Onion growing

Hi everyone,

Ok, I don't have good luck growing round onions, They don't seem to get round (fat maybe but not round). I make sure that I cut off the flowers immediately when I can tell they are the flower stem. I have good soil that has some sandiness to it. I understand that starting onions in the winter will help. Any suggestions?

Onions are very day length sensitive. Are you sure you are growing varieties suitable for your conditions?

Well maybe not. I get full sun from 8 until about 6 in my garden.

But you know I got the starts from the local nursery. I get very hot and windy but have surrounded my area with windbreaking plants. I lucked out because my garden and house is East to West. I can grow mellons quite well.

Any suggestions of where I can get some starts?

Thanks Brook.

Jul...what are the name of the onions you are growing? Also, are you putting out seeds, sets, or plants? (All those will be factors in whatever is happening to you.)

When you say "round" onions, are you referring to the mature bulbs vs green' onions (table onions/frying onions)?

Also, when are you setting them out? Onions, as Brook mentioned, are day-length sensitive. There are short day onions, long day onions, intermediates, and now a'days there are "neutral" day.

Can you tell us more about what kind you are planting, when your are planting them, and what are you planting (seeds vs bulbs/sets/plants)? That would surely help getting to the bottom of this. (I LOVE growing onions!)

Jul,

Sad to say, getting alliums from the local nursery is no guarantee they are the right ones for your area.

For instance, most onion sets are grown in Texas, from only three varieties of long-day-length onions. Yet, they are shipped all over the country.

Unfortunately, this one size fits all approach doesn't work with onions. And most nurseries and garden centers---which are flower oriented---don't know the difference.

Plants are a little better, in that they are grown and sold by variety names, and the information about day length is available for them. But even so, you have to know what you need. The suppliers will quite happily sell you the wrong thing. Just ask anyone who's tried to grow Alicia Craig in the south, for instance.

BTW, despite what you naturally think, you are apparently in a short day length area. Day length works the opposite of what you'd think. The further north you go, the longer the daylight hours.

I can't grow the silly things either! At least with regular kinds.

I have gotten sets from a local friend who is a market gardener who grows them beautifully well! They never set bulbs, or if they do, they are tiny! My soil heavy clay that is heavily amended with compost, I can grow a lot of other root crops well (even carrots!) but my onions just will not bulb! Maybe the soil is TOO rich? Haven't tried growing ornamental alliums in the veggie garden, but maybe it will provide a clue.

I grow pretty good onions from the sets I buy at walmart or the grocery store. I have no idea what kind they are or what day length they are. They are usually bulk and you scoop out how many you want into a paper bag. I just learned about all the differences in onions from reading this thread. Thanks. I will check into it and learn more, 'cuz I love my onions and I never realized that I was growing onions that I didn't even know the name. Now I realize that I can maybe grow better ones or ones I like better.

One thing my Grandma always did, and I do also because I thought you had to, was when the tops started to flop over, step them down. She claimed this helped the onion put it's energy into growing the bulb bigger rather than the tops and flowering. Don't know if it is a fact or an old wives tale though. I just thought I'd pass it along.

Ok.

I surely do not know what day length they are. I get them at the local nursery and I have seen the same ones all over town. Just Bramuda and spanish yellow is all the information that I wrote down. Can I still start onions now? I would like to grow normal onions for cooking. Like Walla Walla etc. I can grow bunching onions from seed fine. The onions I purchased were sets. So lets go this route. Where do I purchase onion sets. I am not sure if it is too late for seeds. How do I tell what kind is for my area?

Yummm...I just had some fresh-picked green onions last nite w/supper! Picked a few, saute'd them in some olive oil till sorta soft, added a dash of water, closed the lid and let them simmer abit. Served 'em up with a dash of salt/pepper (sometimes some hot sauce)! Tastes so good it'll turn your hair red!

JoanJ, I believe your Grandma was right. I do that, too. (I use the back of a rake to go down the row and it knocks them down.)

Jul, dixondale onion farm has a good load of info. They are in the Garden Watchdog. I've always gotten good plants from them, and excellent advice. Please check it out.

This pic from last yr:

Nice picture, Shoe.

What became of your beard? :-)

HAH! (Darn! I was hoping you wouldn't recognize me!) ô¿ô

Thanks everyone. Sorry I have been cleaning the garage and having one of those horrid Garage Sales. I don't think I will ever do that again.

Back to the Onions. Thanks Shoe for the info. I am going to check it out right now. I just love onions! I make homemade salsa and the only ingredient I don't grow are onions. But hey, my green bunching onions are up!!! I planted red and white ones. And something has been eating my baby plants in the evening. We have had a mass earwig explosion here, they are even coming into the house (I think they are the culprits). I have to find a way to get them without hurting the cool black lizards I have. There are hundreds. I just step on as many as I can find. LOL!!!!

Great fun in the ol' onion patch, eh!? :>)

*ducking to get out of the way of the earwig explosion! LOL

Not too many earwigs here yet; they usually show up in late May :( Hate those nasty things! Don't the lizards scarf them up?

Lupine,

I guess the Lizards aren't eating enough. I found some earwigs with babies at the base of one of my soybean plants! They are everywhere. But I think I have them foiled! I just put hats (pots) on top of them before dark and last night I didn't even get a nibble. I figured that if they were going to eat and get into the hole on the top, that they may stay so I could squash them, but so far no takers. (guess they know I am coming).

Shoe,

I should be getting my onion order in the next couple of days. I can't believe they called me and said I was late ordering them and did I still want them. I said YES! that I had a long growing season and they should be fine even if they don't get too big. I got 1015Y Texas Supersweet, White Granix, and Southern Belle Red. I also got the Dixondale Fertilizer/compost that keeps the soil loose for the onions. Yea, I spent a lot on these onions, but the Southern Bell is open pollinated so I will make sure that I save some seeds and plant in the Fall.

By the Way, the Elusive, MURRAY, has been busy in the back yard now. No Murrayettes as of yet. I think he is under the house. Better go into the basement (dirt basement) and make sure he leaves the wine alone! :-0

Jul, that Southern Belle Red is a GREAT onion! It keeps fairly long also! YOu'll love it. I've tried all those that you ordered...very good choices! (The "white granex" is what they sell for "vidalia" stock...very tasty!)

As for seeds of the southern belle...I'm afraid I eat them too fast, they never go to seed! :>(

PS...If Murray gets into the wine, maybe it'll slow him/her down a bit so you can snatch it up and re-locate the booger!

Jul I'll tell you what works for me when I plant onion bulbs without knowing what type they are. The trick I always use is to put 3/4 of it in the ground. That way the bulb has room to expand but the only draw back is watching them so that the little critters doesn't knock they out of the ground before the roots can take hold, it works every time for me.

This message was edited Thursday, May 22nd 9:59 AM