SEED SAVING
Allioideae Allium
Onions, Garlic, Leeks, Chives & Garlic
Onion - (Allium cepa), also known as the bulb onion or common onion.
Family - Amaryllidaceae
Sub family - Allioideae
Genus - Allium
Species - A. cepa
Onion types
Yellow or Brown Onions - Brown skin and white flesh
The onion of choice for everyday use
Varieties include - Pukekohe long keeper, Italian long keeper..
Red onions - Red to Burgundy skins and red tinted flesh
Often used raw in salads and salsa's due to their milder taste
Varieties include - Red Brunswick, Purplette, California Red..
White onions - White skin and white flesh
Sweet and milder in taste, often growing very large bulbs. Short keepers.
Varieties include - White Spanish, Walla walla, Pearl drop..
Green onions - Can be any type of onion when picked before fully grown, utilising the greens.
Often used in salads and stir fry's they are great raw or cooked.
Shallots -
Onion - (Allium fistulosum) also known as Green onions or Spring onions
Family - Amaryllidaceae
Sub family - Allioideae
Genus - Allium
Species - A. fistulosum
Spring onions (Green onions) -
Cross Pollination
As a general rule all alliums that set seed will cross pollinate if they are the same species.
For example all cultivars of onions and shallots will cross as they are Allium cepa (A. cepa)
Welsh onion/bunching onion/Japanese bunching onion/spring onion are all basically the same thing-Allium fistulosum.
Leeks-Allium ampeloprasum- don't have many domestic species to cross with, except...elephant garlic is actually a leek!
Family - Amaryllidaceae
Sub family - Allioideae
Genus - Allium
Species - A. cepa
Onion types
Yellow or Brown Onions - Brown skin and white flesh
The onion of choice for everyday use
Varieties include - Pukekohe long keeper, Italian long keeper..
Red onions - Red to Burgundy skins and red tinted flesh
Often used raw in salads and salsa's due to their milder taste
Varieties include - Red Brunswick, Purplette, California Red..
White onions - White skin and white flesh
Sweet and milder in taste, often growing very large bulbs. Short keepers.
Varieties include - White Spanish, Walla walla, Pearl drop..
Green onions - Can be any type of onion when picked before fully grown, utilising the greens.
Often used in salads and stir fry's they are great raw or cooked.
Shallots -
Onion - (Allium fistulosum) also known as Green onions or Spring onions
Family - Amaryllidaceae
Sub family - Allioideae
Genus - Allium
Species - A. fistulosum
Spring onions (Green onions) -
Cross Pollination
As a general rule all alliums that set seed will cross pollinate if they are the same species.
For example all cultivars of onions and shallots will cross as they are Allium cepa (A. cepa)
Welsh onion/bunching onion/Japanese bunching onion/spring onion are all basically the same thing-Allium fistulosum.
Leeks-Allium ampeloprasum- don't have many domestic species to cross with, except...elephant garlic is actually a leek!
ONIONS
Jasmin Hill
21 December 21
I am a little bit obsessed with growing onions this year so I would like to also save lots of their seeds.. In one of my glass houses right now, I have 6 longkeeper onions starting to flower, I chose the biggest most perfect onions from Organic onions I purchased last season and planted them in my glasshouse early spring 4 seed saving.
Because onions are biennial they will flowers and go to seed in their second year of growth. Long keeper onions like Pukekohe long keeper or Italian long keeper should store nicely over winter in a cool dark place, ready for you to plant in early spring. Alternatively you can leave them in the ground over winter, cover with a nice layer of mulch to help avoid the frost from killing them and wait until spring for them to sprout.
This year I am growing White and Yellow sweet Spanish onions that are not long keepers. From my research sweet onions will only last for 1-3 months after harvesting, so for seed saving I think I should leave them in the ground to overwinter by themselves, covered with a layer of mulch for protection.
Jasmin Hill
21 December 21
I am a little bit obsessed with growing onions this year so I would like to also save lots of their seeds.. In one of my glass houses right now, I have 6 longkeeper onions starting to flower, I chose the biggest most perfect onions from Organic onions I purchased last season and planted them in my glasshouse early spring 4 seed saving.
Because onions are biennial they will flowers and go to seed in their second year of growth. Long keeper onions like Pukekohe long keeper or Italian long keeper should store nicely over winter in a cool dark place, ready for you to plant in early spring. Alternatively you can leave them in the ground over winter, cover with a nice layer of mulch to help avoid the frost from killing them and wait until spring for them to sprout.
This year I am growing White and Yellow sweet Spanish onions that are not long keepers. From my research sweet onions will only last for 1-3 months after harvesting, so for seed saving I think I should leave them in the ground to overwinter by themselves, covered with a layer of mulch for protection.
Onions need a long growing season to produce good sized bulbs, the bulbs will only form when the daylight hours reach 10 hours + so you need nice established plants when the summer is in full swing to make the most of the long daylight hours. When growing them from seed it's recommended that you start your seeds inside on a heat pad during winter or early spring so your slips are ready to plant when the weather starts to warm up.
