Onion seed too old?

[terrier]

Hi, I know that some seed has to be used fresh and does not keep. Does the same apply to onion seed? Twice this season I have sown last years seed, (earlier on I sowed autumn seed and some weeks ago sowed spring onions into pots) and none have germinated. Does onion seed have a short shelf life?

[lzyjo]

Yes, onion seed only keeps for one year. Most other veggies are good for up to 4 years.

[lynda66]

i have 2 packets of different onion seeds, and both have a 2011 sow by date, as do most of my other veg seeds, but i've never had any seeds before so i dunno, though the parsnips say sow by jan 2009 and i only bought them this year too

Lynda xx

[Alice]

Terrier, it's a bit off your question, but if you can grow onion from seed then you know you're a real expert gardener. Most people grow them from sets.
Spring onions, I've grown from seed several years old. No problem with germination but not a quick crop. Best started early indoors.

[lynda66]

damn...... i guess that means my onions are all gonna die then

i haven't even got a clue what onion sets are lol

[lzyjo]

Onion, parsnips, peppers, spinach and a few other have relatively short viability in storage. Storing Seeds They are only estimates. Personally, I have had 2 year old Spinach seeds germinate.

[Demeter]

Hessayon says stored onion seeds are good for 1 to 2 years.
Hessayon also says onions from seed are "Easy - if a suitable seed bed is prepared"

They'd better be, cos I've not grown proper onions from seed or set, and I've got 3 packets of seed for next season! However, I'm prepared to believe they're *not* easy, or maybe the trick is in the seed bed, because everyone I've talked to says I should get sets. Still, I'm ever the optimist Might get some sets as well, at least if the seed fails to germinate... I wonder if germination is the end of my woes or whether onions grown from seed have a sting in the tail even once you think they're up and running...?

(Spring onion I've grown from seed this year and that seemed easy if surprisingly slow - thought they'd "spring" up but actually take months lol.)

Lynda - sets are like baby onions that you plant and eventually they grow into big onions. It's evidently easier than growing it from seed an dnot much more expensive.

[lynda66]

oh that sounds a bit pointless? if you are just making little onions bigger ....... i am now determined to try and not kill my little from seed onions, just wish they'd look a bit more errrrr oniony, than grassy ..... but they are definitely onions, cos they are in neat rows, and theres another neat row of spring onions in front of them, and a nice neat row of carrots behind, and i haven't weeded them yet

[Demeter]

oh that sounds a bit pointless? if you are just making little onions bigger .......

That was kind of why I went for seed, I like growing things from seed lol
But now I'm starting to wonder if I should get some sets as a backstop, if it's as tricky as everyone seems to think!
Let us know how your onions do. Seems to me that all the onion family are quite slow-growing - I was amazed at how long even ickle spring onions take!

[lynda66]

yeah i planted the spring onions at the same time i think in early june ...... you still can't tell the difference between them yet ........ i think i'd rather grow them myself though, i did give in and get a strawberry plant though, but son ate them while i was away, and there haven't been any more

[markwcel]

ive just planted some spring onions in pots a week ago...just popping their heads thru the compost now...

[gojiberry]

Growing onion from seed is more difficult and takes more time, but the rewards tend to be more predictable and greater. Onions from seed need a longer growing time and are usually started in Dec/Jan. Sets are usually planted Mar/Apr. I have done both this year and the seed crop is at least double the sets. If you are thinking of show onions they are always grown from seed. I have recently planted seed for winter onions. Two seeds per pot and I will thin to one when they are a bit bigger. If I'm lucky when I thin I may be able to replant the one taken out. They will be planted out on the lottie in Sept/Oct.

Ian

[Demeter]

Thanks Ian, that gives me a bit of courage
I've some space in the GH now, so I'll try and get some onions sown at the weekend...

Oh - looking at my packets, the North Holland Bloodred Redmate (cool name, sounds like a horse) and the Hi-Keeper both say to sow in September?

[terrier]

Terrier, it's a bit off your question, but if you can grow onion from seed then you know you're a real expert gardener. Most people grow them from sets.
Spring onions, I've grown from seed several years old. No problem with germination but not a quick crop. Best started early indoors.

The only reason I was sowing onion seed is because Mrs Terrier keeps buying me seed, whether I want it or not. Usually cheap seed from Lidl or some such place. Anyway, it didn't germinate. I've given up with the White Lisbon spring onion seed I think may have been 2 years old and bought some more seed today. I grow the spring onion seed in pots of compost and plant them out when they are big enough, that usually gives them a head start as sowing into the ground takes for ever to grow. I sowed seed last spring into the ground and ate the onions this spring.