What Onion Varieties You Planting?

[yopper]

candy & walla walla YOPPER

[jerryinfla]

Texas Early Grano 502 from seeds. We've been eating them a few weeks now and expect to be pulling them until early summer.

[barkeater]

Originally Posted by b54red

This far south it is very hard to find onions that do well. I have grown most of the onions mentioned above by other posters but very few delivered much in the way of bulbs. Any of the Vidalia types do well here but they are terrible storage onions and only keep a few weeks. The one onion that is dependable, a decent fresh eating onion and also a decent storage onion is white Bermuda. I think I have about 8 or 9 varieties in my garden now yet I only have hopes of getting any onions big enough to store from the Bermudas. I am constantly wasting space in my garden with red onions hoping to find one that will make consistently down here. .

b54,

Do you have to plant all your onions in the fall where you are?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by barkeater

b54,

Do you have to plant all your onions in the fall where you are?

The seed need to be started in the fall. I transplant usually from December through early February depending on the weather and condition of the seedlings. I sometimes set out some seedlings as late as early March but they never make good onions as the heat gets here too soon.

[TomNJ]

I'll be planting 50 each of Candy, Big Daddy, Walla Walla, Yellow Spanish, Red Zeppelin, and Alisa Craig, and 100 Copra. Ordered all plants from Dixondale as I have had much better success from plants than from home grown seed. They go in the ground around April 10th at my new place in southwestern Virginia.

Also planted some garlic back in November - 50 each of Estonian Red, Russian Red, German White, and German Red, and 200 Music.

Now if my 60 tomato plants yield as I hope they will I'll be able to consume all these onions and garlic, otherwise I'll be swimming in them!

TomNJ & VA

[barkeater]

Tom,

Looks like youare going all out with a big garden at your new place in VA. It's an area I always thought I'd like to live: Roanoke, Asheville, Johnson City, etc. I wish you lots of luck!

I am curious as I also grew up on the Jersey shore how the tomato flavor compares. I've grown the same varieties in a few different places and never found the same flavor anywhere else comparable to Jersey.

But back to onions. You must be close to the border of long day vs. short day varieties. Does elevation play a role in the choice or is it all latitude? Thanks.

[Stvrob]

Originally Posted by b54red

This far south it is very hard to find onions that do well. I have grown most of the onions mentioned above by other posters but very few delivered much in the way of bulbs. Any of the Vidalia types do well here but they are terrible storage onions and only keep a few weeks. The one onion that is dependable, a decent fresh eating onion and also a decent storage onion is white Bermuda. I think I have about 8 or 9 varieties in my garden now yet I only have hopes of getting any onions big enough to store from the Bermudas. I am constantly wasting space in my garden with red onions hoping to find one that will make consistently down here. I have found a few smaller yellow onions that do okay but they are only good for cooking as the flavor is a bit too strong. I might get the occasional nice onion from the others but it is so infrequent that the bulk of my onions planted will be Bermudas from now on.

Red:
Why don't you try some of these Red Creole short day onions from Dixondale Farms:
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/produc...ort_day_onions

Is it too late for transplants there?

I've never grown them, just noticed it in the catalog as a short day storage onion, catalog says 6-7 months.

[Stvrob]

Im growing leeks this year for the first time. A variety called American flag I picked up off the clearance rack somewhere. I transplanted them into the garden in January, and so far they are really thriving. I have them growing thru cardboard toilet paper tubes to hopefully keep the sand out of them. I'm not sure if or when I should remove the cardboard tube. I dont really have a plan I guess.

Oh, and also the usual yellow granex, which I grow every year.

[bitterwort]

Ailsa Craig, Red Zeppelin, and Copra from Dixonadale, as many as I can fit in to the space left after the tomatoes, of course. Also, a few Tropea Rossa Tonda and Blue Solaise leeks from seed, if I can find a spare couple of inches in a bed somewhere.

[TomNJ]

Originally Posted by barkeater

Tom,

Looks like youare going all out with a big garden at your new place in VA. It's an area I always thought I'd like to live: Roanoke, Asheville, Johnson City, etc. I wish you lots of luck!

I am curious as I also grew up on the Jersey shore how the tomato flavor compares. I've grown the same varieties in a few different places and never found the same flavor anywhere else comparable to Jersey.

But back to onions. You must be close to the border of long day vs. short day varieties. Does elevation play a role in the choice or is it all latitude? Thanks.

Thanks Barkeater! My new farm is located in Floyd, Va, right in the middle of Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern VA and just 30 miles from the NC border (as the crow flies). So yes I am near the border of long day and intermediate day onions. For the most part I chose onion varieties that Dixondale indicated were suitable for both zones. The reason I am growing so many varieties is to see how they do relative to each other in this location, and then I will reduce my list in the future to those that yielded best. I'll report my results here in the summer. My garden is at 2,600 ft elevation, but I don't believe that should affect the onion performance, at least not compared to day length, sunshine, climate, soil, fertility, and water.

Likewise with tomatoes - I am planting 13 varieties (60 plants total) and will compare results at season's end. Since most of my tomatoes get cooked and canned I am most concerned with yield, but about 10% do get eaten fresh so taste is also important. Having grown tomatoes in NJ for some 39 years it will be interesting to see how taste compares in this very different location and soil.

As a scientist I love experimenting!

TomNJ/VA

[Stvrob]

My roomate from college was from Floyd

[salix]

In a day or two will be sowing:

Candy
Calibra
Copra
Ailsa Craig
Kelsae


Red Bull
Greek Salad
Red Zeppelin
Rose de Roscoff

King Richard Leeks

Ambition, Saffron and Conserver shallots

Crimson Forest bunching and Evergreen bunching

Ramrod scallions

The Egyptian walking onions are still resting under almost 3 feet of snow, as well as way too much garlic, about 14 different varieties...

[Defiant20]

From DixonDale, Candy, Red Candy, 1015Y, and a new variety Texas Legend.

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

Red:
Why don't you try some of these Red Creole short day onions from Dixondale Farms:
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/produc...ort_day_onions

Is it too late for transplants there?

I've never grown them, just noticed it in the catalog as a short day storage onion, catalog says 6-7 months.

I have grown the short day Creole types and the problem with them is the same as with most of the red short day onions. They are very inconsistent in producing decent sized bulbs. I grow about 4 or 5 different short day reds every year but rarely get good onions from them. I love the strong flavor but hate wasting so much garden space every year. I'm too old to change so I will probably keep right on trying them because every few years the reds do make okay and of course when that happens I don't have enough of them planted.

[jwr6404]

What we grow I refer to as a No name onion and the Wife says is a Korean Onion. Looks like a standard run of the mill green Onion that completely dominates our main garden plot which is 500 sq ft. In addition if there is at least 1 square inch of dirt in the yard it is covered with onion seed. We have Onions year around here in the PNW. Guess what! I don't like Onions