And I am loving that!!! This house is old with only 1 gas space heater so it doesn't stay very warm unless I am cooking. Fortunately for the 2 of us, I love to cook. But, the canning has made it so that I am warm during the day without using the gas (of course it is electric with the range, but at least I'm getting more out of it than heat.) And the steam has done wonders for the plants that are still in the house.
I had not heard about planting onion that way. I will try that because there are occasional misformed onions in the lot. I have also gotten wilted live basil, thyme and oregano plants which are in the ground buried under mulch now. Not sure if they'll all make it but I gave 'em a good soaking in some compost tea.
Another seed that I have not had success with is onion and chives. I have some chives in the beds that have been there for years, I just divide them every now and again. Need to do it this year. And I have garlic growing wild. But, the seeds of onion and chives have just eluded me. As I posted with the tomatoes and pepper seeds, I have never had a good seed starting location.
Also, until 2 years ago I worked a forty to fifty hour week and there wasn't as much time to maintain things daily. Now is my time to do all the things I always wanted to try!
Another seed that I have not had success with is onion and chives. I have some chives in the beds that have been there for years, I just divide them every now and again. Need to do it this year. And I have garlic growing wild. But, the seeds of onion and chives have just eluded me. As I posted with the tomatoes and pepper seeds, I have never had a good seed starting location.<<<
Water, sun and soil.
If I had to guess about your seed problem/planting, I would look to see if they are soggy wet and if they are buried too deep.
Next is the sun, LOL, always the right amount, bright but not so it burns them, LOL, unless they are a seed that has to have the dark..........Cilantro and maybe it is parsley [?], start better in a black plastic covering, until they break the soil.....there are as many ways to start seeds, as there are people doing it.
If you wanted to grow Orchid seeds, they are as fine as face powder and are lightly sprinkled in a sterile flask on an agar solution, LOL, one might say on a pudding like substance.
Of course a few make it in the wild, but most are divisions of the plants.
The main trick with seeds is to press them firmly into the soil, that is almost more important than covering them. If they are not firm against the soil, they will rot.
I planted my onion seeds in the Pro mix from Walmart, in a flat with drainage and put them in front of the west window.
Have all the fun you can now, I had so many plans for my retirement, but the oxygen generator, halted most of them.
Gardening is good for you, as is the good food.
You will enjoy the greenhouse and next fall it will be full of plants.
You can root tomato shoots in water, plant them in a pot and in the greenhouse.
One of the best pots that I have used, was an old plastic baby bath tub, with holes in it for drainage, also the small plastic wash basins that folks bring home from the hospital, they hold about 2 gallons, dish pans and anything else that sits still long enough for me to poke a hole in it and drop in a plant.
I did not have good luck with the clear plastic or clear glass, it forms a green scum on the walls and the plants never did well in the clear materials.
If you start getting bugs set out the big soda bottles, bury them so that the mouth is at ground level, at an angle and in them put about an inch of beer, soda, or juice mixed with an inch of water, then add enough old cooking oil to be about 1/4 inch deep.
The bugs go after the beer and once they get the oil on them, they cannot crawl out of the bottle, fall back and die.
Lemon-lime soda will do the same for ants, or did in my greenhouse, I was amazed at the number of dead ants and my place sets on top of an ant hill, I have fought them for 30 years.