Growing my White Spanish onions that I intend to grow for seed saving purposes, it is recommended to plant them a little later so that they bulb up a bit later in the season. This way they will be slightly smaller onions going in to winter time, which will give them a better chance of surviving overwinter in the ground. The larger onions are more susceptible to winter damage.
This year I planted an early patch of Yellow sweet Spanish onions and a later patch too. The early's are big and fat, I'm so excited to use them! The second patch are just starting to bulb up now so I will choose a nice group of them to over winter for seed saving next season.
Growing my White Spanish onions that I intend to grow for seed saving purposes, it is recommended to plant them a little later so that they bulb up a bit later in the season. This way they will be slightly smaller onions going in to winter time, which will give them a better chance of surviving overwinter in the ground. The larger onions are more susceptible to winter damage.
This year I planted an early patch of Yellow sweet Spanish onions and a later patch too. The early's are big and fat, I'm so excited to use them! The second patch are just starting to bulb up now so I will choose a nice group of them to over winter for seed saving next season.
13 April 2022
My Yellow Spanish onions have grown beautifully, the best performers in my climate and really delicious fresh and cooked. I have left them all in the ground and harvested as I used them which has worked perfectly!
The weather has turned now though and the past week we have had a lot of rain. A couple of them have started to grow again so I have decided to harvest the best 20 bulbs for Seed Saving, dry them out and re-plant them in my glasshouse in a couple of months for early spring. I would much prefer to grow them in my glasshouse because the weather here can be really extreme and I would hate to lose my seeds to a storm.
My Yellow Spanish onions have grown beautifully, the best performers in my climate and really delicious fresh and cooked. I have left them all in the ground and harvested as I used them which has worked perfectly!
The weather has turned now though and the past week we have had a lot of rain. A couple of them have started to grow again so I have decided to harvest the best 20 bulbs for Seed Saving, dry them out and re-plant them in my glasshouse in a couple of months for early spring. I would much prefer to grow them in my glasshouse because the weather here can be really extreme and I would hate to lose my seeds to a storm.
Yellow Spanish onions - I have selected big huge well formed bulbs that haven't bolted early. I'm not totally sure how many to grow, there are conflicting ideas in my different seed saving books. Onions will self pollinate so they don't need other flowers to pollinate them and you can save great seeds from just one onion, but for Genetic Diversity I'd like to grow as many as possible. These onions have grown so well here that I would like to continue to grow and save their seeds for future generations.
Italian long keeper onions - I was a little late getting out in to the garden and the rain this past week has encouraged them all to bolt to seed. I managed to harvest them all today and found 6 really good looking, large, well formed bulbs that haven't started to go to seed so I have put them aside and I will plant them a little later in spring for seed saving. I'm happy with 6 bulbs for this variety, they have grown really well with huge big fat bulbs so I want to continue to grow them.. I may in future buy some more seeds of the same variety to introduce more GD.
Italian long keeper onions - I was a little late getting out in to the garden and the rain this past week has encouraged them all to bolt to seed. I managed to harvest them all today and found 6 really good looking, large, well formed bulbs that haven't started to go to seed so I have put them aside and I will plant them a little later in spring for seed saving. I'm happy with 6 bulbs for this variety, they have grown really well with huge big fat bulbs so I want to continue to grow them.. I may in future buy some more seeds of the same variety to introduce more GD.
7 June 2022
Today I planted my Yellow Spanish onions in my glasshouse for seed saving. Onions are one of the easiest seeds to save, you can save reasonably good seeds from just one plant.. but I would like to grow these onions year after year and choose the best onions for seed saving so I can keep the good genetics and still have nice big fat onions year after year My favourite and best onion to grow last season was the Yellow Spanish onion hence why I'm making a fuss about saving these seeds.. I started germinating my first tray of slips this time last year (which I'm about to do again) and then I grew another tray of slips early in spring when I planted the first tray out in to the garden. We were eating wonderful big fresh onions out of the gardens for months until the autumn rains began and it was time to harvest them all for storage.
Today I planted my Yellow Spanish onions in my glasshouse for seed saving. Onions are one of the easiest seeds to save, you can save reasonably good seeds from just one plant.. but I would like to grow these onions year after year and choose the best onions for seed saving so I can keep the good genetics and still have nice big fat onions year after year My favourite and best onion to grow last season was the Yellow Spanish onion hence why I'm making a fuss about saving these seeds.. I started germinating my first tray of slips this time last year (which I'm about to do again) and then I grew another tray of slips early in spring when I planted the first tray out in to the garden. We were eating wonderful big fresh onions out of the gardens for months until the autumn rains began and it was time to harvest them all for storage.
22 June 2022
This is how I grow my onions from seed.
I started germinating my seeds about this time last year to get nice strong slips ready to re-plant in early spring. Onions need a long growing season to form big fat bulbs, it's all about the length of the daylight hours.
I first lay cardboard in the bottom of my seed trays and soak the cardboard with water, making sure it's all wet. Then I cover it with my seed raising mix and sprinkle over a whole packet of seeds.
