Onion question.....

I planted my onions (300) approx 2.5 weeks ago. In past years we would get some freezing nights w/ no problems. Last year we had what I would call a severe cold spell. It got down to 15 deg., and warmed up above freezing the next day. I did not have any problems w/ last years crop. This current cold spell has been very unusual. It has not been above 20 deg for 2.5 days. I watered my onions as best I could carrying my 3 gal. watering can back, and forth from the house to the garden 60 yards away. I covered the onions w/ leaves. I have raised beds. Will my onions make it??......I pulled one onion last night, and cut it in half length wise. It looked O.K. as best as I could tell. What do you think?

This message was edited Feb 3, 2011 12:38 PM

Hornstrider,
My 120 onions are in 4 Earthboxes covered with a cardboard TeePee and are sitting on the covered patio. I checked a couple days ago and they looked fine. Now, given our proximity to each other, I think we'll be ok to get at least some onions (maybe not all). Just keep them covered till after "hell freezes over..."

Thanks Gymgirl........Have you planted your taters yet? I plan to plant my taters this weekend.....

Hornstrider,
I'm thinking more like weekend after next to set out the potatoes. I still have to cut my potatoes up and seal them, and retrieve my planting vessels. I have two 20-gallon Smart Pots that worked well last time, but I want more surface than I had in the washing machine tubs, although I did get potatoes in those, too. We shall see.

The 19th is my target date to start setting veggies out... I'll start hardening off some of the tomato seedlings beginning Valentine's Day for plant out beginning the 19th of February, and ending March 19th.

Linda

Hornstrider,

I'm just up the road from you...I don't know if our onions will make it our not. I put a soil-temp thermometer in my onion patch the first day it got cold. The ground stayed above freezing until last night. By about 10:00 pm, the temperature was reading just at freezing. By this morning, the ground was showing 30 degrees. The onion tops (and garlic tops) are all wilted. Hopefully the bulbs are still alive and will put out new leaves. I'd hope to get a crop of larger onions by having them in the ground earlier (I transplanted in mid-December). I wasn't counting on such an extended period of consistently cold weather. I have 400 plants from Dixondale...If these are frozen, it is probably too late to get more and get them planted in time to do anything before summer.

David

I checked my onions and the tops are still Green. None of them looks
liKe they're about to collapse, but I'm gonna go throw a plastic tarp over the cardboard teepee for added protection.

Ok. Bit the bullet and threw the tarp over the cardboard. I think the onions will maKe it.

As long as the roots have established, you'll be okay. I had some in the ground last year when we had that 12" of snow for a couple of days and they were fine.

I was reading about potatoes somewhere that said cutting them up and letting them dry invites disease. Planting them whole was the best policy.

has anyone ever tried growing onions from seed?

westtngal, I am trying it this year - in fact I just planted my onion seed today. Starting Copra (long day, yellow storage) and Red Wing (long day, red thats supposed to store well), and Picador shallot seed (this year will get a single bulb, but I can replant some of them to get the multiple bulb clusters the next year). I usually grow from sets or plants, but after last years onion fiasco (weeds got ahead of me due to illness/weather and the plants never did recover) I decided to be adventurous.
Seed was planted today based on 8-10 weeks before planting out date (mid-April).

Cybrczch,
Check out "The Bayou Gardener". He has a wonderful video on starting onions from seeds. It's a great tutorial.

I know you are supposed to grow onions by day length depending on where you are, why?

David.............I suppose we will know if our onions made it or not in the next couple of days..........It is supposed to warm up in the 60's....If they are still standing w/ green tops we should be fine.........If our onions turn white, and croaked, I don't believe it is too late to replant more onions.....I just spoke to Dixondale Farms and they still have a good supply

The day-length is related to the bulbing process. The further north you live, the longer the days get in the spring, until the summer solstice. Long day onions require more sunlight before they start to bulb up, short day onions will start bulbing with shorter lengths of daylight (12-14 hours).

