Anybody tried PELLETED Red Onion Seed?

[geepee]

From Seekay or others ?

[geepee]

I take it thats a 'No' then

[SarrissUK]

This is the first year I've sown onion seed. Prior to that it's always been sets. I've never even heard of pelleted onion seeds!

[rary]

Like Sarriss I have never come across pelleted onion seed

[geepee]

google it Sarris, Ive had great success with pelleted carrot and parsnip last year.
Gp

[Paulieb]

Not sure I see the point. Never really had a problem sowing carrots parsnips or onions to want to have them pelleted.

[Derbydal]

this post as just remined me the only time iv'e ever had a decent crop of cauliflower was when I used pelleted seeds and that was 40yrs ago ! Dal.

[gardening_gal]

I'd never heard of pelleted seeds. I can definitely see an advantage in them but the older I get the more 'back to nature' I get and I might feel slightly iffy about taking a natural seed and coating it. Obviously feelings are just that though and there doesn't appear to be a factual cause for concern, especially if this idea has been around for many years.

I'm going to read some more about them now.

[geepee]

OK to resurrect this thread ? (Mods) ?
I am a retired farmer and Believe me when I say I understand the difference between commercial growing and 'Pottering about in the garden' Which I now do !! and am enjoying immensely , however , it is Alien to my nature to step back in time . Most of us that want to GWO seek exactly that! and I mostly seek to be as close to Organic as possible . To be totally Organic is nigh on impossible , and would need an additional thread to explain.!!!
Pelleted seed producers have basically coated natural seeds with Organic fertilizer ie Guyana which is no more and no less than Bird Droppings......10000s of seabirds migrate to our shores to breed every year Puffins , Gannets, Guillemots,and many species of Gulls.Point being they are all Fish Eaters and survive from the sea .
Obviously there excrement is what?
So its on that basis im prepared to give it a Chance.
So heres a photo or 2 to start .
Gp

[geepee]

Then covered with fine sieved compost .....we will see .

[veggiechicken]

Interesting, geepee.
Don't suppose you could run a trial of unpelleted seed alongside it - to see how it compares.

[geepee]

Yes VC i would but its easier said than done.....Like with Pelleted seed you can place seeds individually
Not quite so easy with Natural uncoated seed (. Approx 20 years ago BSC advocated that all their Commercial growers should switch to using coated/Pelleted seed) for Sugar beet production . (Also at around about that era the main seed houses /producers were advocating a switch to coated seed for Onion and Brassicas, Lettuce,Spinach,Rocket, for commercial growers.) Tomorrow i will do an identical trough of same variety of carrot with 'Natural', untreated seed as a comparison . And monitor both.
The point of this is that has you are aware it is almost impossible to place Non pelleted seed as individuals , so therefore need thinning out etc at the risk of attracting carrot fly..
Gp

[veggiechicken]

Will the coating have broken down by the time you need to thin the carrots or have you spaced them so that thinning is not needed?

[Logunner]

As a new grower I’ve gone with pelleted carrot seeds in a raised bed, easy to space out so no need to thin. Used normal carrot seeds in a bag, now need to thin them and I thought I’d been very carefull when planting

[cwmmawr]

I have used pelleted parsnip and carrot with good results