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Old July 31, 2018   #19
bower
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
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Zipcode, the onions leeks and shallots I've started from seed are all pretty small to begin with. The practice of giving them a "haircut" periodically does seem to help with thickening the stems, and of course feeding some high N ferts (fish emulsion in my case).
I do start them in a mass planted flat, and I've come to the conclusion that spacing makes a big difference to the size of your start. I experimented with onions one year and with my leeks this year, that I took a few out of the crowded quarters and potted them up into 9-cells to give them extra space. The difference it makes after transplant is really noticeable. If I had enough lights, I would pot all of them up into cells at some stage. Maybe I'll try potting up and out into the greenhouse in March or April instead, as that would harden them off too for a plantout in may.
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