How to Sow Giant Sweet Red Onion Seeds
Giant sweet red onion is an Italian favourite, with Italian heritage. Its dark red tight rings, sweet crisp red flesh and excellent flavour, make this a must have addition to dinner time throughout the UK. Red onions are used alongside salads, stews, burgers plus thousands of other combinations with many varieties of food. This is an open pollinated, short day medium maturing variety and will strive in warm dry conditions. Can be stored easily once the onions have fully matured. This is the common supermarket red onion, which can be sown and grown at home from seed.
Growing Advice for Giant Sweet Red Onion from Seed
- Start sowing seeds at a depth of 1/2″ in early spring, indoors or in a heated greenhouse with sufficient warmth, as this will help with the germination period.
- Red onion seeds need a minimum temperature of 21 degrees consistently to germinate. Early stages take longer if seeds are below the minimum temperature.
- Plants can be transplanted outdoors 8 to 10 weeks after sowing with a plant spacing of 5″ and a row spacing of 12 to 18″.
- The germination period is between 10 to 12 days using moist, fertile soil and will reach full maturity between 100 to 160 days.
- Harvesting onions young will make them perfect as salad onions or harvest when fully mature to be used in cooking.
- Onions planted near lettuce, cabbage and carrots may help ward off pests.
