Exactly. The 3 feet are for pathways for tractors or people. I planted green onions 16/sf no problem last year and am doing it again.

Good luck.

Green onions can go closer but 16/sf for full-size onions won't work. Next time you are in the grocery take 16 full-size and put them next to each other and try to fill them up in a 12" square. My full-size I have 9/sf and for green I probably have 16-20 but I have more sets than I have space...

Dan

I have onion sets 9 per sq ft. I started mine from sets. Does anyone know how long it takes from planting sets to harvesting the BIG onions?

Has anyone started them from seeds? How long did that take? I started some from seeds and they still look like grass. Sooooo tiny. Somewhere I read where if you start them from seeds it takes like 6 months to get to set size.

Old thread, new and related question:

What is the spacing for growing full sized onions? I came home with a 1015Y bunch and am looking at 9 or 16 per square foot. These onions can grow 3 inches wide, maybe more.

I know about utilizing some along the way, what is the best plan of attack and what is the spacing at the end when they are largest?

Thanks

Mike

Dallas 8a

I know square foot gardening is about pushing the envelop in terms of how much to plant in a given area, but if I were after maximum sized onions I'd plant 4 per square foot. Think about it, garlic are spaced 4/sq.ft. (although some do 9) and onion bulbs get larger than garlic heads do. If I wanted more medium-large sized onions I'd do 6/sq.ft., medium sized I'd do 9.

Rodney

P.S. I think I should add that I only loosely follow the square foot gardening principals.

Last year, I did three squares with 16 each and harvested all at full size (no green onion harvest). I'd say they ended up as small to medium sized bulbs. Definitely not large. It felt crowded. This year, I'm going down to 9/sq and see how that works.

So happy to see this forum. I bought Dixondale onion sets but was befuddled as to how to make their suggested rows and fertilizer trenches work in my garden beds. For those of you who plant them in squares, how do you fertilize? What kind do you use? Do you need to be concerned about what else is in the box?

Me I would plant 16 and plan on taking out 7 when they look snuggly. I bet you could plant 36 green onions.

Also you can fertilize while they're still small enough not to actually drop the fertilizer on the plant. They're inches apart for half the summer. Side dressing of fertiliser only means you water it in just outside the current root zone.

Definitely and old thread but when in doubt for plant spacing I the "plant spacing: on the seed packet (or instructions). The row spacing is for :row gardening" where you need room to "walk or maneuver equipment" between plants for harvest or weeding chores.

If you check the FAQs here...
http://faq.gardenweb.com/discussions/2766684/what-are-recommended-plant-spacings

Scroll down to...

This is very helpful information from Mel's website on converting standard seed spacings to sqft spacing:"Depending
on the mature size of the plant, grow 1, 4, 9, or 16 equally spaced
plants per square foot. If the seed packet recommends plant spacing be
12 inches apart, plant one plant per square foot. If 6 inch spacing; 4
per square foot. If 4 inch spacing; 9 per square foot. If 3 inch
spacing; 16 per square foot."

I think the harvested size (and required spacing) will depend on the health of the soil. Keep a notebook and if there is a change needed for next year make a note at harvest time.