I don't think it's too early for onions. I try to get all of my big bulb onions and shallots started before the end of January. I often then direct-sow bunching onions and cippolinis in March. My onion seedlings looked like yours until last night, when I gave them their first haircut, back to 3 inches. Keeping them trimmed to 3-4 inches and positioning them so they are almost touching the light will help them push out new leaves. I set up an onion day care center out on the deck, basically a low cold frame, so I can move the seedlings outdoors on sunny days in late Feb and March. March 15 in my tomato/pepper start date, so I need to get the onions hardened off enough to stay outside in a cold frame 24/7 by then, having only so many grow lights. Onion seedlings just grow slowly until they get real sun and spring warmth. Good luck!

Agreed with above. Here's my method in "newbie" detail. I start my seeds in leftover nursery pots that have been washed and soaked in a bleach and water solution for a few minutes. Be sure to rinse pots well. The exception to this is plants that I plan to give away. Those, I start in newspaper pots that I make myself. They fit nicely in nursery flats that have indentations for four inch pots. Fill them with a good soil-less mix (I use a potting mix, like Miracle Gro, though very many recommend seed starting mix) and press the mix firmly into the pot, leaving about a half inch of space empty to accomodate watering. Sow your seeds on the top of the firmed down soil, then use your hand and lightly "dust" more mix over the top of the seeds (sometimes I use vermiculite for this step). Be sure to follow seed package directions. Some seeds should merely be pressed into the soil and not covered. And the depths of the cover can vary too. If I err, I err on the side of less cover rather than more. I use a gentle spray to water the flats. Emphasis on gentle, as noted above. I water until I see water draining out the bottom of the pots. Let the pots drain for at least 30 minutes. An hour is even better. Then I put my flats into a clear plastic upside down rubbermaid storage box. One nursery flat will fit inside the lid and then the box part becomes a dome lid over the flat. Over the years I have tried plastic wrap, ziploc bags, the store bought set ups with the plastic domes (flimsy), etc. The heavy boxes last indefinitely and work very well, stack for easy storage, are strong enough to stack in a bright window, etc. I do not water the plants again until the seeds germinate, at which time the dome comes off. You will see a "fog" under the dome. That's what you want. If there appears to be alot of "rain" under there, it's too wet. Take the dome off and let the plants drain awhile longer. Then put the box in bright light. For germination purposes, I have a few boxes that are only about six inches deep. I set the flourescent bulbs right on top of, but not touching, the plastic. (See notes below.) Once the flat starts germinating (not necessarily every single plant), I remove the dome and let the plants grow on under the lights. I start fertilizing with half strength liquid fertilizer after the plant has its first or second set of true leaves. Note: With regard to the flourescents, I use $10 shop lights from Lowe's. Each fixture holds two standard flourescent bulbs. I hang them by chains and S hooks under plastic storage shelving. One flat will sit under one light on each shelf. I just buy the standard lights that the fixture calls for. They work great. If a bulb starts to go "dim", I replace it. They will typically last for 2 to 3 years. I always set the bulbs about an inch above the highest leaves in the flat, centering the plants under the bulb(s). As the plants grow, I use the S hooks and move the lights higher, keeping them very near, but not touching, the foliage. I have them on timers set to be on l6 hours a day and off for 8 hours. With regard to germination, you need to know if your seeds need light or darkness for germination. Obviously, the light lovers go under the flourescents immediately. The dark lovers go in my dark basement, or under a bed, etc: wherever it's dark, but the right temperature for germination. Some plants need very warm temperatures for germination. The heat mats work very well but are quite expensive if you're starting alot of seed. I have one light/shelf set up that I keep in my small guest bathroom. I close the door and run a space heater in there to keep the temperatures where they need to be. (75, 85, etc) Once germination happens, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and more prefer cooler air temps for growing on. So, I take them to the basement where the majority of my light set ups are. There, they have temps in the very high sixties to low seventies. I water them once a week unless their soil is drying faster. The basement is great because I can simply drag a hose inside to water and the excess runs down a floor drain. I set the flats on trays of gravel to catch the worst of the excess water and keep the plants out of the wet. The whole thing sounds very complicated, and is somewhat so the first time you do it. But, once you get set up and get the hang of it, it's really and truly very easy. I started this whole thing when I could no longer find six packs of flowers around here. All the garden centers have gone to selling plants in four inch pots for $2 to $3 per plant. I can't pay that for the number of plants I need. I start twenty or more flats of seedlings twice a year for my personal use and for my church yard. So you see, this process saves a great deal of money, and it's also great FUN. I have seen the issue of increased electric bills raised on other forums about starting plants indoors. I can honestly say that I have never noticed a significant uptick in my electric bill during seed starting season. Flourescents are very economical to start with, and the little space heater only runs for a few days until germination. Then I turn it off.

Hi HotHouse, I used to live in a suburb of Chicago - the last frost date was May 15. I planted them in early June;having hardened off for a couple weeks before hand. They did well. I did not experiment with any other times. Regards, Lynne

How will I know when the soil temp reaches 60? You just measure it with a thermometer. ;) If you are using containers then you'll measure the temperature approximately 6" down in the soil. Just fill your large containers with a good potting mix (not soil), set them in the sun where the plants will be growing, and give it a day or 2 for the mix to warm up to the outside temps - then check it. How to measure soil temps Should you re-pot? That depends on how soon you can plant them out. I would think in your zone it would be past time as even zone 8 gardeners have theirs in the ground already. end by the seed company??? If these are store bought plants from a local nursery, then they have already been hardened off and should be ready to plant. If they were ordered online then the company can tell you if they are already hardened off - most are before shipping or the shipping would kill them - and most are only shipped to you at the proper planting time for your area. Otherwise, if you don't plan to plant them into their permanent containers in the next week, then yes I would re-pot them into larger containers. Dave