If you plant long day onions in the south, then you probably won't get long enough days for the onions to bulb successfully before summer heat. If you plant short-day onions in the north, they will start bulbing too soon, before the plant has established lots of leaves (for onion layers). Either way, you end up with small bulbs.

There are also day neutral, or intermediate, onions that supposedly can be grown pretty much anywhere. They start bulbing with day lengths around the same time as short day, but can also be grown in longer daylight areas. I haven't grown any day neutral onions, so I can't really compare them to the short day varieties that I grow.

David

PS--Hornstrider, good to know that Dixondale still has plants. I saw some at Lowes, too--but they were in pretty bad shape.

This message was edited Feb 5, 2011 9:47 AM

Hornstrider, your onions will be fine. Last year, when we had 3 snow events, one that brought us 12" in a 24 hour period, my onions and garlic trooped on.

westtngal - my dad always cut up his potatoes so each piece had at least one "eye" and we had a bountiful crop every year.

My onions seemed to have come through our freezing temps just fine. Not sure about the potato pieces I planted, I have nothing to judge them by because everything is underground. Parsley, garlic, spinach and broccoli also doing well. Lettuce bit the dust, as did whatever seedlings I didn't bring indoors. I had them in a little homemade greenhouse but it was just too cold.

We had several days where the temperature didn't make it above freezing. The official report was that there were 70+ hours of below freezing. My in-ground soil thermometer showed soil temps of below freezing for almost 24 hours...the garlic I planted looks okay, but the onions don't look so happy. The picture below is how the onions look after a full day of sunshine. The soil is still moist (below the surface crust) and the soil temp is about 45 degrees. If they do recover, it looks like it will still be a serious setback.

David

Since ya'll are talking onions, hope no one minds if I throw in my question here:)

I just bought some Shallots (8 small bulbs per pack) from Lowes and am not really sure what I'm doing. I'm a decent flower and tomato gardener but haven't ever tried any type of onion. I love shallots and decided I wasn't going to pay $6 a pound for them and would try growing them.

The bulbs look not too much smaller than what I purchase in the grocery store so I'm not sure what happens as they grow. Do they increase like flower bulbs from the bulb I plant now or does the one I plant now just get bigger until I harvest it? And as far as planting them--is direct in garden soil (in the ground) the best option or could I maybe use some large grow bags (with drainage holes) and potting soil mix be OK.

Thanks for any tips!

the potato rots to make new plants, the eye feeds from the old potato, trimming the eye off the rest of the spud means you have less rotted material in ground under the new plant. Leave enuff potato to protect the eye while it grows, but it isn t necessary to plant the whole spud,

Shallots, running onions, green onions, all pretty much alike, the shallot will increase as it grows, green onions wont be hurt by snow, but ice is different, and green onions will grow if the roots were established and the top dies, more green will show up. if you had a layer of leaves over them when the ice hit, they are healthy still, they love the cold

dmac085 - I've grown shallots as an experiment. One thing I noticed - the larger the clove you plant, the bigger the clove you harvest. As to anything else (shrug) I haven't a clue. They are easy to grow.

"Do they increase like flower bulbs from the bulb I plant now or does the one I plant now just get bigger until I harvest it?"

dmac, if your shallots are at least the size of a large marble they will multiply, creating up to ten more divisions ("cloves/bulbs"). The process of doing this is governed by daylength so if yours are in the ground already you should see some division this year. Ideally you want to get as much top growth as possible before the longer days kick in. Once they get good top growth though you may want to cover them if we get a late cold snap so they won't kick in their flowering stage (bolting).

David, I think your onions will be fine unless you see the bulb area has become overly mushy. It takes quite a while for the ground to freeze so solid it kills onions. I have some raised boxed beds and that soil is hard as a rock from the cold; my inground soil is in much better shape, taking much longer to drop to super-freezing state. I can't remember if you are growing in boxed beds or not. Didn't you recently plow up a new plot? If so I bet you're gonna be fine.

