onions planted

[yopper]

Onion plants from Texas went in the ground the last day of April right ahead of the rain we didn't get .[dang that weather guesser] The tomato&pepper plants are outside in the hot box. Kind of quiet here on the web you folks must all be busy in the garden!!!! YOPPER

[barkeater]

I just ordered mine from probably the same place you got yours - Dixondale Farms, shipping the week of May 14. I'm getting Redwing and Candy. I've always grown my own in the past but this year I started them a week later than normal and they aren't as vigorous as they should be, probably because it wasn't fresh seed. I'm curious to see how the quality is. At $15 total for 120 plants, if they are really nice it probably doesn't pay to start my own anymore!

[Farmette]

I love the onions from Dixondale Farms. This yr I convinced a friend to order and so we paid about $4 a bunch when all totaled. Am growing Candy for a 2nd yr along with Red Candy, Copra and Red Zeppelin. The finshed onions were beautiful too.

[fortyonenorth]

My garden looks like an Allium farm this year - several hundred transplants from Dixondale (Copra and Redwing), two hundred more of my own seedlings (Copra) two different kinds of potato onions, walking onions, some red onions from last year that I want to grow-out for seed, garlic out the wazoo....yikes - where the heck am I going to plant tomatoes.

With helpful advice from Tom (tgs) my seedlings look comparable to the Dixondale plants. We'll see how they play-out over the course of the season.

[smileytom]

Fourtyone, any chance you would spill some of that helpful advice? I grew from seed for the first time this year and had decent results, but I love to learn! One more, slightly OT, question for you, did Rumi Banjan make your tomato grow list for the year?

[fortyonenorth]

Originally Posted by smileytom

Fourtyone, any chance you would spill some of that helpful advice? I grew from seed for the first time this year and had decent results, but I love to learn! One more, slightly OT, question for you, did Rumi Banjan make your tomato grow list for the year?

No, Rumi is on the "next year" list along with a few hundred others. I cut-back pretty dramatically this year so there wasn't too much room for many new-to-me varieties.

Two things made a difference for me with the onion starts: 1) I started earlier this year - Jan. 15th instead of Feb. 1; and, 2) I didn't clip them back as much or as often. Last year I kept them pretty small, but Tom suggested I let them grow-out. So, I clipped them when they got to about 3" and then let them go. I think they also benefited from being outside beginning about March 10. Generally, they're still under lights at that time, but the weather was so mild, they've had a long hardening-off period. I generally plant-out on April 1st, but I didn't manage to get them in until April 20th this year. Still, they're the best looking seedlings I've ever grown.

[tjg911]

jeesh yopper you just got them out? i planted mine 4/5. you won't need the backhoe to dig them this year!

yeah, my allowing them to grow tall to 4"+ seems to have really paid off. the tubes are much wider than when i'd trim them to 2-3", the plants look much stronger tho the roots appeared to be about the same. definitely the way to go, maybe letting them grow to 5" tall then trimming back to 4" would be even better? nice healthy plants but the lack of sun and warmth may be holding back growth. it has been quite cool and cloudy here for almost a week.

tom

[TomNJ]

Mine went out on April 1st and they are now a good foot tall and looking fine. I also try to combine my Dixondale orders with friends to cut the cost a bit. This year I ordered for a local farmer, so I got about 60 bunches (4,000 onions) and paid only $2.50/bunch.

TomNJ

[salix]

Planted my shallots, onions and leeks tonight. They were sown on 3 March and have been outside for the past 3 weeks, so I think they can manage a few light frosts. Onion varieties are: Calibri, Candy, Copra, Red Bull, Nobility and Rose de Roscoff. Looking forward to harvest, as four of these are new to me. Candy and Red Bull usually do very well up here, but am hoping for a bit better storage from some of the new ones.

