A Beginner's Garden: Space-Saving Method to Grow Onion Plants

In March, grocery stores and garden centers begin to offer onion sets for sale. Onion sets are small onion bulbs you plant directly in the garden. They will sprout and grow faster than seeds, giving you edible onions in only a few weeks. I usually grow a few onions from sets, just because we like early, fresh onions.

The most economical way to grow onions is from seed. I used to purchase bundles of onion plants for the main season garden, because germinated onion seeds look like grass in the garden, and my tri-focals and I had trouble weeding them. Now I use this easy method to grow my own onion plants from seed. Here in zone 7 in southern Indiana, I start onion seeds indoors the last week of February.

Using this method, you should be able to start 100 onion plants or more in a standard 10 - 12 inch clay pot.

You will need a clean container, some good quality starting soil, and onion seeds. Any clay or plastic container will do. It needs to be at least 4 inches deep to allow plenty of room for roots to develop. The container needs good drainage, and a waterproof saucer under it. A large cottage cheese carton with drainage holes punched in the bottom is perfect.

Simply fill the container with the starting soil mix, and scatter onion seeds over the soil surface. Try to get them about 1/4 inch apart. Don't stress over the spacing, just scoot them apart if they are too close. Cover the seeds with 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the starting mix, and gently press to firm the soil over them. Use a spray mist bottle to moisten the soil, cover the pot with clear plastic wrap, and place it in a sunny window, out of drafts.

As soon as you notice tiny green sprouts, remove the plastic cover. In 7 to 10 days, the grassy-looking onion sprouts should cover the surface of the soil. Leave them just as they are-no thinning needed. Continue to water your onion plants and give them full sun. The onion plants will crowd together and fill the pot. Lift them out of the pot as a mass when it is transplanting time. The individual onion plants can then be gently pulled apart for transplanting.

About April 1 the onion plants will be ready to transplant to the prepared garden or into a raised bed. Regular red, yellow or white globe onion plants should be spaced about 5 inches apart to allow plenty of space for the bulbs to develop. Onions need full sun and deep, loose soil to develop large bulbs.

Growing onions from seeds is an ideal way to try some new varieties. Super sweet or large slicers are expensive in the grocery stores, and they are so cheap to grow yourself. Garden soil makes a great deal of difference in the flavor of onions. Like Vidalia onions, which are only Vidalias if they are grown in the low-sulfur soil near Vidalia, Georgia, the onions you grow in your garden soil may have your own personal stamp of sweetness...or sharpness!

NOTE: Salad onions, or bunching onions, are different from their larger globe onion cousins. Be sure you buy the right kind of seed. Bunching onions should be planted directly where you will grow them; they are ideal for raised beds. It only takes a few weeks for the slender plants to be ready for harvest. Plant a new small area each week, and you will have a continuous supply of salad onions all season. Scallions and other small onion type plants should all be seeded directly in the garden.

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Source: Personal Experience