onions seeds or onion sets

Hi all i'm a newbie on onions, could anyone help, i'm thinking of growing onion's,is it better to grow them from seed's or set's, thank you. 

Hiya neil0748 ...I've tried seed in the past and have never had a lot of luck..they take a bit of looking after....I would never use anything else but sets..just make sure that you get them from a reputable place (I order mine from The Daily MIrror gardening catalogue)and I've always had a decent yield....Happy Gardening.

Funnily enough, I've never had much luck with sets. I find they rarely achieve a typical size. Seeds are more of a hassle but just about guarantee the perfect onion.

Sets every time for me..I get them from Wilkinsons and have always had a good yield.

Hi all thanks for the replies iv'e bought white and red onion sets now for this year problem is i'm growing them in big plant pots cause i got no room in my garden never mind a few more patio slabs are comming up next year. p.s dont tell my wife she will divorce me LOL .

I to am new to gardening I've planted onion seed back in march in the open!) as suggested on the packet! They seem awfully slow in coming through! Only just showing through now. Will they be ready for thinning and planting out to get full size onions this summer? I may be a little impatient but if they are unlikely to come up then will plant sets?? any comments please!

Hiya grumpy3 welcome to the wonderful world of gardening...personally I'm a sets man..and if you want my opinion,I'd get out as soon as you can and buy your sets and get them in the ground...don't buy sets that are soft...make sure they are quite hard.Good luck and Happy Gardening everyone.

A couple of pointers re growing onions.

There is a little saying used by gardeners of the old school..'sow the seed on the shortest day & harvest on the longest'. Now I'm not sure just how true that is, but I would say it's a little late to sow the seed now.

Growing from sets is more successful if you buy heat-treated sets. These have been kept in cold-store prior to purchase, *which has the effect of kidding them it's spring when they are sold, enabling them to get off to a good start.

Another tip, don't plant them into cold soil...this is the single biggest cause of bolting.

*The same principal as prepared hyacinths for Christmas.

Never had much luck with sets, they tend to bolt I find. I multi-sow in modules in February, using multi-purpose compost with a bit of sharp sand. They then go in the cold frame. I don't thin and plant them out as one. This way you might not get show bench specimens, but you get usable onions which keep. You can of course thin them as they grow to use as scallions,syboes,spring onions...

thank you all for the input! still not sure whether my little seedlings will mature to full onions in time for summer! probably should have planted indoors earlier?

Decided to plant sets as well if I have too many onions Im sure I will find homes for them.

I guess I will learn from experience!

hi ive sown sets and there growing ok had one runt that rotted but not to bad just need wheather to warm up now  sets are alot quicker but best to do too many than too little