Deep Purple Organic Onion Seed

Scientific name

Allium cepa

When to sow

Sow in early spring for summer bunches, or in July or August for harvests in fall and the following spring. Bunching onions like soil with a pH of 6.2–6.8, and the hardiest varieties usually come through winter on well-drained ground.

Days to maturity

Counted from direct sowing. Transplants are ready roughly 10–15 days sooner.

Transplants

Sow 6–8 seeds per cell in 72-cell trays at the same time you would start bulb onions, then set out the clumps 6–8" apart in rows 18" apart.

Long white shanks

For thick, Japanese negi-style stems, start seedlings in flats. From late spring, when they are 8–18" tall and about pencil-thick, plant them 6" apart in rows 24" apart, in holes made about 6" deep with a dibber, leaving just 1–2" of leaf above ground. Do not press the soil back in; let rain or irrigation fill the holes.

Direct sowing

Sow seed about 1/4" apart, 1/4–1/2" deep, in bands 2–3" wide. Thin to about 1" only if you want thicker stems, and keep the rows weeded so plants get full light.

Seeding rate

At 50 seeds per foot in 2" bands 18" apart: about 1 oz. per 250 ft., 1 lb. per 4,000 ft. and roughly 7 1/2 lb. per acre.

Blanching

Hill soil up around the plants two or three times as they grow, a little higher each time. This pushes the leaves upward and gives a longer white stem. Plants set in deep dibbled holes need little or no hilling.

Harvest

Loosen the soil with a fork and lift the plants. Wash, cool quickly in cold water, and keep just above freezing until sold or used.

Packet

500 seeds.

Seeds per lb.

About 112,200 on average.