robynanne said:Sandy, I'd love to see some pictures from starting onions. I'm starting them too, but not sure I'm doing it right. Last year I started them outside way too late and got nothing.
Hi Robyn -- one of the difficulties with starting onions outdoors is that the seedling are so tiny -- almost hair-like -- that they are easily overwhelmed by even tiny weeds. I start quite a few onion plants -- usually around 600, because I plant around 300 myself and share the rest with my 2 brothers-in-law; I use 6-packs (the 8-to-a-flat size), fill with potting soil, plant approximately 6 seeds per cell, and cover lightly with more soil. Then I add water to the flat (about 1/2" or so deep, which will be absorbed by the soil in the packs), and lightly water the surface of the 6-packs. Then I top the flat off with a clear "humidity dome," or just with plastic wrap or what have you. Next I put them under my fluorescent lights, where the temp is around 75F, and wait for them to sprout; onions are a little slower than a lot of other things, so be patient.
Once the sprouts are up, I thin as needed to get 3-4 plants per cell and move my lights down so they are as close as possible to the sprouts without touching. (I have the old-type T12 bulbs; newer types might not need to be so close, but the plants do need good strong light.) As the sprouts grow, I keep moving the lights so that they aren't touching. Once the sprouts are about 5" tall I give them a little "trim," taking about an inch off the tops. I do this several times before planting them out in the garden; otherwise my plants have always gotten much too unruly and tangled. Not everyone finds this to be necessary, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems for me. Finally, about 3 to 3-1/2 months after starting the seeds, I stick the little plants in the ground and cover them with "floating row cover" to give them a bit of protection from the sun and wind -- which eliminates the need to otherwise harden them off. Make sure the ground stays moist, because they are quite shallow rooted.
I must have some photos somewhere of earlier stages of onion starting... but this one is from April, still under the lights (on the lower shelf, left), after starting the seeds around mid-February:
and this one is in May, out in my greenhouse, shortly before planting out:
There are also a number of articles about onions in the "learning library" here on NGA:
https://garden.org/learn/artic...
Hope this is helpful!
