different at you. I start mine in October, outside. They are sown in 3-gallon pots, dampened, and plywood squares placed over the pots. In early March, plywood is replaced with plastic grocery bag. Plastic bag is like a greenhouse and pots absorb heat during the day and medium stays warm at night. Plants grow slower and sturdier and never need pruning. Presently have Makó, Walla Walla, and White Sweet Spanish resting in their pots.

Martin

[Tormahto]

@mikestuff49 They'll sprout and grow in cooler temperatures than tomatoes.

I hear if you want big onions, you should direct-sow them. Growing them in containers, I hear is if you want them to be smaller (or have smaller bulbs, I mean). I don't know, though; that's just what I've heard. Onions are pretty easy to start in an unheated greenhouse, though.

Instead of all-out direct-seeding them, you might try pre-germinating them in a plastic bag with a paper towel or some such, and then direct-seeding the germinated seeds. I haven't tried that, but in our soil (where many species of plants have trouble germinating), I would want to try that.

Alisa Craig is a nice onion!

If you want YUGE! onions, do a simple online search for "giant onion giant carrot"

[MsCowpea]

Here is a bunch of info from Dixondale:

https://www.dixondalefarms.com/online_guides


They have a lot of YouTube videos as well. Just google dixondale youtube videos.

[zendog]

They go in the ground today. I'll plant about 20% of these for me, but the rest I give away to other gardeners. If anyone happens to be in the DC area and needs some onions, let me know. Theses will probably all be either planted of given away by the end of this weekend.

freeonions.jpg