spring onions

hi everyone am wanting to grow some spring onions but having a few probs . whats the best thing to grow them in as i tried seed trays n they died lol i live in a property with no garden is what i'm trying to do possible or am i just flogging a dead horse so to speak . any advice is appreciated

 

Hi Joker,

They probably died due to the lack of light at this end of the year. When they germinate they only have a tiny amount of energy in the seed to generate a root and foliage. Whilst the root can get food from the soil, they really need sunlight to help build up their strength.

Try again in the trays, give the roots a light sprinkling of compost as they can thrash about all over the shop while they try to get a hold.

Keep them on a sunny window sill & you will see their reaction as the sun comes out, they will lean towards it.

You might want to think about onion sets too, you can usually buy them loose at the garden centre. These are immature onions that have been stopped & are easier to grow than onions from seed.

I know this might sound odd, but we usually sow spring onions in late summer, as they come on in the spring to see us through the gap when last years bulbing onions have finished & before this years are ready.

 

Just to throw a spanner in the works, so to speak, I sown some spring onions last month in the greenhouse in a seed tray, and so far they are looking pretty healthy. Not sure what my route to success (so far!) is though.

All I can say is that I used a multi purpose compost, and have given them only just enough water as to not have the seed sitting in overly moist conditions. The greenhouse is kept just above freezing on cold nights too.

They are about 3 inches tall, though still very thin.

Good luck with your second sowing.

 

cheers ziggy n luke i will have another go i currently have some onion sets in ziggy which are doing fine but i like spring onion hence trying to grow them

 

I would say that the best thing about spring onions is that they dont take an age to get to a decent edible size, and as the seed is so cheap, 1 faulty batch wont cause too much stress

Glad you didnt decide to give up

 

Keep in their, like you I don't have any ground to garden so all my stuff grows in whatever container looks ideal (even an old baby bath). I had spring onions last year, I planted outside in a basin (sewn in May) and I got huge success. As stated, they're cheap so don't give up on one bit of bad luck.

 

I had spring onions last year too, and found that they grew remarkably well in simply a small teracotta pot in bog standard multipurpose compost.

The only problem I found was when I almost ate a beheaded earwig which had unfortunately found its way inside one of the hollow stems of the spring onion :th_scifD36:

Actually, I say 'almost ate'... We never DID find the other half...