Planting Onion Seeds For Beginners

one crop that i want to make sure gets the attention it deserves this year is the humble onion there's three ways to plant onions and in my opinion the best way to grow them is from seeds that you start yourself either early indoors if you live in the north or directly seeded into the garden if you live in the south it's a lovely day out but it's still winter here luckily i love to start my plants indoors early so let's plant some onion seeds today and get this allium party started [Music] as mentioned there's actually three different ways that you can plant your onions of course you can plant from seeds like we're gonna do here today but you can also plant onions from sets those tiny dormant onion balms from the previous season and not only that you can also grow your summer onion crop from already sprouted onion starts now onion sets and onion starts are costlier but they do give you that head start so equal trade-off unfortunately they're both limited in the varieties that you can grow as often only one or two kinds are offered every year so if you have that favorite onion type that you always like to grow you could be out of luck as it might not be offered fortunately onion seeds are super easy to plant sprout and grow into your own onion starts they're grown a little bit differently than your other vegetables so let's head on inside and get into it onions are kind of a slow growing cool weather crop that can require 90 plus days to reach maturity because they grow so slow onions directly planted into your garden in the spring often don't have time to reach maturity before the warm summer temperatures hit sort of the opposite problem as our tomatoes and peppers but we can alleviate this dilemma by starting our onion seeds early indoors roughly eight to ten weeks before our last spring frost date and then planting those two month old onion shoots outdoors in the spring means they only have a six to eight week window that they need to mature awesome which gives us that perfect timing to harvest the sweet delicious onions in the still cool days of spring i'll have an onion planting video later on this spring that'll walk us through the later stages of the crop but for now as we approach the final frost days let's get those seeds started planting onion seeds is much the same as a lot of the other veggie crops that we start early indoors plant the seeds 8 to 10 weeks before your last spring frost date which is going to vary depending on where you are in the world also plant those seeds using a proper seeding mix rather than straight compost or just some dirt from your garden onions are both shallow rooted and shallow grown so the seeds are best planted about half an inch deep or less and for the best germination results keep the temperatures constant between 68 and 78 degrees fahrenheit under these parameters your onion seeds will sprout in about 8 to 10 days there are two different kinds of onions long day and short day but that's an entire topic onto itself which we're going to cover later let's plant a couple of brand new nursery trays of onion seeds talking about the specifics along the way and then get into some onion sealing care for after when those seeds sprout onions like most veggie seeds do best with a proper seeding mix yes i know onion seeds will sprout in just compost or even regular dirt from your garden but this is about maximizing germination rates and maximizing that seedling viability after they've sprouted seeding mixes are readily available year round but especially right now you can also make your own by taking regular potting soil adding another 25 coconut fiber or peat moss and maybe five percent perlite sift out that larger debris and you've got a pretty good mix there that most onion seeds will love and for you extreme diy types i did a full video on making your own seedy mix right from scratch do check it out as the resulting soil mix is usually superior and more economical than the generic stuff that you're going to buy at the store as for your containers pretty much anything over two inches tall with drainage holes is going to work just fine i'm using the 1020 nursery cell inserts but honestly you can multi-seed onions so easily and pull them apart when it's time to plant them outside just use anything you have as long as it can drain water and still hold the soil it's going to work okay before we get into seeding which honestly is just putting the seeds into the soil about a quarter to half inch deep and then covering them up and making sure they have water let's go back and talk about those two onion varieties long day and short day onions are amazing plants that get triggered to produce a bulb based on the day length that it senses in it shoots that's right as the days of spring get longer the plant is stimulated to start bulb production amazing so as you can guess by their names short day onions begin to set their bulbs when the day length reaches 10 to 12 hours and long day varieties do their thing when the days reach 14 to 16 hours of light the theory is short day onions are actually planted in the fall like garlic in warmer climates and up north where i am we use long day onions that are planted in the spring so if you've ever planted onions and got no bulbs or small bulbs or just a poor crop in general quite likely you could have planted the wrong variety for your region okay let's plant up these seeds i fill up my containers with my seeding mix and compress it slightly down to add a little bit more skim off the top to make it nice and even but don't plant just yet i soak my soil from below to get it really good and moist to provide the best environment for these onion seeds after around 2 hours i'm ready to plant onions are sewn relatively shallow and you can do it in three different ways either make a depression and plop that seed right in the hole covering it back up or place the seed right on top pushing it down to the desired depth with a blunt object or you can even place the seeds right on top of the soil but this time add a little bit more of that mix and bury them that way either way you do you and choose the method that you like the best cover your seed trays up with a dome to make a little greenhouse and germinate your seeds between 68 and 78 degrees fahrenheit which is slightly cooler than your other indoor crops onions sprout fast usually within a week i uncover mine as soon as they sprout and i take them off the heat in my seating racks once they're an inch high and this is where the final most important tip for growing your own onion starts takes place unlike your other crops like tomatoes and peppers that are most likely on a 16 hour day length your onions cannot be this will trick them like we talked about before to start setting those bulbs which is obviously much too early for tiny plants like this to support keep the day length under 10 hours for short day varieties and under 12 hours for the long day ones it's easy because the onion ceilings don't need crazy heat or light at this time anyway the other issue that you might come across is what's called the onion loop that is the growing tip of the onion appears to be stuck in the soil it doesn't just appear to be it is whatever you do don't pull it out because your onion babies will be so poorly rooted this time you're liable to pull the whole plant out simply cut the loop and pull the top out this is totally fine and in fact i trim the onions anyways to around three to four inches in length it keeps them more upright as they can get quite unruly at this point maintain this schedule for the full two plus months until it's time for planting outside and keep those onions moist but not wet fun stuff let's recap there are two types of viking varieties long day and short day the further north you are the more likely that you're going to be planting the long day variety use a proper seeding mix and plant your seeds close to the surface usually about half an inch or less keep the seed down the soil at a constant 68 to 78 degrees fahrenheit and your onions are going to germinate in a week or less once germinated keep that day length low to avoid early bulb formation great stuff and hopefully i've been able to demystify a little bit growing onions from seeds honestly if you pick the right variety for your climate and you understand the early light requirements you're 95 of the way there and if you're already a pro at this and you'd love to share some onion seed starting tips with the awesome community make sure to leave a comment down below also if any of you are on facebook head on over and join our gardening group called growing better the group has grown phenomenally fast yet it will never lose its sense of community or its welcoming feel if you're passionate about growing epic organic fruits herbs and veggies for you and your family the growing better group is a great place to hang out share learn and grow hey thanks for watching guys if you're getting value in this and the other series that i'm doing on youtube hit those like share and subscribe buttons if you'd be so kind and i'll see you in the next video

Channel: The Ripe Tomato Farms

Views: 345,845

Keywords: how to grow onions, growing onions, how to, planting onions, planting onion seeds, planting onion bulbs, planting onions from seed, planting onions from bulbs, onion seeds, sowing onions, how to sow onions, how to plant onions, how to plant onions from seed, how to plant onions from bulbs, the ripe tomato farms, onions, how to plant onion seeds

Id: fHEaVgmUD5k

Length: 10min 45sec (645 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 25 2021