Onions

[CrealCritter]

How old was the seed? Allium seed is notorious for having a short shelf life.

Doesn't say how old. Nor is there a germination rate like with Johnny's onion seeds. I'm having poor germination rates with Baker creek cabbage, brussels, califlower also but their broccoli came up good and strong. This is my first time ordering from Baker Creek, I think I'll stick to Victory and Johnny's next year.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

If you like Johnny's. You're gonna love Fedco. Fedco prices are a fraction of what I consider to be exorbitant prices of Johnny's. Fedco also carries many more OP varieties. I enjoy sitting down and looking at Johnny's catalog. Pretty pics, and lots of useful information there. But, I'll put my money with FEDCO almost exclusively. Johnny's does not vocalize commitment to OSSI and non GMO the way Fedco does.

If you are experiencing poor germination with Baker compared to other seed companies you've tried, you should let them know. Keep accepting crap, that's what these companies will continue to send out.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

With the date on that seed, germination SHOULD be ok. Unless they are repacking old seed.

 

[CrealCritter]

I was not impressed with Baker Creek the one year I ordered from them. They have kind of a cult following and some darn pretty catalogs though , lol.

Fedco, only place I use.

Thanks for the info...

 

[ntoni]

Temperature history by zip code. Have a look here to kind of guess when the last day your temp will hit 20 degrees. It's weather... So a guess a best but historically highes, lows and averages help you guess. 20 degrees is that "magic" temperature that triggers bolting in onion seedlings.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/

Can you help me navigate this site? I don't really know how to tell when my last 20 degree weather may be. 28146. thanks for the help.

 

[CrealCritter]

Can you help me navigate this site? I don't really know how to tell when my last 20 degree weather may be. 28146. thanks for the help.

Looks like WU changed their page since I last posted the link. But I found another site https://weatherspark.com/y/18928/Av...sbury-North-Carolina-United-States-Year-Round

For you it looks like the beginning of Feb is your worst case target date.

 

[flowerbug]

we have tried various things here with onions.

generally the sets seem to do ok, but not great. the onions that do the best here are the starts (which are actual growing onion plants in tiny cells that can be transplanted), i get the Kelcey Giant sweet onions for our long day summers. usually a whole flat is enough for us to eat through the fall. we don't usually have space here for storing things (or a root cellar or cool place to do that - the crawl space is not easy to get into and is heated anyways - it's actually nicer down there than in the house ).

for help with growing onions i recommend planting them on top of worm compost (that's my only real form of fertilizer here other than some green manure crops). i trench, put down a few inches of the worms/worm compost and then put the onion starts right into that and put some dirt over the top to seal it all up. keep it watered.

to help with weeding (onions like garlic seem to do the best when there isn't any competition for nutrients or moisture) i make sure to plant them far enough apart that the stirrup hoe can get between them easily. the more space you have between them, if they are a larger onion to begin with, they'll do better. for me this means 8-12 inches between plants.

unless i'm growing smaller onions or green garlic then i can put them closer since they'll be coming out soon anyways.