Onion seedlings

[baggyman]

Can anyone tell me when the best time to transplant onion seedlings is?
(Have tried a search but got no real answer)

[binley100]

Not sure on the best time but I know that mine won't be going out until May. We have a local problem with the allium leaf miner fly and they attack in April. Just save me having to fleece them.

[bazzaboy]

Good question, baggyman, I dread somebody saying "Not now!" having spent this afternoon doing exactly that with my second lot (the first having rewarded my care and gentle attention since Christmas plus rising electricity bill by mostly dying after the first transplant exercise...). If you're growing for exhibition it's Medwyn you need and he has a detailed article at
Large Kelsae Onions by Medwyn Williams MBE FNVS, Chairman of The National Vegetable Society
If you're not growing for exhibition there still quite a few tips (and a few surprises like trimming roots which I wouldn't dare do!) in the article...
They seem so fragile at this stage, little more than strands with a root that seems to wander around aimlessly... They have now been moved from modules to individual 3" pots, there's a threat of frost tonight so providing gentle warmth (this is ridiculous, how much are they in Tescos, you can buy 'em in sackfuls... ) and I'll check tomorrow if they've made it through the night. Now we're up to 12 hours daylight per day (supposedly) I've stopped the artificial lights and will try to provide sunshine though that's not exactly up to me! Even with sunshine their feeble leaves can't shade out weeds so they remain a responsibility...
I might buy a tube of onion paste next year, sounds easier!

[binley100]

Mine are in loo roll middles (cut in half) in a placcy blowaway , which is now open day and night. They've not had artificial light and were chucked out into the gh as soon as they germinated.

[bazzaboy]

lol, interesting, lots of questions, Binley..... Have you transplanted them at this stage or do you start them in the 1/2 loo-roll (just 1 seed per unit?) and put the whole lot out in May? When did you start them and what variety are they? What stage are they at now? Do you grow them solely for the kitchen or kitchen plus local shows? And last one (sorry!) when you plant them out do you rotate or use the same bed (which always used to be the case but now frowned on...). Lifetime's study!

[Two_Sheds]

Think of transplanting as moving house. When your family gets bigger, you need a new house.
When your plants get bigger, they need a new pot. I don't transplant anything until it's outgrown the pot it's in, ie the roots are coming out of the bottom

[zazen999]

You can transplant onions from the crook neck stage onwards.

I try to leave them until they are upstanding, or until I need the space. Usually for more onions

[binley100]

lol, interesting, lots of questions, Binley..... Have you transplanted them at this stage or do you start them in the 1/2 loo-roll (just 1 seed per unit?) and put the whole lot out in May? When did you start them and what variety are they? What stage are they at now? Do you grow them solely for the kitchen or kitchen plus local shows? And last one (sorry!) when you plant them out do you rotate or use the same bed (which always used to be the case but now frowned on...). Lifetime's study!

I start them off in a tray. I transplant when they are crookneck. Yes they will all go out in may (dig a hole and pop the loo roll in) This year I'm growing bedfordshire Champion (some of which are for our centenary garden) globo and red baron.. They are grown for kitchen use and yes I rotate the bed....We have allium leaf miner fly and I don't want any of them still hanging around in bed....

[baggyman]

Thanks for all the replys.
Binley, do leaf miner live in the ground then? I thought they were a fly and moving bed would be pointless, although that would explain why some plots on our site are more prone to it than others!

[binley100]

They lay their eggs which turn into a grub which lives on the plant, but some may drop off into the soil so are there ready to turn into flies again.....so if you plant in the same spot they could be lurking ready to repeat the whole exercise..