Q&A for How to Save Onion Seeds

Just like a woman cannot get pregnant without semen from a man, a flower normally cannot go to seed without some kind of pollination. However, this doesn't necessarily need to be done by insect pollinators. Onion flowers sit close to each other, so the wind can make some pollination happen. You can also bend the flowers toward each other when the pollen is ripe and pollinate each with the other like that. Don't worry if you don't regularly get bumblebees visiting your windowsill, though; other insects like flies and such do also pollinate plants. They're just less noticeable. If you see a flying insect on your onion flowers that isn't actively eating them, it's likely an undercover pollinator.

I tried this with an onion that had sprouted leaves in my cupboard, and my onion ended up sprouting two giant flower stalks and going to seed with no trouble. Do make sure you give it enough space - the roots don't go deep, but the whole thing gets larger than you'd expect. Get a pot with two or three inches of extra space around the onion. Leave the onion sitting up in shallow water to encourage root growth for a week or so first (I used a wide glass so the sides of the glass prevented it from falling over). You can just sit the onion on top of the soil with the bottom a bit buried.

There are 42 onion seeds in the average flower. Most of them are in the roots.

Kalongi seeds are "Black Onion Seeds". However, nigella tastes almost the same as a normal onion seed.

Pickle them. Done this way, they are very tasty!

They will wait till the snow has melted to grow. It's very unlikely they will grow until the snow melts so maybe wait until the last frost date but if you you are growing them inside and it's all snowy and cloudy for a few days, then it might be best to use a growing light.