Shoe

I am so confused by this day length thing with onions. What type should I plant, and when. I plant the sets when my nursery gets them in. I have been seriously thinking of doing the seeds, so when do I plant them?

westtngal - Find where you are on this map:

http://www.dixondalefarms.com/category/onion_plants

And you'll know which type of onion to plant. I'm in Zone 7b and grow "Candy" onions.

Sorry, can't help you with growing them from seed. I've never tried doing this, but would love some info on doing so.

Shoe,

I hope you are right about my onions. I am growing in ground, and even thought the soil temp got below freezing, the ground was never really frozen hard. I haven't pulled any up to see what the root did--I guess I need to check. If they are frozen then I could probably still replant.

David

David ~ your onions will be fine. I leave multiplier onions and garlic in ground year around as well as chives. They shook off the ice and look normal today.

Carrot seedlings are fine as well. I have two types of radishes growing. The foliage on one kind got nipped but the other looks like it did on that 80° day we had before the ice/snow.

I have every confidence your onions will not be set back.

Thank you Horseshoe! That helps alot--I wasn't sure it would be worth the effort if they just plumped up a bit:lol: Thank you so much!

Thank you to Honeybee and kittriana too!

David.....Your onions look about like mine.......I believe I lost some, because they have turned white......but I think I am going to be O.K............and I think you will be fine also......I am planting my potatoes today...wish me luck.

westtngal, that's a great onion site Honeybee gave you. I've dealt w/them for quite a number of years; they have great products, excellent onion information.

You're lucky you're in an "intermediate" zone, most likely able to grow many of the long-day onions as well as some short day onions. As a quick answer to your befuddlement, different types/varieties of onions rely on the number of hours of daylight to start bulbing, any of them will easily grow tops (greens).

Honeybee, I love those Candy onions and have grown them for quite a while now, getting my customers hooked on them. I was glad to see they came out with a Red Candy several years ago, you may want to try them, too.

David, I agree w/podster, I bet your onions will be fine. I usually plant sets in Oct/Nov and let them winter through, they've never failed me yet.

Shoe (who had a great day in the greenhouse, finally saw sunshine, and now off to gather eggs from hens who are as happy as I am!)

I just unwrapped my EB onions...I think they'll make it, if I don't kill em...

Shoe - last season I grew Candy, Candy Red and Super Star all intermediate day types purchased from Dixondale. They all did well and, to me, tasted the same.

Seeing as my hubby thinks an onion isn't an "onion" unless it's "yellow" I decided to just plant Candy this season.

Being a Louisiana cook who reaches for an onion for practically every dish, I find yellow onions to be my strong, bold-flavored, "go-to" onion; whites are a tad milder, for the "cutesie" dIshes and for burger or straight munching, and the purples are for decoration only..

Yeah. Yellow onions.

We get through a lot of onions, too. I've ordered two bunches from Dixondale. They are due here the week of March 7th.

I usually team onions with mushrooms and sweet peppers (stir fried). This combo is great added to a toasted cheese sandwich!

I got my newsletter from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and found a really good article on growing onions from seed and when to do what.

westtngal - is this the info in your newsletter? I found this at their web site:

http://www.southernexposure.com/onions-seed-ezp-99.html

My onions are looking better every day..........I am hopeful I may have a decent crop.....It also looks like we have another cold front coming in tonight........lows in the low 20's.....here we go again........Gymgirl........so you are a Louisiana cook??.........Do you have a recipe for a good potato soup using Italian sausage.....or anyone else that has a good potato soup recipe for that matter.....Thanks ....

Uh, sorry, I don't do potato or onion soup (glorified gravy)...;o)

Now, if you want Gumbo, or Lilly Mae's Greens, we can talk.

Hornstrider,

My onion tops are pretty well singed brown, but the bulb and roots for a couple that I sampled still look okay. I'd guess that they will recover. I'm not going to replant, anyway. Given that the bulbs and roots look okay, I'm guessing they will do better than new plants would do at this late date.

Sorry, no special recipe for potato soup.

David