imafan26
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how long does it take for onions to be harvested from seed

I planted my red onion seeds in October and transplanted the seedlings out in December. They are starting to bulb up now. I thought they should bulb up when the days get longer and warmer or does it just bulb up with time. I am thinking they might be ready at the end of March or April. which will be about 5 months.

I have grown onions before and I usually plant them in October or November, but this is the first time they are going to be ready this early. The tops usually don't dry until May.

This season was strange. I planted garlic and they sprouted and died about 3 weeks later. I planted Texas granex onion seeds at the same time as the red onion and they never came up. I planted them twice and only maybe three came up and I have planted them before.

The place where I put the onions is drier than where I normally grow them and they are bigger than usual. I don't get the monsters Jay gets, mine are pretty puny. I don't know why the garlic started to grow and then died. One of the garlic sets I planted were grown next to leeks, the leeks are fine.

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rainbowgardener
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They are ready when the tops get yellow and start bending over. For me, I plant onion seed in the fall and they aren't ready until June or July, but they are dormant for a long time in there. I have trouble getting onions to get very big, also.

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jcrous
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In South Africa we plant the long day varieties like Caledon Globe and Australian Brown in May by sowing seed. We transplant about October and harsvest about February or later.
The shorter day Varieties like Texas Grano we sow at October and harvest about February.
The long day varieties can last almost a year after harvest.

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digitS'
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When I first started growing onions from seed, I thought that it should be pretty simple. I'd grown quite a few things from seed and didn't live but a few hundred miles north of a major onion growing region in the Walla Walla valley. Besides, I wanted to try Texas Granex and find out what those Vidalia onions were all about. Oops!

Oh, I had some sweet onions. They were about the size of golf balls. I don't remember when they decided to bulb up but it was way too early! Few weeks of growth means small size and the many hours of summer sunshine just flipped some kind of switch that told those Texas/Georgia onions to stop growing and make bulbs.

Not wanting to embarrass myself again, I picked up some Walla Walla seed. I'd been doing some reading and learned that they were sown in late summer where they were grown commercially. I should have realised that our winters here were not quite the same.

I tried on that schedule for 3 years. It worked once. Otherwise, a great number of the plants just bolted to seed as soon as warm spring weather arrived! Too much cold had kicked in the reproduction cycle and growth had all gone to that.

I know now not to grow a variety from too far outside my geographical area and line of latitude. Texas Granex is out! I have Walla Wallas every year but I sow the seeds for that one and others in my unheated greenhouse in early February . I only have to protect the flats of potting soil from freezing. That just means that I move them away from the plastic film south wall and may cover them on the coldest nights.

I think there are few other vegetables that more clearly show that your technique had better be geared to your local conditions. Stopping by your Cooperative Extension office and getting their advice may save you several seasons of limited or no success.

Steve

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jal_ut
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[Stopping by your Cooperative Extension office and getting their advice may save you several seasons of limited or no success.]

Very good suggestion:

Since onions bulb when the days are of a certain length, you need to find varieties that are suited
to your growing conditions there and plant at the right time of year.

Just a guess, but I think I would use short day onions there and plant about first of March. From seed they may not get too large before the days are long enough to bulb. If your conditions are such that onions will grow through February, planting in early February will get you some larger onions.

The other option is plant onion sets. That is what I have to do here to get a big onion. Try some onion sets right now.

imafan26
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Actually the onion seeds came from the university of Hawaii. This is the first time I planted awahia but I have planted Texas granex before. Locally it is known as Maui onions. The are short day onions.

Usually I don't have large bulbs because the soil is not very rich. This time I side dressed with nitrogen and I got better tops and bigger bulbs than usual. I just never got them this early before. I had problems getting the Texas granex to germinate and I only got a few plants and I planted them twice.

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PunkRotten
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This is my 1st year growing bulbing onions. I planted mostly Candy and a red spicy onion called Red Bottle. I started the seeds directly in the bed around October/November last year and all came up. Right now they are tall and really leafy so I hope this is a good sign that I will get some good bulbs. I've always had good luck with onions and leeks. But with garlic it has been hit and miss. I've tried about 8 varieties now and some have done poor while others have done ok. I started Susanville and Polish Softneck this year and one is doing really good while the other is struggling a bit. Basically, you just have to find one that does well through trial and error. My garlic is usually ready late June. For bulbing onions no idea. But I will just watch them for when they show signs they are ready.

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applestar
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I had problems getting the Texas granex to germinate and I only got a few plants and I planted them twice.
I think I have heard that allium seeds don't keep well. I remember I decided to sow all of my 2009 seeds last year to refesh the supply last spring, and ended up with a decent germination :roll:
...But this year, I sowed some 2010 seeds and hardly any came up. (2x :roll: )

I wonder if that means even fresh onion seeds are also susceptible to quickly losing viability due to environmental factors? I say this because to get to Hawaii the seeds probably undergo a fair amount of temperature ups and downs, who-knows-what security measures, etc.



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