onion over winter seed question
 

Hi All,

I was watching a Korean RomCom a few weeks ago.

Putzette (the romantics female diamond in the rough
lead character) was a farmer. She gave extensive
instructions on how to over winter onion seeds.

The big deal was to cover them with a straw mat
woven for the purpose until spring to protect them
from the snow and ice.

Huh? Do such a thing exist. Would coffee sacks work?

Okay, RomComs are not the best farming advice. Your
words of wisdom please.

Many thanks,
-T

Oh, Putz (the romantics male diamond in the rough
lead character) was also a farmer.

onion over winter seed question
 

T wrote:
Hi All,

I was watching a Korean RomCom a few weeks ago.

Putzette (the romantics female diamond in the rough
lead character) was a farmer. She gave extensive
instructions on how to over winter onion seeds.

The big deal was to cover them with a straw mat
woven for the purpose until spring to protect them
from the snow and ice.

Huh? Do such a thing exist. Would coffee sacks work?

Okay, RomComs are not the best farming advice. Your
words of wisdom please.

Many thanks,
-T

Oh, Putz (the romantics male diamond in the rough
lead character) was also a farmer.

do you want to grow them or just to store them until
needed?

if you are seeking just to store the seeds get them
dry and then freeze them in an air tight container
or envelope.

as the following page gives details, but here is the
prime quote:

"Onion seed dried to 6.5% moisture and stored under
favorable conditions (40-60°F and 40%RH) will last
1-2 years. Properly dried seed that is stored in a
freezer will keep indefinitely."

https://seedalliance.org/publication...ick-reference/


songbird

onion over winter seed question
 

On 2020-07-27 01:15, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Hi All,

I was watching a Korean RomCom a few weeks ago.

Putzette (the romantics female diamond in the rough
lead character) was a farmer. She gave extensive
instructions on how to over winter onion seeds.

The big deal was to cover them with a straw mat
woven for the purpose until spring to protect them
from the snow and ice.

Huh? Do such a thing exist. Would coffee sacks work?

Okay, RomComs are not the best farming advice. Your
words of wisdom please.

Many thanks,
-T

Oh, Putz (the romantics male diamond in the rough
lead character) was also a farmer.

do you want to grow them or just to store them until
needed?

if you are seeking just to store the seeds get them
dry and then freeze them in an air tight container
or envelope.

as the following page gives details, but here is the
prime quote:

"Onion seed dried to 6.5% moisture and stored under
favorable conditions (40-60°F and 40%RH) will last
1-2 years. Properly dried seed that is stored in a
freezer will keep indefinitely."

https://seedalliance.org/publication...ick-reference/


songbird


I want to plant seeds in late fall

I am wondering about covering them. In the romcom, come
spring, she removed the straw mats to reveal 2 to 4" plants
growing under the mat. Then she transplanted them. I
won't be transplanting.

onion over winter seed question
 

T wrote:
....
I want to plant seeds in late fall

I am wondering about covering them. In the romcom, come
spring, she removed the straw mats to reveal 2 to 4" plants
growing under the mat. Then she transplanted them. I
won't be transplanting.

so you want to plant seeds and expect them to
survive until spring and then to start growing?

i guess you could try it and some will take but
the spacing and thinning will likely need to be
adjusted otherwise you won't get very good results
if you are trying to get onion bulbs. if you are
instead just interested in green onions then you
can plant more seeds more closely spaced and then
pull and thin as they develop and eat what you
remove.


songbird

onion over winter seed question
 

On 2020-07-27 16:28, songbird wrote:
so you want to plant seeds and expect them to
survive until spring and then to start growing?

Yes. Any thoughts on the straw mats?

onion over winter seed question
 

songbird wrote:

T wrote:
...
I want to plant seeds in late fall

I am wondering about covering them. In the romcom, come
spring, she removed the straw mats to reveal 2 to 4"
plants
growing under the mat. Then she transplanted them. I
won't be transplanting.

so you want to plant seeds and expect them to
survive until spring and then to start growing?

i guess you could try it and some will take but
the spacing and thinning will likely need to be
adjusted otherwise you won't get very good results
if you are trying to get onion bulbs. if you are
instead just interested in green onions then you
can plant more seeds more closely spaced and then
pull and thin as they develop and eat what you
remove.


songbird

I did this last winter, without the straw mats.

I planted onion seeds (Gladstone, which is a day-neutral
variety) in a huge pot in late September/early October.

We had a relatively mild winter, but even with some
sleet and snowy days, the sprouts did fine with little
growth over the winter months, then picked up pretty
much where they left off once the milder temperatures
began.

