Re: Vegaholics anonymous

Stan (Ross), ol' pal!  Howya doin'???

I grow onion from seed every year.  I usually start them in flats in
early Feb.  In Colorado you might want to wait until early March.  Just
scatter the seed over the soil in the flat so that each seed is about an
inch or less from its neighbors.

Then cover the seed and press firmly.  Dampen the soil surface fairly
well with a mist or spray, cover, and store in a warm (65 degrees F)
place until you see the first seed start to sprout. It will look like an
upsidedown "U" coming out of the soil.  (I alway put a light layer of
dry peat moss over the wet soil to prevent damping off disease.)

Then move the flat to a cool (39-45 degrees F) spot with the best light
you've got.  The seedlings will come up looking like grass.  When the
seelings are about 3 1/2 inches tall use a pair of scissors to trim them
to 3".  Keep watered and use a little miracle gro or pete's in the water
at about 1/4 recommended strength.

Keep trimming the seedlings, when they hit 3 1/2 to 4 inches, back down
to three inches.  

After you can expect the temperature to stay above 25 degrees F, you can
set the seedlings out.  Soak the soil in the flat and then scoop out the
seedlings.  Some people trim the roots but I like to keep them intact.

Make a 3-4 inch furrow and set the seedlings about 4-5 inches apart. 
Bury them a little deeper (1/4 inch or so) than they were in the flat. 
Onions are tough and can stand some frost but the transpants won't
survive a hard freeze.

Onions, garlic, spuds, asparagus and brassicas are my "specialties".

Steve  (Maritime...)


pattie@juno.com wrote:
> 
> Hi.  My name is Stan, and I'm a vegaholic.
>      (in the background I hear "HI, Stan")
>      It has been 7 months since I have planted a seed. (no, I won't go
> there)
>       I don't know how much longer I can hold out.
> I keep getting temptation in the mail just about every day.  Those darn
> catalogs.
> Seeds, plants, bugs, tools, Asian women........it's just too much I tell
> you, too much!
>      I need help!
> (now in whisper mode)  I have never tried growing onions from seed
> before, but
> I want to try this spring.  They are so much cheaper than sets, and there
> looks to
> be a wider variety available.  I have at least 120 frost free days each
> summer.
>      My main question is, how many days before the last expected frost
> can I
> put onion seeds in the ground, if any?
> 
>      Stan         the cheap and lazy gardener
>      Colorado, Zone 5? 5200ft.  (That's 5200 feet above sea level, I am
> not a millipede)
> 
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