Onions from seed

This month’s suggestion for growing something different is…

Onions may seem unremarkable and you will rarely find them being shouted about when more glamorous crops such as tomatoes or peppers are in the frame, but for me they are a delight to grow.

They are relatively easy to establish and maintain and are one of the few crops that you can confidently aim to grow a whole year’s supply of, as they are easy to store.

Many people start them from ‘sets’, which are immature onions that go direct into the ground in March, but you can also grow lots of onions cheaply from seed by sowing in February under cover and planting out in March/April.

Multi-sowing is my preferred approach. To do this, sow about six seeds per module (a small 3cm module is fine) and these will grow happily together. Plant out the group at a spacing of 25cm, for more onions than when grown individually in the same amount of ground. They will form slightly smaller bulbs and these are ideal for a single meal. Try roasting them in their skins and enjoy the juicy sweetness. If you have never multi-sown veg then do give it a try – it was a revelation for me. You can also do this with beetroot, leeks and spring onions.

As they grow you can harvest and use some fresh if there are larger bulbs in the clump, leaving the others in the ground to mature. Mature bulbs will store better and are usually ready to lift when the stems start to bend down.

I regularly return to old favourites including varieties such as ‘Sturon’, ‘Stuttgart Giant’ and ‘Red Baron’. ‘Yellow Rijnsburger’ is a good storer and ‘Carmen’ is a red onion with a sweet flavour.

Growing onions from seed

1 Position seeds carefully on the compost, either singly, or, like Sheila, bunch them together (to multi-sow) and grow on in a group you will plant out later as a bunch.

2 Cover thinly with compost or, as here, with vermiculite, which seals moisture into the compost while the seeds germinate. Onion seedlings are slow to start so be patien