I had some onions I grew last year that were too small to eat, but too big to throw away. I pulled them and let them dry in my (unheated, zone 4) garage over the winter and forgot about them. Well I found them this spring and planted them and Lo and behold, I grew nice onions from those “accidental sets”. They have gone to seed this year so I intend to save the seeds (who knows what these seeds will produce) and eat the onions. Great video, thanks!
Depending on whether they were hybrids or not, they might be similar to the parent onion. If hybrids, they will possibly be different and maybe not so great. Open pollinated heirloom varieties will come true to seed and be very similar to the parent. And since there aren't any wild onions likely to be flowering at the same time, you know that they will only pollinate themselves. But since the sets you planted flowered, they must have been big enough to hold the energy to flower. If they are as small as sets, so an inch or slightly less, they will not likely flower. Glad you liked the video!
It does work! I plant left over seeds in and amongst corn, tomatoes. With low sunlight they do not grow fully. pull them up and store at around 40 to 50 degrees. In my garage works. I check them once a month and cut off the green tops. Just had the tops on my soup for lunch today. Place them in water for 1 day to 2 days. You will be shocked how quickly they plump up. Don't throw them if they look dried out. I have 150 sets itching to be planted or maybe thats me itching to plant... anything.
Good to know someone has had success with them. I'm finding it depends on the variety as far as how well they store overwinter, and how they perform after planted the following season. The Rossa di Milano didn't like storage overwinter. It's an Italian onion so maybe it just doesn't do cold and dormancy for long.
@@HardcoreSustainable Red Wing is great. But I have tried over 20 variety over my 45 years of gardening. They all work- just soak them prior to planting.
Maybe try some bought onion sets because they make growing onions pretty easy. Getting them in early is key too because onions are sensitive to day length. They need to be at a certain point when the days are long, or they won't head up properly and won't store.
@@HardcoreSustainable I had bought all these really cool onion seeds from Bakercreek. Because everyone said growing onions by seed is the best way to do it. My grandfather though always did sets. I grew smaller type of onions this last year and the soil I believe wasn’t that great so I will try again. I put more organic matter directly into my beds including duck eggs. So I believe this year might be the year cross my fingers. I have always wanted to braid onions and garlic. Have a great Christmas by the way. 👍
Mom left some in the garden all year long in Fairbanks. I do not recall what variety, though. You might try a few and see if they grow and last through the winter.
I store my onions in the bedroom closet or under my bed. Its cool and dry and I can smell any onion going bad and cull it out before it ruins the rest. I would store the small sets in a waxed paper bag to retain more moisture. I have shallots I harvested last season stored that way and they are still in perfect condition. :) Good luck!
I'll try the waxed paper bag this winter. I have some more sets going because I had so many leftover seedlings, even though I have two beds full of beautiful onions this year. The onions under the bed probably has some folk purpose in warding off evils spirits, so maybe you get a double benefit. 😃
Hi Dan, my Son Spencer is coming for the October visitors program. I hope he gets to meet you. Thanks for all the great information. I have to water all his planets while he is gone, so wish me luck that I don't kill any of them.
Do you mean direct seeding them? I don't know anything about gardening in Colorado. I'd guess they'd come up in the spring if planted in the fall, but they probably would be behind because they'd grow more slowly than if you started them indoors.
I stopped watering them, but they do kind of dry down on their own when the season is over. I did it last fall with some Italian heirloom onions called Borettana Cipolini and they worked really well. If they are still a little green you can let them dry down more after digging them. I don't know if I'd ever give a date as the end of the season. It depends on what you are growing. Our first frost is usually mid Oct but we've had hard frosts as early as late Sept.
They are doing well in storage, but we'll have to see if they are in good shape to plant this spring. My goal was to save them for over winter and plant in spring. If they are in good shape, I'm sure they will do well and I'll make a follow up video.
Onion seeds can be frozen if you wish to store them for a few years with minimal loss of germination ability. It's another option for those extra seeds.
If they dont freeze they arent likely to flower next year. A light frost after planting probably wont hurt but if heirloims flower you jost got new seeds! :)
Mom left some in the garden all year long in Fairbanks. I do not recall what variety, though. You might try a few and see if they grow and last through the winter.
@@HardcoreSustainable im zone 4 and someone forgot to harvest the onions last year and now the bulbs have split in half and come back as well as went to seed. The stalks died but now they have green shoots again and look like theyre still growing. Idk how cold it gets where you are but imma try harvesting the extra bulbs they make and leaving them in the ground indefinitely
Yes, I've found that globe onions will split if left in the ground (if they don't rot first). You could leave them and see how long they last. There are many different types of onions. I grow the walking, or Egyptian, onions and they are ideal for giving you fresh scallions at times of the year when you might not have any globe onions producing or left in storage. I talked about them in this video ruclips.net/video/IL8ms1o6cnI/видео.html. I'm harvesting them now because they have perfect tender scallion shoots in abundance. They are too tough to eat off in the summer, but the spring is another great time for harvest, and they will fill in the gap between winter and the first crop of spring scallions from seed. They start growing even before the trees sprout. There are also potato onions that produce many little storage onions that can be planted and divide again into more little storage onions.
I now know how to make onion sets 😅I loved your presentation.
I had some onions I grew last year that were too small to eat, but too big to throw away. I pulled them and let them dry in my (unheated, zone 4) garage over the winter and forgot about them. Well I found them this spring and planted them and Lo and behold, I grew nice onions from those “accidental sets”. They have gone to seed this year so I intend to save the seeds (who knows what these seeds will produce) and eat the onions. Great video, thanks!
