onions

hi i,ed like to try some onions from seed next season got some marco f1 from t&m the packet says sow in march apirl which seems a bit late for a early main crop has any one tryed this verity before if so what were they like and when did you start them off thanks

 

Yes, I think if you take T and M's advice you could end up with relatively small onions. They seem to take a while to get going and I think you need to develop as many leaves as possible before the longest day.
What I do is to germinate the seedlings on a window sill. You can do this in February. Once germinated I transplant them into seed trays and grow them inside though they can go into a greenhouse if you have a cold greenhouse. I plant them out in April.
Exhibitors sow seed after Christmas and plant into individual pots or soil blocks. It is a matter of giving the plants a long growing period before mid summer.
If you follow this technique then you can determine bulb size by eventual spacing. Exhibition onions are spaced at 18 inch intervals but i would not recommend that as there is only so much you can do with an enormous onion.
I grow all my onions by starting off indoors. Cause they are onions I can fit a lot in a seed tray. I find it easier to do than planting sets and i never get any bolters with this technique. I always grow a yellow onion, one of the reds and next year I think i will try Long Red Florence as well. All onions are stored by being plaited to form onion strings.

 

Thanks will follow ur advice