Onions

[CrealCritter]

Seeds or transplants --->
https://www.almanac.com/blog/gardening/garden-journal/growing-onions

Sets --->
https://www.almanac.com/plant/onions

The best results i've had here in southern IL (which is really close to short day & intermediate and long day lines) was by seed starting long day seeds indoors and transplanting out in the garden late winter / early spring (middle of February). I watched my yard closely. When I seen the wild onions first pop up that's when I transplanted my seedlings into the garden.

The worst results were by planting sets as soon as the appear at the farm store.

 

[CrealCritter]

Yep DHL ain't all that... This means a 3 business day delay. Our sorting center is Saint Louis Missouri not Hazzlewood Missouri. So my package has to go back to Hazzlewood from muphysboro (1 day Friday). Hazzlewood then has to send it to Saint Louis (1 day Saturday) then it has to be sent for Saint Louis to Creal Springs (1 day Monday) so if all goes according to plan, I should have it Christmas Eve day (Dec 24). But don't doubt it... most likely so sometime next week after Christmas.

Keep this in mind when ordering from Baker Creek.

Our postal logistics is something else. When my wife pays the water bill. She puts it in our mail box out front and lifts the flag on the mail box. The post man grabs it takes it to the Creal Springs post office. The Creal springs post office, puts it on a truck and sends it's it the Saint Louis sorting center. The saint Louis sorting center then puts it on a truck and sends it back to the Creal Springs post office, who then puts it in the post office box for the water department commissioner to pick it up.

And we wonder why the post office is in the black year after year

 

[CrealCritter]

I know onions will grow well here as evidenced by the Noonday Onions.

http://www.noondaysweetonions.com/

Noonday, Texas isn't far from us. I do well with onion sets for green onions, but rarely get a very big bulb. Never have got a nice big onion,

Hun being in texas you guys are most definitely in short day country. You could direct sow short-day seed now right out in the garden. As long as the temp does not drop below 20 degrees for an extended period of of time they shouldn't bolt on you during the summer. Onions really are a cold weather crop. When growing them think of them as a leaf crop.

Bulbing is triggered when the maximum daylight is reached and I guess when the onion senses the deceasd daylight from the max. So the longer you can grow them before the trigger the better sucesss you will have. Like I said they are heavy feeders fertilize every two weeks and don't let them dry out (1 inch of water, including rain) per week. Stop fertilizing when the leaves fall over at the neck of the bulb and pull back mulch. But don't stop with the water (still 1" per week). When the leaves completely dry out that's when you pull them.

You need to grow short day types.

A few good short day onions are:

• ‘Yellow Granex’ for sweet Vidalia-type onions.
• ‘Texas 1015-Y Supersweet’ or ‘Red Creole’ store well.
• ‘White Bermuda’ for a mild onion.

Have a read here ---> https://www.almanac.com/blog/gardening/garden-journal/growing-onions

Please order some Texas 1015-Y Supersweet seeds soon and direct sow them into your garden and see if come around August if you don't have some like this

https://www.dixondalefarms.com/category/short_day_onions

Here's your seeds --->
https://sustainableseedco.com/products/texas-1015y-onion

 

[CrealCritter]

I need me one of these bad!

 

[CrealCritter]

I like to shop in the Baker Seed catalog and then see if I can find cheaper seeds of the same variety. Right now I'm looking on the
https://mypatriotsupply.com/collections/50-off-heirloom-seeds/products/organic-sunray-tomato-seeds
website and see that they have some seeds for .39cents a package. I dunno if they are comparable in the amount of seeds in the pack cuz I'm just starting the comparison.

I'm looking in the 50% off section.

My Patriot Supply offers free shipping on orders over $99 to the 48 contiguous United States. Orders under $99 are charged a flat shipping rate of $7.95.

 

[Mini Horses]

I looked & want a few -- in case -- then, $7.95 shipping just doubled the order so I put it on "hold" until I go look at store prices today, to make me feel better about it. I'm sure it will still be a good deal, may add more of some which won't up the ship cost. THEN I will be storing more

ENABLERS!!!!

 

[CrealCritter]

My seeds from Patriot should be here tomorrow or Sat, I suspect. I did pick up another pack of different at a Habitat discount. ALSO -- strawberry & asparagus seed. I want an asparagus bed and not the cost of plants, so going the cheap route, maybe. If the sprout, I'll transplant in summer. If not, hey, I lost 15 cent. The berries are all summer bearing, like wild ones...they should do fine & were just a "why not?". The other 34 packs of seed..

I did that but in 3 4x8 foot raised beds with sprouts at my in-laws because my mother and father in law wanted asparagus.
My father in law complained and couldn't stand the ferns all summer long. He said they were weeds. Granted there were a few weeds in there but we dug out a good 2 feet of clay and replaced it with cow and horse compost and wheel barrows of black top soil. All that work and year three he decided enough was enough. Without saying a wordwro anyone he pulled up the raised beds, burned the cedar that I made them out of. Leveled off the soil and mowed it with the rest of his yard. I was so upset... But I didn't say a word... He has alzheimers and it's just not worth it.

my mother in law appoligized to me, because she didn't know until he already destroyed the beds. I just laughed, i mean there are better things to get angry over. I did put a lot of work and expense into that project, only to see it destroyed in a matter of an hour. Oh well such is life...

I did however learn my lesson. My mother in law wanted me to put a board walk in from the house to the garage shop which is a good 350 foot. I mean I have a sawmill so I could do it on the cheap, if I could find enough cedar trees.

But I had to say no, because I'm almost certain my father in law would not like it and tear it up shortly after i would have laid it down. He has a obsession with his lawn, he keeps it looking like a golf course. With no hobbies and being retired with alzheimers it's about all he has to do during the summer. He mowes like every other day. I didn't come right out and say no though... I told her snakes love to hide under board walks because I know she is deadly afraid of snakes (I didn't lie - it's true that snakes.hide under board walks).

Besides my mother in law might, go out to the garage/shop a few times a year. So is it really something you need or is it something you seen in a magazine or on TV that you liked and decided your son in law could build it for you?

 

[Mini Horses]

Well I'm on that short/intermediate line....right there at the VA-NC border.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

When I seen the wild onions first pop up that's when I transplanted my seedlings into the garden.

That's a good idea! I've never had much luck with onions so I rarely bother except maybe for some green onions. I rarely get bulbs when I try to plant "real" onions.

 

[CrealCritter]

Oninions are tricky they are. Intermediates are not day lenth sensitive to bulb. Both long and short day type are, and will start to bulb when the day lenght is reached. They must be planted early I'm ordering my seeds this weekend to start inside the day they arrive. Onions are nitrogen hungry plants I mean hungry! Pull back the mulch and fertilizer every two weeks with a nice fat banding of amonia nitrate on both sides of the row, until they start to bulb. The more "leaves" you can get to grow the more rings in the bulb. The fatter and taller the leaf, the bigger the ring. Just remember that every leaf is a onion ring in the bulb. Ensure they have plenty of miosture during the leaf growing stage (1 inch a week - including rain). When the leaves fall over pull back all mulch from the bulbs and discontinue fertilizing.

Here is a link to a daylight graphing site where you can figure out when and how long your maximum day lenght is. The further north you go the longer day lenth there is and when it will occur, its just the opposite for the south. The further south the less peak daylight in the summer.

Carbondale is North of me but is the only closest city on the menu choices
https://ptaff.ca/soleil/?lang=en_CA

As you can see with 15 day lenght hours peak just to the north of me, i also consider myself on the line for long day & intermediate. But I grow long day types.

The best site I found on growing big onions is https://www.dixondalefarms.com check out the learn section.