Onion seed v sets

[Little Lottie]

Hi,

This year I have grown some onions from sets which are drying nicely in my shed. I am wondering how easy it is to grow them from seed next year instead and how successful they might be.

any advice would be much appreciated

Tracey

[MaureenHall]

I've heard that it's more difficult to grow them from seed, but I really really want to have a go!! So that's my big project for next year I think. I'll do some sets as well though - just in case

[Little Lottie]

I guessed as much, I suppose my reasoning for wanting to grow from seed stems from growing other veg from seed and getting so much from a packet. you just dont get the same satisfaction from sets.

[burnie]

I grow from sets for keeping for the kitchen for cooking and the large "spanish" from seed for the summer coleslaw.Intend to try some shallots as well next year.

[Alice]

You can grow onions from seed Little Lottie but they are much easier from sets. My late father in law (a good gardener) always said if you can get a good crop of onions from seed you'll know you are a real gardener. But go on, give it a go. Good luck.

[Snadger]

This year I have went half and half! I have spring planted Sturon sets for storing and sets of a large white onion (who's name I can't remember!) I have red Hungarian ham onions grown from seed, my favourite(cos red onion sets always seem to bolt for me!)

I also have normal ham onions and Kelsae big lads grown from seed!

I always grow Senshui Japanese onions from sets in autumn as I tried these from seed and the sets were much better.

[zazen999]

I found the sets bolted whereas the seeds didn't. Also the sets were more prone to get white rot.

The things you have to be prepared for with growing from seed are; a long long wait; losing some at the seedling stage if the seedlings get too hot/cold/wet/dry. I now sow insitu alongside carrots and they grow nicely together - the carrots are usually eaten before the onions are ready and so the onions have the space to grow on once the carrots are out.

They are rarely affected by slugs; from my personal experience, and if you do sow in a seedling tray can be quite difficult to get them to take without burying them too deep.

If you do want to sow and transplant, I have found the best way is use small pots and put a pinch of seed in each. One they are a few inches high and the roots are showing at the bottom, plant the whole lot in the pot together, at the same level as the soil in the pot. Then the onions will stand nicely upright and grow on alot quicker than pricking them out. Then wait.

I succession sow onions all year round [during the winter months, they are sown into pots and put out of the cold, ready to go in the ground in the early spring]. The rest of the year I sow insitu. I also use several different types, as they grow at different speeds.

I pick my onions as i need them and only harvest a load at once when I need the room. If they aren't at the total dry stage and suitable for storing, then I'll chop and freeze them all.

[Little Lottie]

Thanks everyone,

I am going to give it a go (i will probably plant a few sets too just in case)

[kentvegplot]

I started with around 30 seedlings over the winter, and produced 5 good onions (Ailsa Craig). The sets were much more reliable! Really disappointed, particularly as various members of the family keep reminding me that my grandfather ALWAYS produced prize-winning onions from seed. Still, you can't win 'em all.

It can be a real fiddle to get the pricking out/potting on right, I shall follow the advice of zazen999 next time.

[lynda66]

i've got a row of onions from seed that have been in since beginning of june, they still look like blades of grass, but they aren't in the way, so i'm just leaving them, i read on here that onion seeds should be fresh each year, so i've used up the rest of my seeds in a 1m x 1m bed, chucked em all in, and will just leave them to it, planted them a couple of weeks ago, and they are already nearly as big as the first ones i planted, am still hoping for some onions

[JennieAtkinson]

I succession sow onions all year round [during the winter months, they are sown into pots and put out of the cold, ready to go in the ground in the early spring]. The rest of the year I sow insitu. I also use several different types, as they grow at different speeds.

Thats interesting Zazen. Can you advise on when you sowed and put them out in the cold. Was it a cold frame, or just standing in a sheltered spot? And do you get heavy frosts and cold temps? (Sorry for all the questions!)

I had no luck with seeds last year (I tried a dual approach, although I was glad I got so many sets given the failure rate of the seeds - about 99%!). But I kept them in the greenhouse and that may have been the reasons. Will give it another go this year and keep them in the cold.

[zazen999]

Thats interesting Zazen. Can you advise on when you sowed and put them out in the cold. Was it a cold frame, or just standing in a sheltered spot? And do you get heavy frosts and cold temps? (Sorry for all the questions!)

I had no luck with seeds last year (I tried a dual approach, although I was glad I got so many sets given the failure rate of the seeds - about 99%!). But I kept them in the greenhouse and that may have been the reasons. Will give it another go this year and keep them in the cold.

If only I was that organised!!!

lets see...I usually sow in situ during warm months up to sept. After that I'll sow a few in situ with clear plastic storage container upended and take that off after they have sprouted. Once the frosts hit, I'll sow into small pots, in pinches [we have a garage - no greenhouse but I'm sure a greenhouse would be ok] and they will go out early march or late feb if the weather is good. By then, I'll sow a few more insitu and pop the cover as above on.

Throughout, I'll eat the biggest specimens as we go, and if we run out of those and the frozen ones, I'll start on the smaller ones that are growing together, leaving one at each planting to grow on to full.

No cold frame, but covering them does keep the wind and cold off.

I also find mixing the different types helps, as they grow at different rates and I then have a choice of red/white/japanese/flat/round.

Frosts; we live in the midlands, but I don't find onions are really affected, they just stop growing for a while. It's nice to kick off the spring with people asking how we got onions so early...

I like onions, can you tell??? My favourite thing to grow!!!

And now I've discovered the onion and root veg fertiliser - there'll be no stopping me.

[Matt.]

I've bought some seed for next year - red and white although I don't remeber the name. I'm hoping to get a bigger crop as each packet contains 800 seeds. We'll see how it goes and fortunately I can always fall back on sets.

My plan is to sow late November or early December in cells in the greenhouse. These will stay there until March when I'll sow outside.

[burnie]

I have grown Robinsons Mammoth in the past and the sucess rate was very high,planted in modules on boxing day in a propogator.Put 2 seeds in each module and pinch off the weakest when germinated,pot on into old cups from vending machines then plant out in a very rich well manured plot and stand well back.Bear in mind they were averaging over 3lb in weight each,you don't need many!My biggest was almost as big as a football and weighed over 5lbs.Lots of water is required to get the really big ones and I didn't have problems with them going to seed either.They were mild "spanish types" which didn't keep except for one which was as hot as anything I've ever grown.

[lynda66]

ok that's it i'm going to grow mammoths next year, that will save loads of space i like onions