All things Allium - Leeks, onion, shallots etc

[smallblueplanet]

Today I've sown small amounts of:

Onion - Cipolla

Err isn't cipolla italian for onion?

[Seahorse]

D'oh! Thats what happens when you're trying to be supermum and bake cookies and sing riotous selections from The Clash whilst typing in info on seed packets

[burnie]

Just ordered my sets,gone for heat treated,Golden Ball and Hyred f1,due for dispatch in March,think I might put some fleece on the soil to warm it up,but not till feb.

[marigold007]

Sown today:

Spring onion - Lilia (red) and organic White Lisbon
Onion - Utah Yellow Spanish Sweet
Onion - Red Brunswick
Leek - Lyon Prizetaker
Garlic Chives

also sowed some Parsley and Winter Gem lettuce in modules.

[JimmerG]

There's a lot of very early sowing going on here - I'm about to plant a load of leek seeds - waiting for this weekend as the moon will be in the right frame of mind.

BUT - what will everyone be doing once these seeds germinate? I'm just slightly concerned about the lack of sunlight at the moment. Will this not result in rather etiolated leggy specimins- or will everyone be moving seed trays into green houses/cold frames.

I ask as I don't have a greenhouse, but I am planning on building a cold frame in the next few weeks. I also have one of those rickety polythene 4 tier grow houses.

Would crooked leeks survive in a cold frame, bearing in mind there'll be danger of frost for the next 3 months?

J

[janeyo]

So PW can have his own sausage leek casserole with his homegrown sausage fingers lol
"I do them when they are of a size thats big enough to transpant without damaging them as I have sausage fingers."

How long do onions normally take to poke through?

janeyo

[zazen999]

BUT - what will everyone be doing once these seeds germinate? I'm just slightly concerned about the lack of sunlight at the moment. Will this not result in rather etiolated leggy specimins- or will everyone be moving seed trays into green houses/cold frames.

Hi

I think we all do different stuff once seeds are germinated. With my alliums, each cell will be split into 4 and potted up into pots [so about 10 in each pot]. They will be left somewhere cool indoors and slowly hardened off - for me that means putting outdoors on days like today which are warm-ish but kept indoors in the light when it isn't. Once the temps do rise a bit more, they will go into a plastic container with a lid on to start the hardening off process. After a week or two they will go outdoors with no lid and then put into their final positions in a month or two.

If I had a greenhouse, they would go in there, in a plastic container with the lid on, once it warms up in a few weeks.

[JimmerG]

Thanks Zazen,

I guess its just a question of finding the balance between getting enough light, and starting the hardening off process - I really am going to have to get going on this cold frame, whilst keeping an eye on the weather. Seems like there's going to be a lot of moving seedlings around!

Would it be about right to stick about 5 leek seeds per module of one of those 12 module trays? Would they need potting on again before being put in the ground?

[bobleponge]

As of today, in the non lunar planted side 2 leeks through, and nothing from the spring onions. Nothing at all from the lunar planted side.

[BrideXIII]

stalled at 3 leeks and 2 onions.

[zazen999]

Thanks Zazen,

I guess its just a question of finding the balance between getting enough light, and starting the hardening off process - I really am going to have to get going on this cold frame, whilst keeping an eye on the weather. Seems like there's going to be a lot of moving seedlings around!

Would it be about right to stick about 5 leek seeds per module of one of those 12 module trays? Would they need potting on again before being put in the ground?

I'd put more in a modules, but that's just me. 5 would be fine [I know someone who teaches organic gardening who only ever puts one seed in any module, no matter what the seed is]. You wouldn't have to pot on if you have somewhere for them to grow to the size they need to be.

I kick them out of modules and into pots as soon as I can - it just makes it easier to only have a few root trainers on the go at once.

Once the greenhouse is bought and put up, it will be a different story - it all depends on what you've got and how much space you have.

[Newbie]

Planted a pinch of paris Silverskin onion seeds in two pots filled with moist peat-free multi purpose compost, covered with a slight sprinkling of compost, didn't water as the compost was quite moist, put in an unheated propergator & placed on kitchen window sill, crossed fingers .

Three or four of the Paris Silverskin Onion seeds poked their heads up through this morning, 5 days from sowing - not bad!

[smallblueplanet]

10-12 rose de roscoff sown 7th Jan have germinated today.

[Adrastea]

I haven't tried onions from seed before, but here goes

10x modules Ailsa Craig, 6 seeds per cell approx!
Sown in multi purpose compost on 7th Jan in bedroom and now on windowsill with foil behind.
Will be keeping an eye on this thread for tips on growing!

[smallblueplanet]

A few Pale de Niort onions are just poking through, along with more rose de roscoff.