Onion Seeds

Onion seeds – more info

There’s a huge amount of variety to choose from when you start your onions and shallots from seed. Whether you want to grow your own salad onions to add crunch to leafy greens, start your bunching shallots to add sweetness to recipes or large, eye-catching golden globes to wow friends and family, you can find the right seeds for the job here. To help you narrow down your choices to get the best onion seeds to suit your needs, we answer some common questions below.

Which are the quickest onion seeds to produce a crop?

Salad onions are typically the fastest cropping onion seeds because they are the smallest. Varieties like Onion (salad) ‘White Lisbon’ are nicely hardy too so they can be sown in September for a super early spring crop. Otherwise, expect to harvest your salad onions 8 weeks after sowing seeds. Have a go at sowing your salad onions in batches every 2 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh crunchy stems.

Are onion seeds better than onion sets?

Sowing onion seeds is the cheapest way to grow your own onions. However, seeds take longer between sowing and harvest than onion sets because the sets have had time to grow already before you plant them in the ground. Starting with onion seeds allows more scope for diversity because you're not limited by which sets are available.

Which is the biggest onion that can grow from seed?

Grow a giant from seed by sowing onion ‘Galacticus’. This Scottish variety swells to grand proportions making it very suitable for the show bench or cooking up a feast for a large dinner party. The impressive white skinned bulbs have a gentle flavour.

Which onion seeds are frost hardy?

Choose autumn onions and shallots for growing through winter. Wait to sow your onion seeds outdoors until May or sow them earlier undercover where they can develop free of frost. The underrated pink and white Onion 'Isobel Rose'’ is bred in Lincolnshire, UK, so it is well used to performing in our cool climate. Just shy of being a red onion and too blush to be called a white variety, this attractive onion toes the line, managing to keep a mild flavour perfect for eating raw.

Learn from the voices of experience, check out the 'Expert advice on growing onions' article, packed with hints and tips.