Growing Onions – “Non Conventional” way

This year I decided to grow all my onions from seed instead of from sets. I have grown enough to be self sufficient (or almost) for many years now, starting way back when I was growing them on my flat roof-top garden. See my blog here about that..  Then onto my garden shares and now finally on my Allotment..  I used to grow over 1000 sets each year but now cut down to about 400-500 as my two sons have moved out and don’t need so many. I also normally do a packet of Japanese winter sets in September/October which I start using on 1st May each year as a filler crop to be used before the main crop is ready.

So just before Christmas I planted out a whole bunch of onion seed, fired up the new electric propagator and within a week they were over an inch high!! Wow I was pleased.. then I pricked them out and watched them all die!! Oh… I must have done them too soon?? I really dont know. This is the normal way that everyone grows them so where did I go wrong – mmmm – I don’t know..

These pics show my very sparse terrible crop of pricked out onion and leek seedlings after a month or so… The modules all had 2 pricked out plants in each!!

   

Anyway, back in Zimbabwe I used to grow a HUGE onion patch each year (about 150 sq mt) and gave all surplus away to family, friends and local children’s homes as our donation to charity. We would normally buy the seedling plants from our local hardware store but also sometimes grew them ourselves. Simply sowed some seed thickly in a prepared small patch, watered  and waited for them to get to matchstick  thickness (about 3-4mm) then dug them up and planted.

So I have decided to do this here as well. Today I have scatter sowed a few varieties in trays fairly thickly and thrown them onto the e-propagator. This way I hope to have enough grown to the seedling size ready to plant out end of March.

Today’s sowing all partitioned off and the e-propagator full of new seeds + my new asparagus seed from the seed shop.

See also  The Mid March Garden.

     

 p.s. If they fail I have a few packets of sets as a backup and the pound shop is just down the road!!

 

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Gavin Conway
Moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2001. We had a 12 acre plot with a 2 acre normal garden, loads of Koi ponds, a 2 acre veg garden, 3 orchid sheds with over 400 plants, bonsai shed, granny cottage and workshop area.. Comming to the UK and into a 3 bed semi was a shock!! But we knew what to expect and just got on with our lives. I love growing veg and started to grow on my flat garage roof for a few years then moved on to a couple of garden shares then onto a full sized allotment at the end of 2011. I have done loads of work with it and got it looking good. see my blog site at www.gavinconway.net Hope I can help others with info on growing and getting ground and allotments to their liking. Self employed with Kleeneze www.HowWeEarn.com Gavins grafix doing vinyl signs www.gavinsgrafix.co.uk and a personal courier with Yodel..
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