Depending on whether they were hybrids or not, they might be similar to the parent onion. If hybrids, they will possibly be different and maybe not so great. Open pollinated heirloom varieties will come true to seed and be very similar to the parent. And since there aren't any wild onions likely to be flowering at the same time, you know that they will only pollinate themselves. But since the sets you planted flowered, they must have been big enough to hold the energy to flower. If they are as small as sets, so an inch or slightly less, they will not likely flower.
Glad you liked the video!
It does work! I plant left over seeds in and amongst corn, tomatoes. With low sunlight they do not grow fully. pull them up and store at around 40 to 50 degrees. In my garage works. I check them once a month and cut off the green tops. Just had the tops on my soup for lunch today. Place them in water for 1 day to 2 days. You will be shocked how quickly they plump up. Don't throw them if they look dried out. I have 150 sets itching to be planted or maybe thats me itching to plant... anything.
Good to know someone has had success with them. I'm finding it depends on the variety as far as how well they store overwinter, and how they perform after planted the following season. The Rossa di Milano didn't like storage overwinter. It's an Italian onion so maybe it just doesn't do cold and dormancy for long.
@@HardcoreSustainable Red Wing is great. But I have tried over 20 variety over my 45 years of gardening. They all work- just soak them prior to planting.
@@Farmerbob843 That's a good idea. I've never done that.
@@Farmerbob843 By placing them in water, do you mean fully in water or just the root part?
I love onions. I suck at growing them. You made me excited about growing them again
Maybe try some bought onion sets because they make growing onions pretty easy. Getting them in early is key too because onions are sensitive to day length. They need to be at a certain point when the days are long, or they won't head up properly and won't store.
@@HardcoreSustainable I had bought all these really cool onion seeds from Bakercreek. Because everyone said growing onions by seed is the best way to do it. My grandfather though always did sets. I grew smaller type of onions this last year and the soil I believe wasn’t that great so I will try again. I put more organic matter directly into my beds including duck eggs. So I believe this year might be the year cross my fingers. I have always wanted to braid onions and garlic. Have a great Christmas by the way. 👍
@@Korkythegardenslayer Thanks, you too!
Brilliant !! I'm going to try this!!
Good information, Dan!
Mom left some in the garden all year long in Fairbanks. I do not recall what variety, though. You might try a few and see if they grow and last through the winter.
That is a really good idea, though I saw onions somewhere with 20 seeds per pack. I couldn't believe it lol.
I store my onions in the bedroom closet or under my bed. Its cool and dry and I can smell any onion going bad and cull it out before it ruins the rest. I would store the small sets in a waxed paper bag to retain more moisture. I have shallots I harvested last season stored that way and they are still in perfect condition. :) Good luck!
I'll try the waxed paper bag this winter. I have some more sets going because I had so many leftover seedlings, even though I have two beds full of beautiful onions this year. The onions under the bed probably has some folk purpose in warding off evils spirits, so maybe you get a double benefit. 😃
Hi Dan, my Son Spencer is coming for the October visitors program. I hope he gets to meet you. Thanks for all the great information. I have to water all his planets while he is gone, so wish me luck that I don't kill any of them.
Thanks!
Can I pre plant onion seeds now in the Colorado fall? .. I never have any luck with the seeds..
Do you mean direct seeding them? I don't know anything about gardening in Colorado. I'd guess they'd come up in the spring if planted in the fall, but they probably would be behind because they'd grow more slowly than if you started them indoors.
Enjoy your content. Which long day onion varieties do you recommend?
This season I planted New York Early and Dakota Tears. I've also liked Copra and Prince in the past. The hybrids seem to produce more reliably.
Thanks for this info!
did u stop watering them or did frost kill them off? what did u do befor plucking them out? is september 4th ur end of season?
I stopped watering them, but they do kind of dry down on their own when the season is over. I did it last fall with some Italian heirloom onions called Borettana Cipolini and they worked really well. If they are still a little green you can let them dry down more after digging them. I don't know if I'd ever give a date as the end of the season. It depends on what you are growing. Our first frost is usually mid Oct but we've had hard frosts as early as late Sept.
Is there an update on how they did?
They are doing well in storage, but we'll have to see if they are in good shape to plant this spring. My goal was to save them for over winter and plant in spring. If they are in good shape, I'm sure they will do well and I'll make a follow up video.
ruclips.net/video/39c2TRWX0a4/видео.html
Onion seeds can be frozen if you wish to store them for a few years with minimal loss of germination ability. It's another option for those extra seeds.
Wow thats cool
If they dont freeze they arent likely to flower next year.
A light frost after planting probably wont hurt but if heirloims flower you jost got new seeds! :)
The ones I planted this year from my sets have really gotten big and maybe 1 flower head.
Mom left some in the garden all year long in Fairbanks. I do not recall what variety, though. You might try a few and see if they grow and last through the winter.
That's an idea. I do plant garlic in November and overwinter it, so maybe mulched onions would keep for winter in the ground.
@@HardcoreSustainable im zone 4 and someone forgot to harvest the onions last year and now the bulbs have split in half and come back as well as went to seed. The stalks died but now they have green shoots again and look like theyre still growing. Idk how cold it gets where you are but imma try harvesting the extra bulbs they make and leaving them in the ground indefinitely
Yes, I've found that globe onions will split if left in the ground (if they don't rot first). You could leave them and see how long they last. There are many different types of onions. I grow the walking, or Egyptian, onions and they are ideal for giving you fresh scallions at times of the year when you might not have any globe onions producing or left in storage. I talked about them in this video ruclips.net/video/IL8ms1o6cnI/видео.html. I'm harvesting them now because they have perfect tender scallion shoots in abundance. They are too tough to eat off in the summer, but the spring is another great time for harvest, and they will fill in the gap between winter and the first crop of spring scallions from seed. They start growing even before the trees sprout. There are also potato onions that produce many little storage onions that can be planted and divide again into more little storage onions.