onion seeds

[kate&rob]

if i decide to plant my onions from seed, when do i need to plant them? i don't have a heated propagator, just an unheated greenhouse. will the seeds grow as big as onion sets and how long do they take to mature? i'm unsure which way to swing, so to speak.

[Two_Sheds]

Maincrop onion seed & sets should be sown outside starting March.
If they are sown under cloche protection, or indoors, they can be sown a month earlier (some folks are starting them off now, though I'm waiting a bit)

[BarleySugar]

My onion seeds take ages to germinate, and they don't grow very quickly, so you could put some in a pot on the window sill to get them started off, then hardened them off before putting them into the cold greenhouse.
It's a bit of an experiment, bu I've planted mine inside and I've got them in the kitchen There's no signs yet, and they've been in for a week. The plan is the very cold snap will be over by the time they are up, then I'll put them in the greenhouse under fleece. It worked OK last year, but it's colder this. I've plenty more seed if it all goes wrong

[nemo]

this might be the wrong thing to do but it works for me i was told by a Russian man that onion seed is always soaked in water over night up to 24 hours this will increase your germination rate.he also gave me a pack of Russian onion seed they can grow up to 3kg so far the biggest i grew were about 1.6kg the Russian mans grew to 2.7kg.some of his seedlings are at the crook stage for his 2009 crop.does any one else soak onion seed before planting.