I have decided this year I want to grow onions from seed since I can start now! Has anyone else grown them from seed? Advice?

As of now I am planning to put them in a "container garden" well sort of! I plan to take a couple lid-less big plastic totes and drill big holes in the bottom and put them in the garden. I am hoping this will help with weed control since onions compete a lot with weeds.

Although the more I research this I feel like I may have purchased the wrong ones for my area. I purchased Granex which I found out were short day onions which I am not sure how well will do in Ohio. Thoughts?

I may have to buy another variety.

I'm not sure which variety I bought but I plan on sowing several seeds in seed starting modules. I'll plant the entire plug with all the onion seedlings that start. As the onions get larger, I'll harvest some of them as spring onions and leave 3-4 of them together to mature. The onions will not get as large, but I like a medium size onion rather than something like a large vandalia.

I'm starting onion from seed for the first time as well this year.

Nice dog too.

Thank you That's one of my three Siberian Huskies!

I ended up just ordering another seed set this time of "yellow sweet spanish" I like big onions but I think if I get creative I'll have room to plant both types so I may still try the Granex as well and see how it goes. Worst come to worst I'll have tiny little golfball sized onions

You mean see how it grows. ;)

I have a husky/shepherd mix that had separation anxiety when I first got her. Did a LOT of damage to the house. She's finally calmed down to the point where I"m starting to repair the damage after about 5 years.

If you want large onions,onions need space, water and fertilizer; not till I started to grown mine on a berm where they always got water but the soil was still well drained did I start getting large onions, and this took me decades to learn.

Are you going to bury that container in the soil? If not the sun beating down on the sides will make it a sauna.

RpR said:If you want large onions,onions need space, water and fertilizer; not till I started to grown mine on a berm where they always got water but the soil was still well drained did I start getting large onions, and this took me decades to learn.

Are you going to bury that container in the soil? If not the sun beating down on the sides will make it a sauna.

Yes I was considering burying them down halfway or so. That way its up high enough to hopefully make weeding easier. I may just put them in one of our other raised beds. I'm not 100% sure on this yet. I have a large garden area so I have plenty of room to reorganize everything and make adjustments. In the past the garden was roughly 25ftx50ft in the ground. It was impossible to keep up with while working a full time job and having three young kids. This time I plan to put a bunch of 8x4 raised beds on it and then I planned on possibly putting containers around the edge to get some extra crops. My 4 year old pretty much demanded pumpkins this year so I'm trying to give them more space than needed to avoid problems down the road.

Thomas, you've kept a large and destructive dog because she was scared???
You've seen her through thick and thin no matter what???
Sending hugs and good thoughts!

Deeby said:Thomas, you've kept a large and destructive dog because she was scared???
You've seen her through thick and thin no matter what???
Sending hugs and good thoughts!

Yeah I rescued her from the humane society. Once I take responsibility for something, I take responsibility for it. She's eaten a couple hollow core doors, ripped up carpeting and padding, scratched the crap out of french doors. I have pictures. Luckily it's an older house and I had plans to replace a lot of it but SOME of it like the french doors I had already remodeled. So well.

OH AND LETS NOT TALK ABOUT BLINDS... she has to be able to see out the windows.

You're her hero-and mine! Not everyone would keep her. That she was at the pound proves it. What's her name? I'd love pictures.

Just a few quick tips.

Onion seeds like far more moisture than tomato and pepper seeds. The seeding mixture should be wet but not a mush. Covering the propagator to maintain moisture levels is strongly advised.
Onion seeds germinate the best around 70F, so use a heating mat if needed. Germination time is around 10 days and you will need about 12 hours of light a day (growing lights are absolutely fine).
Once the seedlings have sprouted remove the propagator lid but do not allow the growing medium to get dry.

Once the seedlings have sprouted three leaves you can move them to containers 3-4" deep and allow them to grow until it's time for them to be planted in the field. Keep the temperature in the 65-70F range and keep them well watered. A little liquid fertilizer is fine but don't overdo it: they'll need lots of it later on.

I believe you want long or intermediate day onions in Ohio.

https://bonnieplants.com/garde...

Henderman said:I believe you want long or intermediate day onions in Ohio.

https://bonnieplants.com/garde...

Yes, short day are for us southerners who plant in the fall. They grow over the winter and we are harvesting in the spring. The days are shorter then. I dont start from seed, but instead buy sets. For up north you plant in the spring and they grow through the summer, longer days. I love my onions, Texas Legend, which are sweet. Have about 200 planted. Also about 50 red Bermuda. Both store well.

Deeby said:You're her hero-and mine! Not everyone would keep her. That she was at the pound proves it. What's her name? I'd love pictures.

Someone left the blinds down yesterday... The pound named her Crystal... (Who names a dog Crystal?) My son named her Summer.... because? yeah we got her in the Summer. Last dog was named Indiana because? "I like Indiana. We named the dog Indiana!" From Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

I ended up purchasing a long day onion as well, yellow sweet spanish. I may try a few of the short day seeds so they don't go to waste as well. I have a big garden so it wouldn't hurt to try!

I do have grow lights so I'll be using those once the sprouts start coming up.

Great names Thomas!

Growing onions from seed is extremely easy. It's the only way I've ever done it. Don't let anyone here intimidate you and make you think it's difficult.

Just keep in mind throughout the entire growing period, seed to harvest (well, I'd let them dry out before harvest a bit), they like water and cool weather. They're a leafy vegetable, despite them having a big root ball.

I always sowed them on the surface & just barely covered, & some not at all. I thought the Granex was developed at U. of H. & we called it Maui onion, back in the 1970's & then years later, got called 'Vidalia', down south in GA.....But, you can sow a pkt of it in spring, crowded in a fairly big pot & plant out, individually, just as you would with purchased sets. They just save you time & cost a little extra than a packet. But, granex sown by spring, will grow & remain alive though summer & should "bulb up" by late summer, into autumn. It flowers & produces seeds in late spring, like normal. But, I am in zone 8...
I do recall a dairy farmer in the Valley, in California, when I was a child & he bent over the tops, as it was getting to be nearly summer. I asked why he did that & he replied, that by doing so makes the energy go into increasing the bulb size, as opposed to being spent on the flowering.

Granex was a cooperative effort (USDA and Texas Agric. Expt. Sta., College Station) 1951). The major problem with growing short day onions in the North is that they are programmed to begin bulbing in March (10-12 hours of daylight. If they don't reach adequate plant size before bulbing they will do their best, result small onions. Bending over tops as the bulbs reach maturity is common practice. Not sure it speeds up the process, They will naturally fall over as the onion matures. Flower stalks (bolting) occurs under some weather conditions and are bad news to a grower. Resistance to bolting is a major feature of newer varieties. I rarely have any bolt today.

@farmerdill Thank you Dillard, for the explanation. My "search" results are really very poor, as others have used this "Cable" connection for years & that alters the results, I get, when trying to do any research about things that actually interest me...
I had never even actually ever seen a Texas Grano seed packet before, until just a few years ago.! Therefore, assuming incorrectly, the origins & timeline. I suppose whatever research had been done by U. of H. that I had heard about, was probably done, to determine where that yellow granex, onion grew well, & apparently it did so, on Maui.
Then, after moving East, apparently granex did well in Vidalia, GA. I couldn't find out much about short day length, but mentioned latitude of 32 degrees North, as a general line, for growth. But here, it usually can do just fine, started spring, or autumn, being so close to the Chesapeake Bay.. As it rarely gets very cold, like it did not long ago & froze hard, at about 20F, which isn't so good for onions, at all ...