How to of the Day: How to Save Onion Seeds

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How to Save Onion Seeds Sep 23rd 2012, 22:00 Onion seeds are not difficult to grow or to collect, but onions are a biennial, meaning that they set seed the second year. Here's how to save your own seeds for next year's garden, for eating directly, or for sprouting.  Edit Steps Plant onions, and leave them in the ground for two years. Watch for flowers and then seed heads to form during the late summer of the second season. The onion flower. You may wish to plant extra plants if you want onions to eat during the first season. Wait for the seed heads to dry. Most of the flowers will be dry, and the seeds will begin to fall out on their own. You can see that the seeds are mature. Cut the seed heads, or umbels, from the plants and allow them to dry completely. Separate the seeds from the stems and other matter that makes up the seed head. Many seeds will fall out on their own. For the rest, place them in a bag, pound the whole bag against a hard surface. If you have many seeds, you may be able to use the wind to separate them from stems and other matter. Use a large bowl and toss them in the air, or pour them from one container to another in a light breeze. The wind should sift the lighter stems away and leave the heavier seeds to fall. Onion seeds. There's no harm in having a little bit of stem or seed head in your seeds unless you are sprouting them. If you plant it along with the seeds, it will just decompose. Store the seeds in a cool, dry place. Label the seeds with the year you saved them, or plant them immediately in a mild climate. Most seeds work best if they are used within one year of saving them, but you may get an acceptable germination rate the second year. Edit Tips Onions are biennials. For onions you will eat, you will harvest the same year that you plant. If you want seeds, you will have to wait a second year. If you want both seeds and onions to harvest, plant extra plants for two years running.  Onions will cross-pollinate if they are grown close to other varieties of onions. That means that you may not get what you started with. If you're sprouting or growing the seeds as spring onions, or if you're willing to try growing onions from the genetic grab bag, that may not matter much to you. If you need the same variety as last year's onions, you must either take steps to prevent cross pollination or buy seed from a source that does.[1] Edit Things You'll Need Garden snips, secateurs, or similar device for plant cutting Container to catch seeds Bag to keep seeds Edit Related wikiHows How to Grow Onions How to Grow Green Onions How to Grow Sweet Onions How to Grow Spring Onions How to Grow Winter Onions Edit Sources and Citations Article Tools Read on wikiHow Email this Article Edit Discuss Media files: 200px-Hoping-for-big-onion-heads-(70-365.2).jpg (image/jpeg) 200px-Onion-Flower(s).jpg (image/jpeg) 200px-Onion_seed_head_dry.jpg (image/jpeg) 200px-Nigella.jpg (image/jpeg)

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