I've been eating the small onion bulbs all spring and
summer so far, with many having died back. A few are
still showing green and one has started to flower/seed.
I'll let that one do its thing and hopefully get some
automatic re-seeding out of it into the same pot.

I didn't do any thinning of the onion plants early on,
so the resulting bulbs aren't very big. Next time, I'll
thin 'em to get bigger bulbs. (Although I like the small
ones since they're just big enough to slice for a big
salad or stir fry with no leftovers.)

I'd say to give it a try. You might want to add a bit of
mulch once the seeds sprout if you live in a colder area
that I do (SE VA). The most you'll lose is the price of
the seeds if it doesn't work out.

Nyssa, who likes to experiment with over-wintering or
late season crops like onions and carrots

onion over winter seed question
 

Nyssa wrote:
....
I did this last winter, without the straw mats.

I planted onion seeds (Gladstone, which is a day-neutral
variety) in a huge pot in late September/early October.

We had a relatively mild winter, but even with some
sleet and snowy days, the sprouts did fine with little
growth over the winter months, then picked up pretty
much where they left off once the milder temperatures
began.

so this would be pretty much like what natural onions
would do, they flower and then drop the seeds through
the later summer and into the winter/spring. some may
even grow right out of the fallen over flower head itself.

ones that can get big enough to have a bit of a bulb
before they die back or give up then become the larger
start for the following season's bulbs. the largest
will go on to flower.


I've been eating the small onion bulbs all spring and
summer so far, with many having died back. A few are
still showing green and one has started to flower/seed.
I'll let that one do its thing and hopefully get some
automatic re-seeding out of it into the same pot.

I didn't do any thinning of the onion plants early on,
so the resulting bulbs aren't very big. Next time, I'll
thin 'em to get bigger bulbs. (Although I like the small
ones since they're just big enough to slice for a big
salad or stir fry with no leftovers.)

for us there really is no such thing as too much
onion.


I'd say to give it a try. You might want to add a bit of
mulch once the seeds sprout if you live in a colder area
that I do (SE VA). The most you'll lose is the price of
the seeds if it doesn't work out.

Nyssa, who likes to experiment with over-wintering or
late season crops like onions and carrots

:)


songbird

onion over winter seed question
 

On 2020-07-28 06:10, Nyssa wrote:
songbird wrote:

T wrote:
...
I want to plant seeds in late fall

I am wondering about covering them. In the romcom, come
spring, she removed the straw mats to reveal 2 to 4"
plants
growing under the mat. Then she transplanted them. I
won't be transplanting.

so you want to plant seeds and expect them to
survive until spring and then to start growing?

i guess you could try it and some will take but
the spacing and thinning will likely need to be
adjusted otherwise you won't get very good results
if you are trying to get onion bulbs. if you are
instead just interested in green onions then you
can plant more seeds more closely spaced and then
pull and thin as they develop and eat what you
remove.


songbird

I did this last winter, without the straw mats.

I planted onion seeds (Gladstone, which is a day-neutral
variety) in a huge pot in late September/early October.

We had a relatively mild winter, but even with some
sleet and snowy days, the sprouts did fine with little
growth over the winter months, then picked up pretty
much where they left off once the milder temperatures
began.

I've been eating the small onion bulbs all spring and
summer so far, with many having died back. A few are
still showing green and one has started to flower/seed.
I'll let that one do its thing and hopefully get some
automatic re-seeding out of it into the same pot.

I didn't do any thinning of the onion plants early on,
so the resulting bulbs aren't very big. Next time, I'll
thin 'em to get bigger bulbs. (Although I like the small
ones since they're just big enough to slice for a big
salad or stir fry with no leftovers.)

I'd say to give it a try. You might want to add a bit of
mulch once the seeds sprout if you live in a colder area
that I do (SE VA). The most you'll lose is the price of
the seeds if it doesn't work out.

Nyssa, who likes to experiment with over-wintering or
late season crops like onions and carrots



I like the no waste thing too. I pull up the runts
and cook up the whole thing, stems and all.

One of my issues is that small seeds have to grow to
the point where the earwigs don't get them. I have
caught earwigs following the stem down the hole to
the seed.

So I have to plant early. Fall, after the first freeze,
which kills off the earwigs for the season, would get
the seeds to spout and grow to a size the earwigs would
leave them alone come spring

I have no problems with large seeds like squash and
cucumbers. And earwigs don't like my purslane sprouts.

I also noticed that onions, that have got away from me
and overwintered, bulb up in early July.

I am now trapping earwigs with
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087ZPCQ2Y
five traps and bait for $35. They are expensive,
but they do work and are weather proof. They are
catching some kind of tiny mite too.