The fewer the better. I direct sow so I don't have to transplant.

Dan

I think you can transplant green onions unlimited times as long as they're given moderate water. I start them in trays and usually transplant them at least once or twice and never had any problems.

bluebirdie, thanks. You wrote: "I think you can transplant green onions unlimited times as long as they're given moderate water. I start them in trays and usually transplant them at least once or twice and never had any problems."

When I read this, I assumed "moderate water" meant given enough water, right? (Rather than limited water or "not too much water"...)

That's correct. Don't let your young green onion seedlings dry out, and like Dan said, don't transplant them more than you need to. They should survive.

dan_staley -

You mention that you seed your onions directly in the ground. Are you using seeds or sets?

If using seeds - when do you typically plant them - and do you plant them right in the garden or a greenhouse?

I started all of mine back at the beginning of January - and just transplanted them outside yesterday. They still are very tiny so I hope they come out of it.

Just curious how you can plant the onions directly in the ground and get good bulbs out of them since they need started extra-early.

bsn, I direct seed in the ground. I find I get more uniform bulbing. I start them underneath hoops or a coldframe and remove structure after frost danger passes.

Here's a pic from last year, I'm warming ground under the glazing and I have two separate structures to protect from frost in the image:

{{gwi:29468}}

At the very far end of the bed are some black hoops, under which is some lettuce and spinach, likely planted in Feb or so. Pic taken on the Ides of March. I'm a little behind this year as I was out of town, but this weekend I'll start warming the soil then toward the end of next week I'll sow.

Dan

Thanks everyone, I learned a great deal about onions in this thread.
In S.C. we use short day sets, but I may put out some seeds this fall, with my garlic cloves.