[rxkeith]

i got mine planted this past saturday, a little later than i would have liked, but we have been behind due to necessary trips down state. i started mine from seed, and they are on the small side. i had seeds from sandhill last year that i didn't start because we moved, and darned if they didn't all come up it seems, so i have around 800 plus seedlings.
planted are yellow spanish, red burgundy, ailsa craig, and redwing. i didn't trim them back this year.

my results so far with onions from seed has been inconsistent. some years they did really well, and other years not so good. i am trying to find the right formula for large onions every year.



keith

[babice]

Originally Posted by yopper

Onion plants from Texas went in the ground the last day of April right ahead of the rain we didn't get .[dang that weather guesser] The tomato&pepper plants are outside in the hot box. Kind of quiet here on the web you folks must all be busy in the garden!!!! YOPPER

I attempted to start them from seed this year. No dice. Gonna have to order some bulbs and get them into the ground asap.

[tjg911]

keith,

spacing matters re size. i used to cram them into 4" on center and got small bulbs. i have used 6" spacing on center in a 4' X 4' X 12' bed for several years and get pretty good sized bulbs. i grow copra and red wing starting from seed. i start my seeds 2/7. i grow them under shop lights, trim them when they get to 4" back to 3", give them a dilute nh fert every 2 weeks once they get to 2" tall. i plant out as early as possible, this year 4/5. i used to plant out 4/25 but that is too late imo. you want your plants to grow as tall as possible before mid june when they start to bulb, taller plants produce larger bulbs for any given variety. onions need full sun all day. i have well drained loam/sandy soil, good drainage, no stones (it takes years to do this but it's helpful). i add compost and bone meal when planting. they want 1" of water per week but stop when the greens start to fall over. they do not compete well with weeds so i mulch them when i plant them with finely shredded leaves then 1" of straw as it locks itself in place, this prevents the winds from blowing away the finely shredded leaves. naturally this is to retain moisture and stop weeds. i never weed them. the critical time to fertilize them is 3 weeks after putting out then after that i fertilize them with neptune's harvest fish and seaweed every 2 weeks, stop 1 month before harvest. the 1st time i fertilize i water them well with nh but after that i use just one 2 gallon watering can for the entire bed, kinda a foliar feed but stop fertilizing when they start to bulb. they'll tolerate freezing temps but not sure how low. i suspect 20 may kill them but 27-28 is ok.

tom

[stonysoilseeds]

hi tom im reading your post just in the nick of time i have day off from work today and just came in for a break from planting my onions.. its my first year growing them from seed which i started in flats mid march i am growing crystal white wax , cippolini onions and alissia craig i dont share your drainage and soil conditions hence my name stonysoil lol but my garlic in similar part of garden is really thriving and doing great so im hoping my onions will follow suit im glad i read your post just now as i was spacing them much closer than that any other tips you can give me would be appreciated... im so happy to be growing onions this year as i cant think of anything i cook that dosent include onions in the preparation

[babice]

tom - thx for the good info. I'm gonna fahgedahboudit this year but make plans to follow your guidance next year. I have the perfect place for them.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by stonysoilseeds

hi tom im reading your post just in the nick of time i have day off from work today and just came in for a break from planting my onions.. its my first year growing them from seed which i started in flats mid march i am growing crystal white wax , cippolini onions and alissia craig i dont share your drainage and soil conditions hence my name stonysoil lol but my garlic in similar part of garden is really thriving and doing great so im hoping my onions will follow suit im glad i read your post just now as i was spacing them much closer than that any other tips you can give me would be appreciated... im so happy to be growing onions this year as i cant think of anything i cook that dosent include onions in the preparation

if you have poor drainage they may not do well, that would apply to the garlic too. stones inhibit bulb grow in onions and garlic, try to remove as many as possible. small stones no problem but anything ping pong size is too big to ignore. i pick out stones that are 1/2 to 3/4" and have for years, it's endless but i have removed a lot. every year they seem to reproduce! as far as planting that's all i can think of.

tom