You are right I planted onion bulbs nov/dec 2021 and we had an unusual warm winter. They were growing bigger thru winter. About 1/2 of them bolted spring of 2022. But my neighbor made a lot of pesto from the greens. You got me motivated I need to go get some sets.! Thanks
Thanks for the tip. Somewhat offtopic but slightly related, I'm starting to take succession planting seriously this year. Barely bought veggies from the store the whole summer. One because everything is becoming more expensive, but also I'm realizing just a slight amount of extra proactiveness how much more food I can grow in a season. It's supposed to be 6months of gardening season in my zone 6a, but I started some tomato seeds really late at the beginning of August and a month later the plants are already starting to produce fruit, which mean I'll most likely have harvest before the frost come, their rate of growth outdoor in the summer is much faster than indoor with LED lighting in early spring. Same with cucumber. I'm going to take my cold frame growing and indoor microdwarves tomatoes seriously this winter.
Thank you for this. I have a patio container garden in 8a and always plant too late in the spring and it just gets too hot too soon. Will try fall planting this year.
I am in 7a (Virginia) and I planted red and yellow onion seeds last October. It's April 16th, 2024 and I haven't seen anything come up. My garlic next to it was from bulbs last year and those are doing very well right now. Did I make a mistake? I also covered up the onion seeds with straw over the winter for a little warmth.
If they haven't sprouted by now, they may not. Even if they did, there's probably not enough time for them to get enough top growth before the bulbs try to form. At this point I would buy plants and try again next year. However, I would start the seeds indoors and once established they should resist the outside winter cold if it's not too harsh
I planted my 1015y onion set in the fall about mid-Oct of 2023 My onions were huge in the spring of 2024. I can't get anymore until November. Anyone know how long these onion sets will last before having to plant? I need buy them before they are no longer available and the company I buy my sets from are considered out of out of season.
I am in zone 5b in the Syracuse, NY area. Can I put young transplants into the ground 4 to 6 weeks before my FFD (Oct 15)? Our winters get down to about -5 deg F. Will the plants survive after a fall planting?
I usually start the seeds in Feb, then plant them outside in spring. I sowed so many this year that I never got around to planting them all in the ground. They are just about the size of onion sets but not dormant. Small because they are cramped together in a small pot. I finally have time to plant them this week here in zone 7A in NJ but do you think I should hold off so they won't bolt next spring? Wait until when in October?
I would hold until about 4 weeks from your frost date IMO. Too soon and they'll definitely bolt on you. The only thing they need to do is establish a good root system.
If you are in a zone where the ground does not hard freeze, I would try this method with some of the seeds and see. Experimentation is the key. In my zone it works best. I actually start seeds in August and plant the starts out in Sept.
That'll work in zone 7b. We had -24°F in Feb 2022 which killed several zone 5 perennials (zine 5 is -20, so -24 was zone 4), and a 23°F frost in late May 2023. Burned the little leaves off my chinquipin oak sapling, but it recovered. I've tried fall planting onions, and they bolt in early spring.
