A tiny black, square seed soon develops into a beautiful plant that you can enjoy on your dinner table in no time. Alliums are without doubt one of the most useful vegetables in the kitchen. And there are so many different types to choose between!
I grow many different kinds of alliums from seeds. Yellow onions are my favorites though and I try to get better at it each year.
I also enjoy growing leek, spring onion one year old plants , chive and red onion. Grow chives in clumps. Sowing allium seeds I used to put one onion seed in each pot with a nice layer of soil for each and every aspiring plant. I was waiting and hoping for the best.
And then one day, something finally surfaced. I was so excited! Until I saw it… It was a tiny little plant that took ages to grow. Then it finally bent over and just died. Needless to say, this was not the result I was hoping for. It starts out fine though: The alliums sprout nicely underneath the damp soil. But then the soil gets too heavy and packs around the delicate plant. When the plant looks so frail and unhealthy the knee jerk reaction is of course to water it again.
Which of course only makes things worse. There was a time when alliums were thought of only as vegetables the group includes onions, leeks, shallots, chives and garlic , however the taller varieties with their huge rounded flowerheads are now one of the stars of the architectural plant world.
Their stiff lollipop-shaped heads are perfect for off-setting sharp vertical leaves, tall poker-like flowers and the softer forms of flowing grasses, while their rich usually purple colour is beautiful either contrasting with hot reds, yellows and oranges or intermingling with the cooler tones of lilac, blue and white.
Alliums grow from 30cm up to cm with flowerheads from tiny pompoms to huge spheres of star-shaped flowers. The smaller, dinky varieties are excellent for rock gardens and the front of the border.
Chives and garlic are well-suited to these sites and have the added bonus that their smell confuses aphids and other pesky insects so they search elsewhere for food. Plant these pungent plants around other vegetables and vulnerable plants such as roses to stave off attacks.
Alliums not only look good when in full bloom, as the spent flowerheads can be left to dry on the plant to provide architectural interest through autumn and winter. The globes will look stunning when covered by a hard frost - particularly those of Allium christophii. Alternatively, cut the flowers fresh and mix with iris and the thousand-flowered Gypsophilla for an eye-catching indoor arrangement. Alliums like a hot, sunny site with good, rich soil.
Carefully cover the Allium giganteum seed with soil and gently water in. Germination should then take approximately 21 days to occur. Once the new seedlings have began to push through the soil they can be thinned out to between 1 and 2 inches apart. Remember to clear away all of your discarded thinning so as not to attract onion fly.
Allium flower head You will need to keep a particular eye on the newly sprouting shoots as these can attract the attention of inquisitive birds — particularly pigeons and blackbirds - who will lift them straight out of the seed beds for nothing more than a little mischievous fun.
If you don't have some kind of protection in place you can end up losing almost an entire batch! Transfer the tray after three weeks has passed and place it in a location where the temperature will not go below 50 degrees F or above 70 degrees F. Leave the tray in this location during the remainder of the germination period.
Depending on what variety of allium you are growing, germination can begin in about one year. According to the University of Maryland Fact Sheet on Alliums, most allium grown from seed will begin flowering in about two to three years.
Katelyn Lynn has been writing health and wellness articles since Her work appears on various websites. Lynn is a certified holistic health practitioner who specializes in orthomolecular medicine and preventative modalities.
She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in health sciences from TUI University and has extensive experience in botany and horticulture.
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