On Saturday I sowed my first seeds for the 2015 growing season! I sowed some onion seeds and leeks. This is my third attempt at starting my own onion transplants. The first two times I started them the end of January and they did not get large enough in time for transplanting. They were wimpy onion seedlings. This year I started them earlier and after they germinate I am going to keep them under my grow lights longer. I want to have nice strong pencil size onion transplants by the end of March. I sowed 5 onion varieties and King Richard Leeks. The 5 onion varieties I am growing this year are Red Long of Tropea, Red Wethersfield, Candy, Walla Walla and Sweet Spanish Utah Strain. Last year I grew Walla Walla onions from transplants I purchased at Home Depot and they were the biggest and best onions I have ever grown. I chose all long day varieties except for Red Long of Tropea, which are intermediate-long. I used small plastic containers I bought at the dollar store to start my seeds in. I am hoping for success this year with my onion transplants! Do you have any pointers for me to increase my chances of success? I found this helpful article on the top ten tips for growing onions from seed
http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=232
Have you started any seeds for your 2015 growing season? The next seeds I will be sowing are peppers, tomatillos, ground cherries and dwarf tomatoes at the end of February. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my post! Happy New Year!
I haven't tried growing onions from seed, I usually plant onion sets from my local hardware store. I start my peppers and tomatoes under grown lights in early March. I hope to have them transplanted in the garden by Mother's Day this year.
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda! I always grew onion sets in my garden until last year. I definitely noticed a difference in the size of my onions that I grew from transplants that I bought at Home Depot. Last year was my best onion harvest ever! No more onion sets for my garden!
DeleteI grew onions for the first time (from seed!) last year & it was so much fun! I didn't sow my seeds until the beginning of March, but I also didn't transplant them out until the beginning of May. There were lots of tense moments as I wasn't sure what to expect and if they were growing normally or not, but they turned out amazing, with a total harvest of over 85 lbs. You can see one of my harvest posts here: http://homegrown-adventuresinmygarden.blogspot.ca/2014/08/harvest-monday-august-25-2014.html
ReplyDeleteThe one problem I had was with onion maggots - which wasn't apparent until after the onions were harvested. Next year I'll have to place netting on the bed to keep the flys out. Other than that, I have many bags of onions hanging in the basement and they are all keeping incredibly well.
Margaret you grew some beautiful onions! I loved looking at your blog posts. I will have to give Copra and Ailisa Craig onions a try next year.
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