Seedfork,
There's a video over on YouTube by WebCajun, the Bayou Gardener. He did a whole experimental tutorial on growing onions from seeds in a trough filled with fine, sifted, aged compost. He started seeds in August, and it took ~12 weeks for him to get the wispy, "transplants," which he set out in November (he's in zone 8b, too, I believe). He was harvesting huge onions around April? May? Nice.
Well, I did the same experiment last year. Started seeds in August, in old dressers drawers I turned into seed flats. I used sifted pine bark fines, and the medium drained beautifully, yet stayed moist enough. It took FOREVER for those seeds to grow because I think they were too old! Learned that lesson the hard way....
They finally took off, and I transplanted them in November. I believe I would've had close to his results if the seeds had been fresh. Also, I was preoccupied when it was time to transplant, and I waited longer than I should've to get them into their own space.
It's a way to save some $, but only if you have the space and time to devote to growing the seeds. Ordering onions from Dixondale Farms is just less of a hassle, I guess. For me $20 (shipping included) to get more onions than I ever have space for, vs. growing a $2 pack of seeds that I have to monitor for 12 weeks, transplant, then grow for another 5 months...
Hope this input helps.
