Kitchen Garden Forum

Having never grown onions from seed before I am not sure when I should consider potting them on. I usually grow from sets planted straight out in situ.

As you can see from picture they were sown in seed trays and have had patchy germination.

Variety is Kelsae. I do not intend trying to plant them out yet but do wonder when , or even if, I should pot them on

I would leave them until they are quite a bit bigger and not pot them on at all, and I would then not separate them but plant them out in clumps (if they have grown in clumps) because the onions will grow apart from each other as they grow on, thereby giving you a range of sizes from, say, gobstopper to tennisball - very useful for different recipes. Unless, of course, you are aiming for large ones, in which case, plant them well apart - but not yet!

Thanks for the advice Monika, these are for growing large just as a bit of fun as a few of my fellow plot holders seem to have a 'thing' about the size of their onions.

Examples shown in picture were sown 25th Jan. In hindsight I might have been wiser to have sown them in pots, my concern being the shallow soil depth in seed trays.

Onion seedlings are generally quite tough and don't mind being pulled apart if their roots get a bit tangled. I too would let them get a bit bigger, but plant them out if there are a lot of roots growing through the bottom of the container.

I wouldn't grow these in clumps. Kelsae is usually grown for show purposes as you say Par Snip they will hopefully make very large onions. I wish you luck.

Beryl.

Pa Snip wrote: fellow plot holders seem to have a 'thing' about the size of their onions.

.

I used to have that problem.

Thanks for the advice folks. I have now sown some late ones.
Remainder of packet of seeds sown in 3 inch pots, two to a pot.


Richard, hope they aged well without shrivelling in storage.

Hi Pa,
I would tease them out and plant them individually into vending machine size cups,that will stop the roots tangling up,try putting a little support stick along side them to keep upright and plant out in April May.
Hopefully you should get some nice specimens.

I find that the medium sized onions planted about 4 to 5 inches apart outside keep much longer than the large ones. I've tried hanging them in nets in the unheated greenhouse this winter and have only lost one or two and I've still got a few to use up. This is compared to storing them in an outhouse which is warmer.

I've been keeping mine in my frost free, by dint of a fan heater on frost setting, workshop shed.
They're sprouting like crazy,

I need a better storage solution, I'd chosen this shed for its reasonably consistent temperature, it has a double roof, tongue and groove timber with rockwool insulation laying on it, a 3" air gap, then corrugated pitchfibre panels. All the walls are two skin with rock wool between, even the floor has chickenwire between the joists with rockwool on top. The door and windows are old double glazed house items. One door is simple wood with two single tall panes of glass in the top half, bottom half has a 1/2" ply overlay on the outside of its thin ply inset panels.

As well as the fan heater I've had a small dehumidifier running constantly.
Next doors fence pretty much shields the west facing back, the right side faces north, the left is partly shielded by terracing with a low trellis panel and the front picks up morning sunlight only through its largely glazed upper half once the sun clears the 7' hedge opposite. The flat roof is pitched 20° down to the back.

My 12'x8' greenhouse is linked to the mains, but has poorly fitting vents, leak like a sieve, I power lidded propagators once I start sowing. It nestlesvin the botton, northeast corner shielded from the east by the 7' hedge with a Hazel to the north, door, end. My other shed casts an afternoon/evening shadow from the west, but is only alongside half of the greenhouse. Despite all the shading temperatures inside hit very comfortable levels once the sun hits it, indeed a bit too comfortable for working unless you open the door and vents on a sunny day.

So is your unheated greenhouse not getting somewhat warm on sunny days as well?

My other storage options would be;

1 Garage, warmer than the above, its in the house with freezer and washer/dryer in it.
2 Cr@p shed in the garden used for mower and tools, no room really.
3 Concrete allotment shed, turns into a sauna with sunshine as it catches every ray all day.
4 Newly refurbished and re sited metal allotment shed tucked under the south side hedge. Only been there a few months but seems consistently cold, possibly a bit humid, mimimal sun strike.

So gased on my epistle, where should I store my onions?

PS the potatoes are happy in the workshop.

The greenhouse is getting quite warm on sunny days now Peter, but it doesn't matter now they are almost used up. Cold and dry seems to work best. You sound to have quite a few options.

Thanks for the input, hints and suggestions

Two weeks on from original post and I have now potted on most of the onions pictured in the seed trays. Only lost two in the process of potting on

The later seeds that I sowed direct onto pots are also just beginning to germinate.

As Plumpudding suggests, greenhouse is getting warm, hadn't opened it the other day and by mid afternoon it was reading 100 degrees inside. oooops.