How I Transplant My Onion Starts in the Garden

I seeded these onions (left) in the greenhouse in early March and transplanted them out in the garden last week. I hardened them off for several days in preparation for transplanting. I then transplanted them in the evening when the sun was setting and the air was cooling so that they could settle in overnight before the heat of the next day arrives.

My method for transplanting is carefully scooping up a handful of onion babies and then carefully separating them. Since I sowed them very closely the potting soil inevitably falls off of the roots. That is OK but I minimize the time the roots are exposed to the air as much as possible. This is another reason why I want to do the transplanting during a cooler time of day.

Planting an onion start is easy. Open up a hole in the soil the depth of the roots and gently coax the roots and the bottom bit of the onion into the hole. I find spinning the onion helps send the roots down with ease. Then push the soil in place and pat down so there is soil contact with the roots.

I planted these onions about 4 inches apart to give space for leaves and bigger onions. That's fairly close spacing but I want to maximize what I can plant in my bed!

After I took this photo I watered in the onions so the roots could be moistened (I also watered my flat of onions before transplanting so that they could be cool and moist during the process). I will mulch the onions after they get a bit bigger and sturdier. That's it!