onions planted

[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

[stonysoilseeds]

ty tom i know what u mean bout rocks reproducing but also find makes soil more fertile i try to remove as much stone as i can my leeks have always done rather well my garlic looks very healthy hope the onions do well too i know im planting them on the late side as theyre all the long day type

[salix]

Barkeater - I have not found that onion seeds are as short-lived as some sources claim. Have had reasonable germination from 2 and even 3 year old seed. Of course, I oversow to compensate, then have hundreds of excess seedlings!

[cornbreadlouie]

I'm growing onions for the first time this year, and have read that they "fall over" when ready to be picked. A bunch of my Texas early whites look like somebody drug a hose over them or something, the stem right above the bulb is just bent. Is this what I'm looking for, or is my neighbor's cat doing unspeakable things in my beds again? They haven't bloomed or anything, but every couple days I go out and there's more lying on their sides. Do I leave them in the ground for any amount of time after this, or should they be picked right away? Thanks for your help and I hope it's alright I am using this thread for my onion needs.

[Lcottomsvcs]

Barkeater, I had the same issue with my onions from Dixondale. I was really dissapointed. This is a bad onion year for me. I started Borettana cippolini from seed, they germinated well but I lost them all in transplant. I had tried to start many seedlings in one large container- I have bought seedlings like that in the past, thought it was the way to do it. All the little roots tangled up, were broken when I separated to transplant. I killed the plants. Next year I will start from seed in individual cells. Live and learn.

I finally managed to obtain Candy seedlings from a local grower just by happenstance. I have them planted on 4" centers, which according to Tom's post may be too close. Oh well. We'll see how it goes. I have needed to water them daily in my soil to get them perking up.

I am most looking forward to my shallots, which are my current obsession in the kitchen. All of my shallot starts went out April 25, and are coming along like gangbusters. It is amazing the number of leaves they put out. I planted regular shallots from the grocery store, and every one came up. I have been weeding carefully. I haven't mulched yet, but I think I will follow Tom's advice for doing that.

[salix]

Lora, I have always sowed my onions by the 'dense-planting' method. Literally over a hundred seedlings in one of those deep Costco salad containers. Water before planting so the roots are less likely to snap off, then just pull out a handful, tease the seedlings apart gently, plant (for onions about 6 inches on centre, less for shallots) and water in to ensure roots are not left in an air pocket. Hardly ever lose a seedling. Of course one should plant out on a cloudy day or in evening so the blazing sun won't stress them.

[babice]

Originally Posted by salix

Lora, I have always sowed my onions by the 'dense-planting' method. ..., then just pull out a handful, tease the seedlings apart gently, plant (for onions about 6 inches on centre, less for shallots) ...

Salix - approx. when during the year do you do each of these things?

[bitterwort]

I've had very good results with the onions I've gotten from Dixondale for the past 3-4 years. I've ordered different types and they've been a mix of very larger and smaller plants, but the bunches always seem to include many more than quoted. It's true I've never ordered Candy, but perhaps the slimy condition was a shipping issue. Did you provide Dixondale with feedback about what you received? Might be worth a try.

[tjg911]

I'm composing this in open office as I have a lot of comments to different posters and we can't do a multi thread post here.


Barkeater,


i'm surprised at your problem with dixondale farm plants. I never bought plants from them but I know a few who do and they love the quality of their plants. Also i'm curious, do your onions bulb properly planting so late, ie what size are the bulbs? The reason I ask is that I have read you have to plant them early for maximum plant growth because by mid june they start to bulb being triggered by the longest days of the year. Now you are a bit farther north but june 21 is the longest day regardless of latitude below the arctic circle. Your plants have just 3, maybe 4 weeks and then we hit that longest day. If they start to bulb then your plants can't be that tall.


A general comment about onion seed, typically it is good for just a year. I always buy new seed each year. Seed from last year will germinate but it is reduced so rather than run low on plants due to low germination I just get fresh seed and give away the seed from the prior season.


Stonysoilseeds,


sounds like your onions will do well based upon garlic success, I don't think leeks bulb as much as the other 2 so stones probably are less of an issue. as to planting late and day long type there is no connection. Day long onions are grown north of 35 degrees latitude and day short south of that line. It is based upon the onions' response to the length of the day and when they start to bulb. Day long won't bulb properly in the deep south and I suspect day short don't work properly up here. Day neutral work properly wherever you are.


