Onions Update Week 1

It has been about a week since I sowed onion seeds and most of the cells have emerged, as I used a tray heater to keep the soil warm.

A few cells with a rather low number of onions are ones in which I used old seeds, from 2022. I knew Onion seeds tend to lose viability quickly. While some seeds like Tomato seeds can stay viable for a long time, modern onion seeds lose their ability to sprout rather quickly. This may have something to do with the fact that human beings have cultivated onions for a long time, and we’ve selected for flavor and size, rather than seed durability. After all, when farmers select onions for size and flavor, they aren’t necessarily selecting any potential genes that will increase seed longevity.

So what should I do with the cells with no onions? I could potentially sow again with newer seeds if nothing sprouts, as my growing tray space is limited and I want to make good use of every possible cell.

Another important lesson I have learned is that it is probably not worth saving old onion seeds. I should try to collect seeds myself. However, onion propagation is biennial, meaning as I grow onion from seeds, I need to dig up the onion and plant them again the following year to collect seeds. It is a multi-year process to collect and select onions.