dug onions 14-17 days early

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by raindrops27

I usually do buy seeds from reputable places, but this was an impulse buy when I saw one of your posts and knew I would not get onions seeds shipped to me on time to start them. I will however remember this.

I do have a question if the very tips of the growing onion seedlings are shriveling am I doing something wrong? I will try to post pictures tomorrow since it's late, and I just took some sleeping pills to rest.

you can start your seeds as late as the last week of february but i wouldn't go later so you can order later if you can be sure of getting them right away. i used to start mine on 2/22 and did ok but i found starting them the 1st week gave me a little bit more time to get a larger transplant, the last week of january may be even better but never tried that early. you want the largest plant with the most leaves by mid june when they start to bulb up here. each leaf represents a ring in the onion.

i never have the tips shrivel. don't over water but make sure they get adequate water. you should have them under lights not in a window. keep the lights 2" above the top of the plants and trim them 1" when they are 5" tall as this will create thicker stalks. i fertilize them a little more than in the past. i use a weak solution of nh fish and seaweed at about 2" tall and then every 10 days. in the garden i don't over do the fertilize but in the early growth under lights inside i now do fertilize about 2x as much as i used to w/o any problems. mine grow at about 48-53 degrees in the basement once they get to be about 3/4" tall, prior to that they are upstairs in the window as right now they are 1/4" tall. post pictures if possible.

tom