Cornbreadlouie,


does it look like the cat walked thru the onions, any footprints? Onions do not fall over all at once. Usually 20% show signs of starting to tip and then you know it is time to bend them all over at the neck. I assume it is the same in the south. If they all fell over in 1 day then it sounds like the cat but I think you are seeing this over a period of days so then it sounds like they are finishing off. What is the dtm for the variety? I'm assuming you are at that point.


Lcottomsvcs ,


onions do have their roots all tangled up and you can tear them apart without any harm to the plants. I break roots all the time, unless you remove all the root I suspect losing even 50% of the root will have no effect on their growth based upon my experience. I'm speaking from several years of growing from seed and tearing them apart in the garden at planting time. Candy can produce very large bulbs, just ask yopper! 4” is way too close for candy so next year i'd go with at least 6” even 8” for candy.


Babice,


your latitude/climate is approximately the same as mine. I start seed 2/7 and plant out around 4/1 to 4/15 depending upon how cold it will get at night. If they are calling for below 25 i'd wait. You could cover them but you'd need a support to not break the leaves from the weight of the cover.


tom

[barkeater]

Originally Posted by salix

Barkeater - I have not found that onion seeds are as short-lived as some sources claim. Have had reasonable germination from 2 and even 3 year old seed. Of course, I oversow to compensate, then have hundreds of excess seedlings!

salix,

My Candy and Red Zeppelin seeds were purchased last year for 2011, and I sowed both heavy this year to compensate for age. RZ came up fine, about 70%, but Candy maybe 20%. I also planted the rest of a 2 year old Redwing pack with 0% germination. And expecting nothing I planted 3 year old Mars seed and got none.

[barkeater]

Originally Posted by tjg911

I'm composing this in open office as I have a lot of comments to different posters and we can't do a multi thread post here.


Barkeater,


i'm surprised at your problem with dixondale farm plants. I never bought plants from them but I know a few who do and they love the quality of their plants. Also i'm curious, do your onions bulb properly planting so late, ie what size are the bulbs? The reason I ask is that I have read you have to plant them early for maximum plant growth because by mid june they start to bulb being triggered by the longest days of the year. Now you are a bit farther north but june 21 is the longest day regardless of latitude below the arctic circle. Your plants have just 3, maybe 4 weeks and then we hit that longest day. If they start to bulb then your plants can't be that tall.



tom

tom,

It could be because I had mine scheduled on dixondale's final shipping date of May 14. However, I got an e-mail on May 9 they were packed and sent to UPS. I got them on the 17th, 8 days after they were boxed up.

I always get huge onions planting in mid May, and I 'm actually a bit earlier than normal. I set out 2 month old transplants 10 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. I was able to experiment a few years ago planting some early in May and they didn't do nearly as well and I lost a few. Some years there is still frost in the ground or snow the end of April, and often the soil is too cold and wet in any case to till until mid May.

[TomNJ]

I buy onion plants every year from Dixondale and the quality and service have always been first class. This year I bought 60 bunches and all looked great. Most went to a local farmer, but my little patch of 200 are beautiful. I usually request shipping in late March.

TomNJ

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by barkeater

Some years there is still frost in the ground or snow the end of April, and often the soil is too cold and wet in any case to till until mid May.

oops i see champlain is your location. isn't lake champlain in the north western part on the ny border? now i'm not sure where you are, maybe there's a town called champlain in the ne kingdom?

barkeater,

i know you are in the northeast kingdom, a truly beautiful area in a truly beautiful state! you're really far north. what town are you in or near? i'm amazed that you have frost in the ground so late. is the area shaded by conifers or deciduous trees?

tom

[barkeater]

tom,

I work at Champlain, NY, and have a small garden there but my big garden and onions I grow in the NEK, and the nearest towns are Irasburg and Barton. I'm up about 1400' elevation so in a good snow year like last year the garden is covered until May. Of course this year it was gone 5 weeks early! I think what helps with the onions is our days are so long in the summer. Even now it's not dark until after 9 and getting light soon after 4.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by barkeater

tom,

I work at Champlain, NY, and have a small garden there but my big garden and onions I grow in the NEK, and the nearest towns are Irasburg and Barton. I'm up about 1400' elevation so in a good snow year like last year the garden is covered until May. Of course this year it was gone 5 weeks early! I think what helps with the onions is our days are so long in the summer. Even now it's not dark until after 9 and getting light soon after 4.

i see where barton is, man you are practically in canada. elevation is pretty high so i imagine it is cooler. i'm surprised you'd have snow until may tho. around here it's gone by late march usually and i'm in a cooler part of ct. big difference from here to there!

tom