Onions

I can't find onion sets/plants anywhere for my fall garden. My BWI planting guides tells me I can plant onion this month and Oct. which I'm pretty sure means plants not seed. Since I can't find plants I'm wondering if I can sew some seed and put a lo tunnel over them when really cold weather gets here.

P

I also have had trouble finding sets so I've been planting seeds for the past 2 weeks and will continue with more. I have the scallions for green onions which I think will be ready before Thanksgiving. I have leeks and a short day bulbing onion called Red Creole. I soaked the seed overnight in plain water and planted in pots. They come up in a couple days. They probably don't need the soaking but I was in a hurry. I'm giving them weak Miracle Grow every other time I water. When they get 4" tall cut them back to 2". It makes the base get larger. Next week I'll plant them where they are to grow.

In zone 8 they will surely go through the winter and last until it gets too hot in May. I'm starting plenty and plan to dehydrate what ever is left before they bolt. I did that last spring with onions from the store and they're excellent for use in cooking.

I just ordered- HYBRID YELLOW GRANEX ONIONû2 @ 75/BUNCH Delivery Estimate: 10/10/08 - 10/10/08
from: http://henryfields.com

BocaBob

thanks twiggy for the growing info

Bob,thanks for the link.

peaceful valley farm and garden supply has sets right now

ronniger.com has onions.

I fianlly found some oinion sets.Got in the ground a week or so ago.

Thnaks

How long does it take onion seeds to be harvestable onions? The place I ordered my veggie seeds from didn't have sets available so I bought seeds..

KityK I plant my onion seeds in early Jan in four inch pots in seed starting mix or potting soil. I put about 50 in each container. As they grow I water once every two to three weeks with a water soluble fertilizer. When they get 6 to 8 inches I take the sissors to them and cut off the tops to 4 inches. This makes the plants grow thicker stems. Mid april I plant them and harvest in late Aug or early Sept when ever the tops start falling over.

For fresh use you can start harvesting much sooner but they will not store.Most onions have a real long cycle like 270 days. The famous Walla Walla Sweets are grown on the other side of the mountians. They are planted late Aug and over winter the freezing cold just fine and grow like gang busters in the spring maturing fully in the summer.

Onions are light sensitive hope you bought short day seeds otherwise they will not bulb corrrectly. So in short here it is over 200 days from seed to harvest. Can't say what your season will do but I would guess the same.

I start them in pots because I dont have to weed them because they are a bear to weed. They grow like tiny hairs and are very hard to not pull out at the same time as the weed comes out.

Maybe someone in your zone will come along and give you better information this is what I do for this zone and it works for me good luck.