Lets face it im addicted to gardening. So addicted in fact I am starting onions from seed in January! I have been growing onions from transplants for the past few years so this is a new experience for me. I just cant keep my hands out of the dirt!Last year I decided to try and save some seeds from my onion crop and replant them in the spring. For each of the onions I let go to seed I got 500+ seeds. What a deal!
For this project I used these items:
Saved onion seeds (FYI Lows keeps its soil outside so it may be frozen!)
Potting soil mix
72 TLC Round Plug Tray
Clear Humidity Dome
48x20in Seedling Propagation Mat
(Propagation mat bring to soil temperature up so the onion seeds will germinate faster/better)
So here is my onion planting process.I don't have a garage to play in so at my wifes behest the spare bathtub will have to do.
First step is to take your plug tray and fill it with dirt. Make sure the soil is packed into the plugs, but to to tight, the plants need somewhere to grow.
So now the plug tray is filled with soil and we are ready to plant.
Note the propagation mat under the plug tray. This type of propagation mat will heat the soil 15-20 degrees above the ambient air temp. So in my 60 degree house.. burr.. I guess the the temp is around 70 degrees.
Planting the seeds is the toughest part. Onion seeds are tiny little black things, difficult to pick up with my man fingers.Here I use a knife to dig into the soil and plant 3 seeds per plug. I do this because not every seed will germinate. I will eventually abort excess onions so there is only one onion per plug. (I feel so bad doing this!)
Next I give the onions a good watering with a spray bottle and put the humidity dome over top of them to keep the, moist.
All done! You should start to see onions sprouting in about a week.After spending the next few months in my little greenhouse, sometime in April/May I will transplant them out into the garden.
Yeah it garden time again!
Next I will start my tomatoes and peppers...
