![]() You can buy seedlings online in early spring, but they are delicate and often suffer during transit. Onion seedlings are pre-grown seeds, started in autumn indoors by commercial growers or nurseries, sold exclusively in garden centres. Once roots reestablish in the soil and the leaves re-grow, the bulbs begin to grow when triggered by summer day lengths. The result is a small bulb, ready to grow new leaves quickly. They are grown from seed started in summer, and the underdeveloped bulbs have already had a half season’s growth. Onion sets are young onions, with fully developed root plates and are usually bought in bags with the leaves removed. Onion seedlings can give you the best of both worlds as they take a lot of work out of the process, and can be particularly useful for growers in cooler climates. Similarly, growing onions from seeds is more reliable but comes with more work, and usually requires a little spare space in the house or greenhouse over winter. Growing onions from sets gives you a great head start, but depending on your climate can lead to bolting and early flowering. Growing onions comes with a lot of choices, but the first and most important is whether to grow onions from sets, seeds or seedlings. ![]() As an Amazon Associate earns from qualifying purchases. If you want to save time then you can grow onions from sets.This post contains affiliate links. Possibly even clear a little of the soil at the top of the bulb too. When the leaves start to turn yellow at the ends, bend the tops over to help with the ripening. Keep them well watered especially when it is dry. Once again they will be OK if you leave them to their own devices, so if you're not growing them for the Village Show you may want to miss this step. You can also keep trimming them back to around 5" so that they don't flop over. Onion seedlings don't compete well with weeds and it will affect the size of your onions. The important thing while they are growing is to keep the weeds down. If it is you will get a lovely leafy display above ground and very little below ground. Make sure that the compost you use to fill the container is not too high in nitrogen. The container will need to be at least 10" (25cm) deep and each onion will need about 8cm (3 inches) of space to grow. If you want to grow onions in containers then transplant them at the same stage as for outdoors. Depending on the onions final sizes, plant them between 2-10” (4-25cm) apart, with 9" (22cm) between rows. The bulb should be ½” (1cm) below the surface. Plant them vertically and handle them gently. Make sure you put it directly under where the onions will be as their roots are concentrated directly down from the bulb. Dig some rich fertiliser into the ground where you are going to plant them. Transplant them outside in May or June when they produce a third leaf and are about 3” (8cm) high. Once you are happy that night time temperatures are well above 8?C then the onions can stay out without protection. Use a large Bell cloche or poly tunnel to help protect from wind and temperatures below 10?c. ![]() ![]() If you are not growing in a greenhouse, then put the seedlings outside on warm sunny days to get maximum light benefit and to help harden them off. Whether you are growing in the ground or containers make sure that that the young onions get plenty of light. This is fiddly and they will sort themselves out eventually so you can decide if you have the time and energy to do this or want to just let them get on with it. The thicker side of the loop can then get on with growing. If you want to help them move along then you can snip the thinner bit, pull it out complete with seed husk and discard it. Onion seedlings sometimes have trouble shedding the seed husk and end up doubled up like an ostrich with their head in the sand. Germination should take around 7 to 10 days. So, add a lid or enclose in a plastic bag and put it on a heat mat or somewhere warm like on top of the fridge. They will germinate without extra heat, but providing a little heat underneath the seed trays or pots will speed up the germination process.
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