Starting Onions

David Trammel's picture

Onions are one of those plants I want to master because I like to eat them and they store very well. I've experimented this year with growing them both in the ground and in containers with some success with both methods. Now that its turning cold I've been thinking about my Winter gardening inside under lights.

I have two containers with onions sprouting and will see how they do. They may have too many onions in them to grow some bulbs of eating size but I have been wondering how to grow the small bulbs (aka onion sets) that I bought at the nursery this Spring. More research is called for.

I came across this article which mentions two methods for starting onions.

http://diyeverywhere.com/2017/03/27/stop-buying-onions-here-are-2-method...?

I don't know why I didn't realize that the cut off ends with the roots could be replanted. It makes perfect sense.

Sweet Tatorman's picture

The first method described in your link will also work with Leeks.

When digging Leeks I routinely use the shovel to cut off the tops and bottoms of Leeks thus removing from the garden only the portion to be used in the kitchen. After years of observing that the discarded root wads often tried to continue to grow I decided to gather some and replant them. I found that about 50% or so would sucessfully grow into another Leek.

Blueberry's picture

I will start with seed in late Sept. or early Oct. plant 1/4 teaspoon of seed in a 6 in pot using a mix of 3 parts peat to 1 part perlite. Grow them out, plant in the garden mid to late Nov. give them just enough fertilizer to get them settled in for the winter, or buy plants. Mid Feb. start giving them fertilizer every 2 weeks stop fertilizer 2nd week of May. Harvest end of May into June. Have lots of sweet onions for 2 months will freeze some just to not keep in the hot summer.

Second onion I grow is a multipling onion purchased about 20 years ago from Mr H. E. Davis in North Ga. Variety unkown plant in the fall and we grow them thur the winter giving us lots of onions for cooking not something you would want in a salad. We dig them up in mid May save app 100-200 sets for the next year. From each set we get app 6-10 plants. Our friends do not buy onions in the store for most of the year