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Old 04-08-2007, 01:25 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening
mark4asp mark4asp is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Aug 2007
Posts: 2
Default Onion Seeds versus Onion Sets

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:43:45 GMT, "John Vanini"
wrote:

Every year I have bought onion sets and have had a reasonable success rate
but I am considering, for the coming year, growing from seed. Has anyone any
experience of this and can advise me of the advantages and the
disadvantages.- and, perhaps, suggest any particular variety? I have looke4d
at the on-line catalogues but can't really make up my mind which to go for.



My reasons or wanting to change this year is that, the sets always get too
many small onions that never seem to do very well and, though they grow,
they remain fairly small. Also, I have no idea what type of onion they are
(this is because I buy them from my allotment shop and they don't seem
certain as to the type they've bought!!!)

As regards the position of my garden (which may well make a difference as to
what varieties I can grow) I live in Sussex, not far from the coast.

Regards,

John


As David noted you must initially grow the seeds in seed trays (using
sterile compost ~ = 4 months) until you can clearly identify the bulb
because seeds planted directly into the ground will be overwhelmed by
weeds.

Sets must be planted, say in Febuary but harvested in late summer. Seeds
may be planted earlier in a greenhouse and can be harvested the next
year - so you can grow for much longer. Some people start seeds in
spring and plant in late summer or August to let the onion grow over the
winter. The advantage of sets is that you clearly know when the correct
time to harvest is - not always so clear-cut with seeds.