# Too many onion sets!



## meganwf (Jul 5, 2005)

I'm in zone 6b and worked on planting some onion sets yesterday though I think my raised bed was still too wet and clay-like. Will have to keep working on that and next year covering the bed to it can dry out easier. BUT what was I thinking? I have way too many onion sets of three different varieties. Can I plant more in the late summer? Will the sets themselves keep for another year?


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

I have some that I kept in the refrigerator from last year and planted this year and they seem to have survived.

Onion sets always seem to be sold in packs of 100. I wish they came in sizes more suited to backyard gardeners who'd like to try more than one kind--say, 20, or 10. A 9-pack would be great for square foot gardeners because it's the optimal number for a single square, though I suppose a 10 pack would serve since you waste only one and that way if one of them goes bad in the pack you still have a full square's worth.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

Hm, On that note I wish they'd sell sampler packs with a few of several varieties so you could try them out in small numbers to find out which kinds do best in your own conditions.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Here they sell them by the pound out of bins. All the same price, so you can mix your own bag. Buy as many or as little as you want as you want. I've even stood there and picked them out by the sizes. That is from a feed store or Ace hardware.


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## PonderosaQ (Jan 12, 2004)

If you keep some in the fridge you can plant them once a month or whatever and keep getting green onions all through the season. In fact I grow some that way in pots year round. It's so nice to have those green tops, nice and fresh during the colder months. Not enough room in my fridge to keep them a year. If you put a paper towel in the bag with them they will be less prone to go moldy in the fridge for long term Keeping. The green ones seem more prone to doing that than the others.
PQ


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## Loriann1971 (Sep 1, 2005)

I got mine in too late last year, so we didn't get a lot of onions. I just went out to survey the garden area yesterday and low and behold I have about twenty onions sprouting. So I would think that you can save what you don't plant now and put them in at the end of the season and let them winter in the ground.


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## Jen H (Jun 16, 2004)

Plant them closer together than normal and as the season progresses, you can thin the little onions and eat them on salads (yumm!) or sell them as salad onions. By the time the onions are reaching their full diameter, the bed will have been thinned and there will be space.


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## Rita (May 13, 2002)

Just a hint. If you do store them don't use a plastic bag. I buy them by the pound from Ace and they have them in brown paper bags and I put them in the veg. drawer in the fridge and they stay good for months. I used a plastic bag once and they rotted.


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## shellrow (Feb 8, 2007)

PonderosaQ said:


> If you keep some in the fridge you can plant them once a month or whatever and keep getting green onions all through the season. In fact I grow some that way in pots year round. It's so nice to have those green tops, nice and fresh during the colder months. Not enough room in my fridge to keep them a year. If you put a paper towel in the bag with them they will be less prone to go moldy in the fridge for long term Keeping. The green ones seem more prone to doing that than the others.
> PQ



That is great! I wondered if it was possible. I am planting everything in pots this year. I am glad to know that someone else has onions in pots! 

"Jen H Plant them closer together than normal and as the season progresses, you can thin the little onions and eat them on salads (yumm!) or sell them as salad onions. By the time the onions are reaching their full diameter, the bed will have been thinned and there will be space. Jen H"

That is another good idea. I do have limited space in flower bedding areas around the house and I will try that also. It is great to get such great information from like minded folks!


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

anyone know if my onion sets will survive? i planted them and covered them with soil i did'nt realize i was'nt supposed to. next time ill plant them but not cover them. i learned something new!


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## randy in central missouri (May 12, 2002)

my dad loved onions. loved onions. One year he told my mom if she went to town, to buy some onion sets. She did. He got home that night and walked in the door and said, o my god, you didn't. we planted and this is no lie, 28 rows of onions. we have a community club and one lady got up and asked whats the deal with all the onions. we put an onion in just about everything that year. 
randy


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Dreamy said:


> anyone know if my onion sets will survive? i planted them and covered them with soil i did'nt realize i was'nt supposed to. next time ill plant them but not cover them. i learned something new!


Your onions will survive. Sets can be planted with their tips just barely visible. Assuming that the soil has been worked and is loose, it will settle around them. If the soil were really heavy, it is possible for them to later become trapped underground and unable to pop out of the ground. Some gardeners will plant them deep so that the sets can take better advantage of soil moisture and make deeper roots. When the bulbs begin forming, soil is pulled away from them so that only a third is below soil level. For certain, you won't want to be hilling them for any reason. 

Martin


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## Woodpecker (Mar 8, 2007)

ok thanks i planted them as if the were seeds ill go out and loose the soil a bit.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

I apparently missed picking a couple of onions last year because they were too small when the others were ready and then I forgot about them. Now they are putting out scapes. 

What will result in the best harvestable onions--should I pull them now, or cut the scapes off and let them grow more this year, or what?


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