Deciding On Onion Varieties

I've always had great success with bulb onions. I think I tried seeds one year and didn't get anything and was too impatient to try again. Though now and last few years, I've been experimenting with seed saving and may try onions/seeds again. This past season one of the bulbs got the seed head on it, but kids pulled it before I could try planting these. I'm curious if this would work and the whole process of saving onion seeds. Any onion experts? Please and thanks
 
I've posted before that practically every seed I want seems to be available locally, so I haven't been ordering anything from any catalogs and saving myself the S&H. EXCEPT...onions. It seemed like I could pick up several varieties of packages of onion seeds pretty much everywhere. But not THIS year. :barnie It's frustrating since I was able to grow and harvest about 50 bulbs from last year's awful growing conditions. I bagged 'em up and will start them as sets soon. Is there a drought on onions, or is just here, in C-U? :caf
 
I found onion starts at Home Depot... but you got to dig through there 'flower bulbs' on display. So weird!
 
Texan, you should check your local feed stores for onion sets. I'm going tomorrow to one of the more local ones and can get a few sets of 1015's and reds which is usually about 60 onions per set for $.85 per bunch but if I buy 3 or more sets the price drops to $.75 each which is a LOT cheaper than the almost $11 thru mail order.

I did both the 1015's and reds last year. Wasn't impressed with the reds but the 1015's did real well. Sure wish they had a longer shelf life! This year I plan on staggering my plantings more so I will have a longer harvest and possibly shorter storage in between harvesting....
 
Texan said:
I went ahead and ordered from http://www.dixondalefarms.com/
I got the Texas 1015Y
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I ordered from Dixondale myself but then found so many types locally right after I did ... I will not do that again ...service and prices were good and the sets were very nice looking

I put in 2 samplers from them 1 each of storage and sweet and an extra handful of Walla Walla just because it is statriotic

they are all planted in three beds with some peas and spinach
under a mock hoop house,,, I followed advice on this board for my soil and it was rich and well built up by the time the onions came

so now I just wait and see

Good luck with your planting . ..

seeds took two years to grow some pretty lame onions here
 
I like Copra. I'm growing 2x as many this year and also trying some Candy.
Last year I didn't plant enough onions, so I ended up buying some at the farmer's market. They were Candy and I was really impressed. In fact I still have some of both Copra and Candy to use. They are still good after 6 months.
I too plant starts. I tried starting plants inside from seed 2 years ago, but I like starts better, because the plants grown from seeds didn't get very big before the end of the season.
 
ducks4you said:
. . . Is there a drought on onions, or is just here, in C-U? :caf
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Two places where I might have ordered Walla Walla seed, said that they had none this year. I'm a little anxious to know if I receive seed from the company where I placed my order. At one time, I always clicked the "no substitutes" button but that act lead to a few desperate situations when the right moment for planting came along and -- no seed!
:ep
Besides, I may never learn what I'm missing without having changed "forced" upon me.
HiDelight said:
. . . I put in 2 samplers from them 1 each of storage and sweet and an extra handful of Walla Walla just because it is statriotic . . .
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HiD, I think you might be forgiven for a little less "statriotic" behavior ;). Your wetside of the Cascade Mountains don't bear a whole lot of resemblance to the Walla Walla Valley. Personally, I would look closely at what is grown in the UK. Good Eats trump most any other sentiment, ya know :P.

I've still got a handful of Sterling Whites in the basement. I say a "handful" because those 5 or 6 bulbs could almost be carried in 1 hand - having shrunk down, I guess, from loss of water. No doubt, once very mild . . . they are probably a bit more on the pungent side, these days.

I'm wondering if there can EVER be enuf onions coming out of the garden - as long as a good mix of varieties can be had :). The Walla Walla's always get a little too much attention from me, altho' Utah has been gaining enormously in favor the last couple of years. Neither, unfortunately, have much of a shelf-life. Storage types are critical for late winter - I have a few yellow onions grown from what are probably Stuttgarter sets.

(Placing all of these things together in the same catagory) . . . it won't be much longer and the "c h i v e s" will be ready!! (If I still had walking onions, they would be also be on hand.) An omelet with chives and a dollop of sour cream . . . huh?!!

Set all things
in their own peculiar place,
and know that order
is the greatest grace.
~ John Dryden

Steve ;)
 
Digit I made one bed that resembles the other side of the mountain in composition ..made sure sage grows really well in there too!!!
and also have put a cover over it so I will limit the rain ..it is in the best lit part of my yard and will get many many hours of whatever sun the sky has to offer
I know if I stuck them right in the ground here they would probably taste like crap.... so I agree but I am doing a double blinded (and I mean blinded not blind) controled by my sun induced mania.. study... to figure out if I can get those and some Scotch Bonnet peppers to grow by altering my own environment to meet the needs of theirs :)

and "what if" we have a summer like last year? we had so much sun and it was perfect for growning things you could otherwise not grow here

so really there is no method to my madness I just wanted to try
 
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