Bon, the dark grey is the overlap of the short day types and intermediate day types. Kind of a either/or situation.

Ok, Bon, you have mentioned OSU Engineer's method before, but I can't find a post explaining it. Can you link to it or tell us what the system is? Thanks!

Yup. I should snip it and post somewhere. It's mixed in .. hard to find.. bbl

I just found my answer. "The extension says I should plant slips in February." That gives me my seed start date some time early December.

Thanks Carol! I always wondered what the grey areas mean.

Amy, after looking I see the input from OSUengineer was merely to start seeds on our near the fall equinox. For my Central Oklahoma area, this is perfect timing to size up the seedlings before pulling into dormancy.

Dawn has suggested her experience which is starting in October, but she's a different climate and probably better soil and feed, etc. I just start them and don't feed them. yada yada

I'll put up an individual post with information for newbs also containing all the links that helped me figure out this onion "thing". Daunting!

bon

Usually if you start your seeds 8-10 weeks before the time you want to transplant them into the ground, they'll be fine. It is okay if you start them 12 weeks before if you are growing them in a cold frame since they'll be exposed to cooler nighttime temperatures out in a cold frame than inside a heated house or greenhouse.

My OSU-recommended onion-planting date is around mid-February, so if I was raising my own from seed, it would be okay if I started them in mid-December, but I'd probably start them in mid-November if growing them out in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.

I don't grow bulbing onions from seed, but have grown green onions for scallions several times. You can start those whenever it pleases you because they go from seed to usable scallions in about 2 months.

You'll notice they get tall pretty fast---much faster than the leaves expand in width. Just give them an occasional haircut to keep them from getting long and flopping all over the ground. (You can toss the trimmings into salads or into soups or casseroles.)

Spacing is pretty much up to you since these are being grown for transplants that will go into the ground in mid- to late-winter. An ideal transplant is about the diameter of a No. 2 pencil, so if you space them that far apart, they'll be fine. If you are wanting to raise them to use as scallions, I'd put them maybe a half-inch apart (not all seeds will sprout). You always can sow thickly and then thin them out later on.

Before anyone asks, it is tricky to grow them from seed sown directly in the garden in the fall because our nights tend to get cold enough to freeze them back to the ground every now and then. In a warmer winter, a person might be able to do it though, especially if they have a protected area in which to grow them. Remember, though, that onions are biennials and once the plants are about the diameter of a No. 2 pencil, wildly fluctuating temperatures can cause them to bolt.

If we were in south Texas (let's pretend we live down there next door to Dixondale Farm), we could have planted onion seed in mid-October because the winters are so mild there.That's where the Texas 1015Y got its name---when they were trialing a lot of onions in their breeding project, that was the batch seeded on October 15. There was a 1025Y too, but I don't know if it ever made it onto the commercial market.

It has really been hard to wrap my brain around the growth process of onions. I've had my best luck with the cold frame and am beginning to think it a permanent structure for onion starts.

Even this year with a better financial edge, I don't think I'll be able to order starts which would be SO worth it.

Thanks Dawn.

bon