JMO but onions are so much easier if you get sets! I tried seeds and just must not have the knack for them or the patience so I buy sets and plant them, works great.

Or you could establish walking-onions and never have to bother with seeds for green onions again (I've been eating them for weeks by now). Remind me in mid-summer and I'll mail you a bunch of topsets.

I dislike doing sets of onions because those are less for the tops and more for the bulb harvest, and I get smallish bulbs - not worth the space in a smaller garden. The green bunchers have a better flavor to me. Never considered walking onions. Hmmm. I will have to read about them, and thank you very much for the kind offer. I may definitely take you up on it!

Mine won't sprout either! I planted them at the same time as some cippolini seeds, and those sprouted, but the bunching onions didn't. Frustrating.

I planted some white onion sets I got at Walmart. The instructions said to plant them close for green onions and far apart for bulb onions. They have sprouted and I pulled 3 lovely green onions today. Will the spaced onions grow big then? How do they know what to do? I mean, I told them but I'm not sure they were listening.

For larger onions, thin the growing sets. Also, planting shallow is good if you are going for large, mature onions. Maybe if you have already planted deeper, you could push some of the soil away to make it more like shallow planting. You don't want the bulb buried, the top should be showing. As they mature even more will probably show and that is a good thing. I guess you can keep talking to them, it can't hurt :)

I am having the opposite problem, I planted some perennial bunching onions, "Stevenson" and "Franz". I over planted and I think all of the seeds have sprouted now within a week and now I need to thin them down a bit.

I wondered if the seeds being sold by Wal-mart and like stores are maybe old seeds?

I have some Everygreen(Nebuka) bunching onions that I wintersowed in a gallon milk jugs last season and some of the jugs never sprouted. I just checked the jugs, which were moved to my recycling area and some of the onions are three inches long already, meaning 1 year for germination.

Dean

Here's an idea you might consider. I have trouble starting these from seed, too--they take forever. What I do now is use store-bought bunching onions to get me started early in the season. I can get three bunches here for about a $1.50.

I cut the tops off just as I normally would for cooking and save 3-4 inches of the bottom stem and roots. Just plant them in the garden wherever you want them. They take off like crazy and will re-generate a full-sized green onion in about 5-6 weeks. I just cut the tops off as I need them, leaving the little bulb in the ground.

Meanwhile, I plant the seedlings (any that have sprouted), but at least have some fresh onions while I'm waiting for the babies to mature.

Prof

Prof

Prof - I would HAPPILY get store-bought ones, but WHERE am I going to get them? It is not a common offering. I have never seen them offered.

My sister gave me bunching onion seeds. My first year growing them.
I sprinkled some seeds in a big pot before winter. They came up, survived
winter outside, and they are growing nicely. They started out slow but are
now picking up. These are ferry morse seeds..If you want I can send you
some.

I'd like to share my experience for growing green onion with everyone.
I tried for 2 years and the first year all my seed came out very thin about 2" tall and never grow good.
Last year I tried again to direct seed some red beard bunching onion in sunny area. They did not come out last year but to my surprise, they all came out this spring about 3 weeks ago. A lot of green onion with edible size. They are too crowded and I have to replant them to my bed and hope them grow a little wider.
They may need the cold winter to grow, I think

Wendy

Very interested in this post, as I am planning on planting green onions from seed. Perhaps, if I plant them close to fall, they will come around in early spring next year? With mulch, of course. It's frustrating, I can get them at the store for a dollar and some cents, but want to grow my own!!!! Should they be soaked like regular onion seeds? I'm determined to learn to grow plants from seeds. Help!

raisemybeds: I believe we are talking about the same thing--green onions or scallions. Any grocery store has these in the produce section. These are one of a few veggies you can buy from the grocery and "re-cycle" in your garden to grow.

Prof

Mine took many weeks to come up. I used some 3-year-old seed and thought for sure it wouldn't germinate, but it did. I guess onion seed has a long life, so I wouldn't think old seed is the problem. I direct sowed them. Maybe they need the cold to do their thing.

I find your experiences with Fall planting very interesting and I will keep that in mind for certain. As for now I am going to plant more seed directly in the garden and if anything germinates I will plop little bunches of onion all around and let them take off. I do have one bunching onion plant that over-wintered from last year, just one, so I can see what you all mean. Onions have a very long season.

Thank you, roper2008 for your kind offer. Those are exactly the same seeds that failed for me. I believe I will try the garden direct method, though, and I have purchased more seed.