Onion Seedlings (8 weeks)

Again, there isn't much change at the 8 week point.  The tips of some of the onions are again turning yellow but there is still new growth.  The red onions seem to be fattening up just like their yellow counterparts.
I am guessing I will have to play around with starting with a well balanced fertilizer plan from the start because I think my over watering problem has decreased. I will be setting the seedlings out gradually next week possible in hopes of actually putting them out at 10 weeks. 

Onion Seedlings (6 weeks)

This week I started my first application of the Neptune Fish/Seaweed fertilizer. We shall see how it works.  Although I don't have any pictures from last year, the thickness of the seedlings has improved as shown by the picture. Besides improper fertilization from last year (used Coconut Coir only and some Fox Farm fertilizer), it might be worth looking into a better starting medium. I started reading a few studies concerning coconut coir and some of the problems that have been documented. I did buy coir from Burpee's this year and am thinking about doing a comparison study. My wonderfully stunted onions from last year are giving me the idea that I should at least make my own mixture if I am going to use the coir.  Hopefully, I will finalize the mini experiment parameters by the end of this week in time for more seed starting.

Healthy, fat Stuttgarter yellow onions

Slightly thinner Red of Florence onions

Onion Seedlings (5 weeks)

I wanted to try to document the progress of my onion seedlings in 2 week intervals, but because I was rather down about my lack of fertilizer in my potting soil mix/over watering issues, I wanted to track any improvement one week later after I  took emergency action (!).

The yellow stems have now dried and curled and the new green shoots that were just starting out a week later have really taken off. I mixed half of the recommended dose of Miraclegro in a gallon of water and have watered carefully both the onions and the leeks (the leeks don't seem to have as much of an issue with turning yellow). I pretty much have been pouring about 1 cup or 2 into the dish and walking away. If the soil doesn't appear to have soaked up enough water then I will water again, but really, I think this is the best approach to make sure the soil isn't too moist. I know there are some hints I have seen here and there that state that if you probe the soil with your finger, you should be able to detect moisture at the first knuckle. Frankly, I don't trust my tactile response yet.

1 week after applying emergency fertilizer!

Onion Seedlings (4 weeks)

After four weeks, the onions look virtually the same as they did at 2 weeks. Their growth has slowed and I have not had to trim them back. The watering pan idea is still working, however, it is bringing my inability to assess acceptable moisture levels correctly to light.  While the best thing would probably be to monitor moisture somehow in the soil under standard conditions (i.e. room temperature and under the constant presence of a fan) and then test at what water level in the pan produces happy plants, for now, I am just going to try to select a level in the pan to fill up once a week and monitor.

Also, (and I must mention I feel pretty stupid about this), I just realized that my Espoma potting soil mix DOES NOT contain fertilizer. I don't know why I ignored this, but I just watered them with a half dose of Miraclegro. I didn't really want to go that way, but I am hoping it gives me a week to find a good fertilizer I like. So, this means that 1. I am over watering or 2. There is a lack of Nitrogen because there was nothing for the seedlings to eat.

I have lost some plants due to fungus (Dampening-off, or what I call "consumption" for plants), and my over watering is causing some of the tips of the onions to yellow. As with the previous years, the tips that are yellowing eventually die, but the onion will shoot another "leg" up to compensate for this loss. I don't know if this takes up a lot of energy in which the plant could be using to fatten itself up or work on root structure.

Yellowing stems due to over watering or lack of nitrogen (or both)

Onion Seedlings (2 weeks)

Onions- 3 inches tall. Note the clippings on the ground.

This Saturday marks two weeks since I planted the onion seeds and leeks for this upcoming season. I am trying to keep them at a height of about 3 inches to prevent them from getting too lengthy. Even as very young seedlings, they emit a potent onion smell when they are trimmed with scissors. Both seem to be doing much
better than last year when making a comparison in rate of growth.

Leeks!

Last year, I used only coconut coir for seed starting with Espoma's dry fertilizer Garden-Tone (3-4-4).  A number things may have contributed to ending up with very thin onion seedlings (still produce good onions at the end of the season though once outside) such as inconsistent watering, using a dry slow release fertilizer, and using only coconut coir (pH and salt levels not monitored). I would like to make my own media in the future and it is clear I basically randomly chose to throw things together ending up with weak transplants. This year, not only was it simpler to just choose a soil premix (Espoma's Organic potting mix), but hopefully I can isolate variables and work backwards after actually doing research on the best combos of  perlite/coir/etc. to get the same results with my own mix.

Onion seedlings

 It has been a week since I planted my yellow (Stuttgarter) and red (Red of Florence) onions from Baker Creek. They are coming up in large numbers, however, I have noticed that the red onions have a nice layer of string-like fungus around them, whereas the yellow ones don't even though they share the same pan. My guess is that the fungus came with the red onion seeds (right side of pan).

In previous years, I have bought both red and yellow onions that store well into winter (although we usually run out by end of November). However, because we eat such a mass quantity of red onions with salad in the summer, I don't think the storage quality of the red, which I read isn't the greatest, isn't going to matter.

Both types are long-day onions and it should be noted that I pretty much spread two seed packets out in one pan and lightly covered with soil.