Onion | How much seed do I need to grow half acre of red bulb onions?

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How much seed do I need to grow half acre of red bulb onions?

Onion None Given

Question posted on behalf of Sarah Ameso from Kenya. I would like to grow half an acre of red bulb onions. Kindly advise on how much seed I will need.

Posted by: deactivated (1 point)
Posted: March 10, 2013

0 Comments

Answers

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A half acre field is about 2000 square meters. That's about 45 m by 45 m. If you plant the seeds 2.5cm apart, then that's 1800 seeds per row. And if you space the rows 38cm apart, then that's 118 rows. That adds up to about 212,000 seeds. At 325 seeds per gram, that's a little over a half a kilogram of seeds for that space. Assuming every seed sprouts. Good Luck!

Posted by: Ike Bromley (2 points)
Posted: July 24, 2013

0 Comments

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Hi Sarah
As with my response to the Butternut question. Have others had success?

Check out the FAO links, BioVision and CABI pages for Africa related material.

Here is a good video on the general topic of growing onions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epsBdd...

You can grown onion from bulbs, seeds or what is called sets.

Posted by: David Hughes (54 points)
Posted: March 11, 2013

1 Comment

deactivated commented,
Thanks for your response
over 7 years ago.

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You can sow the seed directly using a calibrated planter or you can sow seed in seedling trays, grow till about 150-200mm in height in a nursery then transplant by hand.

Based on this decision we can then work out how much seed you need.

Posted by: Cornelis (1 point)
Posted: April 11, 2013

0 Comments

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