Onions & a Useful Chart

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I'm thinking onion sets are around $3.50 at Walmart when they get some in. I noticed that all the garden stuff that's put out is mostly from last year. They'll be getting in new stuff soon though.

I was joking with Jan and another Walmart employee about eating onions in everything short of Jell-O

I have to drive by a place in Austin next week or I might give them a call and go tomorrow they always have good sets.
Callahanes Hardware I just called they have everything I want I will go tomorrow.
Red Grano white grano and 1015Y

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Well, that tray was empty for a couple hours. It now has onion seeds waiting to pop up again.

That's cool Worth. I'm glad they have what you want.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Well, that tray was empty for a couple hours. It now has onion seeds waiting to pop up again.

That's cool Worth. I'm glad they have what you want.

Me too now I will be able to have onions come one way or another I hope.
I am going to plant them tomorrow in a circle around where each tomato cage is going to be and a few more places just to see how they do.
I can also get my okra seeds while I am there they have a great selection of stuff.

I will be interested to see how big the new seeds you planted will get before the heat sets in and they fall over for the year.
Those would be the ones you want to get your green onions from.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

Here are the onions I started 4 days ago - along with something else. The potting mix I used to plant the onion seeds in was used before basically. The mix was from tomato and peppers that either didn't germinate or was what was left in the cup after transplanting out whatever was planted in it. I saved it throughout the year just to use for something like this.

[AlittleSalt]

The two odd plants turned out to be Morning Glories.

The Grano 502 onions are coming up faster than the Granex Yellow Hybrid onions.

[Worth1]

I was wondering what the mystery sprout was going to be.

Worth

[Worth1]

Can we get an onion update how are they doing outside?
I hope they made it through the cold snap they should have.

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

First I'll show how the newly planted seeds are doing. They have taken several overnight low temps in the lower 20s.The plant lies down when it is cold. They do perk up in the heat of the day. I just watered them today with a little bit of MG tomato food (18-18-21) mixed in.

I'll post pictures of ones planted in-garden next and share a few opinions/thoughts.

[AlittleSalt]

The first picture has a store bought set onion on the left and one I started in a flat on the right. The one on the right - the bulb is already growing.

The second picture is how the ones I started in the flat look. The look healthy and green.

The last picture is store bought set onions growing - they look basically the same as they did the day I planted them. The two plants at the top of this picture are ones I started.

What it is looking like so far is that onions planted in the flat are able to grow quicker due to all the roots. But time will tell.

[Worth1]

My red and white grano are coming along faster than the 10 15's are but they have now started to perk up too.
These next few days of wind out of the south and warmer weather will help a lot.
Worth

[AlittleSalt]

These three got planted by the wind. We needed onions for tacos

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

These three got planted by the wind. We needed onions for tacos

Cool.

Worth

[bower]

Hey Salt,
I just got some cippolini onion seeds and wanted to start asap - would have started a month ago if I had the seeds - and I remembered you had linked that great chart....
THANKS, you just saved me from messing up putting onion seeds on the heat mat.
Seems like the temperature in the house is mostly around 64 F, so a little below optimal. But warmer is worse! Super chart.

[greenthumbomaha]

I could use some advice here! I'll take a leap of faith and plant out my onions started from seed in January (Copra and Candy) since the weather is so mild. I tucked the bed under a thick layer of leaves last fall, but there hasn't been much obvious decaying. Should I mix the leaves in or pull them back and leave the soil exposed? I don't remember ever seeing onions mulched with leaves. Should I throw some extra granular 10-10-10 in to compensate?

- Lisa

[AlittleSalt]

Thank you Bower I like it too.

I've been looking (Glancing) at the chart above as well. Without getting up at 3am to check soil temperatures - I've noticed our soil temperatures being 58F early in the morning, and 72F near the end of day. That is around 3-4 weeks earlier than usual here. I've spent the last few days finishing up projects like our raised beds and over the past week since February 28th, I've planted out 76 tomato plants into the garden.

Healthwise, I have pushed myself beyond limits trying to get things done weeks before they would normally need to be finished.

Lisa, I want to be able to answer your questions better, but to answer them honestly as I see them is the best I can do.

I went to college majoring in computer science, so whatever I would write about using dried leaves would just be from my experience and not be accredited.

In my personal experience dried leaves need to be mulched or crumbled up - the smaller the better. You can mow them with a mulching mower or even crush them up with your hands. I have done both in the past two days. Turning those leaves under into the soil helps build a more naturally amended soil. Unmulched whole leaves seem take years to decompose. Maybe it is the air needed isn't as available?

As far as using 10-10-10, I use it sparingly. A balanced fertilizer sounds good to me. But I have read friends posts here saying that fertilizer is bad also.

The thing is that every one of our gardens are different. In my gardens, I'm not so sure about adding fertilizers, but it's on my gardening list to buy - but there's a good chance I won't buy it.

Lisa, I wish I could have answered better.