where are the onion growers ?

[yopper]

All the onion growers must be in the garden hoeing,weeding and watering because they are not on the computer!!!HA. My onions are doing OK for the late start they got as the frost was late getting out of the ground as we didn't have much snow here last winter. Not as much tops on them as I would like and they are starting to bulb so I probly won't need the backhoe to dig them this year. HA! HOW ARE YOUR'S DOING ??? YOPPER

[TZ-OH6]

I tried growing from seed this year but didn't start them quite early enough. They went in the garden rather small and were planted too deep. Needless to say they have not done well. Some tops are falling over and all I have are golfballs and some tennis balls showing. I'll probably pull them soon to put in brussel's sprouts.

[TomNJ]

Mine are better than usual this year, probably due to lots of manure based compost (worms galore!) and good watering. Unfortunately my mere five hours of sun per day limits them to about 3". I'll start pulling them this week.

TomNJ

[JerryL]

Here's a couple of pics of mine from back on the 3rd of July.

[RayR]

Mine are doing nicely, I can see the bulbs getting much bigger now and there is quite a bit of time to go yet to maturity. I started my seedlings in January, mostly Yellow Sweet Spanish and Candy F1. I started some others in February, some Italian varieties, Dorata di Parma and Vernina. Those were harder to grow, especially the Vernina Red Onions. I didn't end up with many good seedlings of those.

[Jeannine Anne]

Mine are doing just fine, I too start early .I grow Rose de Roscoffs , very rare and seed is not available so have this years harvest coming along and last years replants are just putting out their seedheads for saving

XX Jeannine

[biscgolf]

mine did fine- pulled the last of them 2 weeks ago...

[wmontanez]

Mine are small and grew slow due to weeks of overcast weather...lost most to too much rain early spring. Trying again next year!

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by yopper

Not as much tops on them as I would like and they are starting to bulb so I probly won't need the backhoe to dig them this year.

what you won't be digging your onions with the backhoe? sounds like a bad year for ya!

i see some bulbs and they look nice. if the size and health of the plants is any indication, and it should be, i have an excellent crop this year unlike the disaster i had last year of tiny plants, tiny bulbs and just 7 pounds vs the usual 65-70 pounds. i may need to borrow your backhoe yopper, start driving east and you'll get here on time for early august! if you don't show up i'll have to use my logging moose.

i planted them out earlier this year than ever before on 4/5 which is about 10-15 days earlier than usual. hopefully they'll get a bit larger and not just be ready 10-15 days earlier. typically i dig copra about 8/1 and red wing about 8/10.

tom

[DiggingDogFarm]

It's been a good year for onions here.
Clear Dawn, Giant Zittau and Ailsa Craig are my standbys.

~Dig

[yopper]

We got a veriety of reports from Canada to southern Ohio some good and some not so good![And thats gardening] I thought I might get a report from folks that were planting 3 plants in one hole but I guess they are not talking! Tig if you need my backhoe holler with the price of gas I'll UPS it to YA ! YOPPER

[kath]

Glad to hear this is connected to the thread about growing onions in "clumps" because I wanted to post these pics and report some early results about having tried that method. Much to my surprise, I've only seen a very small size difference those planted in clumps of 4 and those grown singly in rows. I'm growing Copra, Ailsa Craig, New York Early, Redwing, Rossa di Milano and Rossa Lunga de Tropea this year and planted some of each both in rows and in clumps of 4 - the ones in the pics are Ailsa Craig Exhibition. I can't get over how well this method worked and I think I'll be trying it with a lot of other veggies next year.

Instead of growing upright, the clump method seems to make them grow outward, so the tops of the onions wind up spreading out in a circle. I'm not sure this made weeding any easier, which is what I was hoping for, but it eliminated the accidental bruising/breaking of the upright tops which sometimes happens when I'm weeding a "normal" onion row.

Early in the season, none of the onions appeared to be doing particularly well. We had a lot of rain and wind and they got rather flattened. To add to their troubles, I'm always trying to get the most out of my limited garden space and wound up planting summer and winter squash, brassicas, tomatoes (surprise!), and other plants way too close to them, so shading also was a factor. Nonetheless, they are faring rather well at this point- usually by the end of July the tops are dying back.

I'd like to hear what others think after trying this out this year.

[Jeannine Anne]

I sow my green onions in little clumps, start them inside in modules and plant the whole clump out in one hole..does that count.

Actually I like the idea you have and think I will give it a try. I had heard of it but never thought to do it.

XX Jeannine

Thank you

[wmontanez]

Those look very nice Kath. I am trying that next time after seen your results, thanks for sharing. My small onions started to bulb up I am not giving up yet on them this year.

[lurley]

Mine didn't go in until may so it will probably be September before they are ready

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