I watered them and sprinkled more seed raising mix and watered and sprinkled more.. let them sit in the sunshine and watered them some more until I was totally happy that they were completely wet but not soggy. Then I bought them inside and put them on heat mats to germinate. I also lay a piece of plastic over them just to keep the surface from drying out.
Onion seeds usually don't last very long with an expected life of only 1-2 years, so be sure you are using fresh seeds.
This is how I grow my onions from seed.
I started germinating my seeds about this time last year to get nice strong slips ready to re-plant in early spring. Onions need a long growing season to form big fat bulbs, it's all about the length of the daylight hours.
I first lay cardboard in the bottom of my seed trays and soak the cardboard with water, making sure it's all wet. Then I cover it with my seed raising mix and sprinkle over a whole packet of seeds.
I watered them and sprinkled more seed raising mix and watered and sprinkled more.. let them sit in the sunshine and watered them some more until I was totally happy that they were completely wet but not soggy. Then I bought them inside and put them on heat mats to germinate. I also lay a piece of plastic over them just to keep the surface from drying out.
Onion seeds usually don't last very long with an expected life of only 1-2 years, so be sure you are using fresh seeds.
28 June 2022
My first onion babies are germinating, just 5 days from sowing.
It's a great time of year to get onion seeds germinating to have nice strong slips to plant in spring.
My first onion babies are germinating, just 5 days from sowing.
It's a great time of year to get onion seeds germinating to have nice strong slips to plant in spring.
24 July 2023
I like to germinate my onion seeds in trays on heat pads. I also love planting seeds by my gardening Moon calendar.
I like to germinate my onion seeds in trays on heat pads. I also love planting seeds by my gardening Moon calendar.
24 January 2023
My Yellow Spanish onion seed heads are just starting to pop open so it's about time for me to harvest some of them yay! I've loved their quirky joyful pom poms this spring but they have overtaken half of my glasshouse. I've really been enjoying learning to grow onions the past few years and one of my absolute fav to grow have been these yellow spanish variety. I couldn't find any seeds that were grown in NZ so I've used a combination of commercial seeds from Kings and Egmonts. As per my book.. 20 plants are recommended for Genetic Diversity and because I was starting with commercial seeds I thought I had better grow the full 20. I don't believe it is necessary to grow so many plants for seed saving, you can save great seeds from just 1 onion variety. Growing onions for seed has been fun with their quirky balls of flowers and this glasshouse has been very easy care for a change.
I have selected for the best of the best right from the beginning, the best slips and the best bulbs, over wintered and planted in spring.
I have also marked the last onion to sprout, these seeds I will use next season hoping to inherit longer storage life in future generations of my seed saving.
Next step I guess is to harvest them.. I'm planning to cut a good length of them and hang them upside down in my shed with a paper bag underneath them to catch the seeds as they open. it worked really well for my spring onion seeds last season
I want to be careful not to damage them too much though as I know that onion seeds have such a short life.. so I am going to keep an eye on them as they dry and get them into a jar for cooler storage in the library. Most onion seeds only live 1-2 years but I have had 6 year old seed germinate so maybe with care they can last a little bit longer.
My Yellow Spanish onion seed heads are just starting to pop open so it's about time for me to harvest some of them yay! I've loved their quirky joyful pom poms this spring but they have overtaken half of my glasshouse. I've really been enjoying learning to grow onions the past few years and one of my absolute fav to grow have been these yellow spanish variety. I couldn't find any seeds that were grown in NZ so I've used a combination of commercial seeds from Kings and Egmonts. As per my book.. 20 plants are recommended for Genetic Diversity and because I was starting with commercial seeds I thought I had better grow the full 20. I don't believe it is necessary to grow so many plants for seed saving, you can save great seeds from just 1 onion variety. Growing onions for seed has been fun with their quirky balls of flowers and this glasshouse has been very easy care for a change.
I have selected for the best of the best right from the beginning, the best slips and the best bulbs, over wintered and planted in spring.
I have also marked the last onion to sprout, these seeds I will use next season hoping to inherit longer storage life in future generations of my seed saving.
Next step I guess is to harvest them.. I'm planning to cut a good length of them and hang them upside down in my shed with a paper bag underneath them to catch the seeds as they open. it worked really well for my spring onion seeds last season
I want to be careful not to damage them too much though as I know that onion seeds have such a short life.. so I am going to keep an eye on them as they dry and get them into a jar for cooler storage in the library. Most onion seeds only live 1-2 years but I have had 6 year old seed germinate so maybe with care they can last a little bit longer.
7 February 2023
harvested and now hanging in my shed to dry. Last time I dried onion seeds I re-used supermarket paper bags.. it didn't work this time because there are way to many and the bags split so I donated 2 of my least liked pillow cases..
harvested and now hanging in my shed to dry. Last time I dried onion seeds I re-used supermarket paper bags.. it didn't work this time because there are way to many and the bags split so I donated 2 of my least liked pillow cases..