I haven't posted for awhile, I went on an outrageous trip to the Amazon (pictures on Farmer Daves's facebook) and have been catching up ever since, its another rainy day so thought I would check in with my garden friends.
This year I am planting my onions a little late but as they say better late than never. Its chilly and wet this year so my garden bed preperations are going slow. Walla Walla onions went in the ground last year on 3-25-09 and our keeper onions went in on 4-15-09. Quite a bit earier than this year. On 5-26 I planted both keeper onions and early eaters this year. Guess will be eating onions late this year. Walla Walla onions are a sweet and early onion that are usually ready on the summer solstice.
Even our kids love onions especially the sweet early kind. I like growing Walla Walla onions for early summer eating and Copra onions as a winter keeper. Onions add great flavor and good nutrition to our diet. Onions are rich in vitamin C, iron and potassium, and are a good source of dietary fiber. Onions have been linked to cancer prevention and lowereing cholesterol levels.
Planting Onions!
Soil & Amendments- Onions grow best in moist, fertile soils. Top dress them with manure or compost after the onions have been in the ground for about 3 weeks.
Culture: Onions can be planted outside if you live in a warm place that has no frost or only light frosts. If you live in a colder area plant in flats in a green house. Bulbs develop rapidly in spring and are quick to mature.
Early onions are usally on the table by the summer solstice. Our winter onions get planted by February in the green house and get planted out in garden beds by April or May. Transplanting is better than direct seeding.
Sow your seeds in flats nearly touching each other 1/4" deep they are easly to transplant even bare rooted. When plants are 4" high, harden off before transplanting. Onions should be planted 4" apart in rows 8-10" apart. During growth, water deeply at least twice a week as onions need 2" of water a week to develop large bulbs. Days to maturity are from the date of transplanting. Many people have good success planting onion sets. Bigger onion sets tend to go to seed instead of producing eating onions. If you use sets use the smaller onion sets.
Happy planting!
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Farmer Dave
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Farmer Dave wrote:... Many people have good success planting onion sets. Bigger onion sets tend to go to seed instead of producing eating onions. If you use sets use the smaller onion sets.
If you have a few onions (planted from Sets) that are "going to seed", can you cut off that "flower/seed head" to re-focus the onion on making the bulb?
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Farmer Dave
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I am not really sure if you break off or eat the seed heads if the onions will ever really go back to bulbing up. I doubt it as onions are a bi-annual plant and the reason they bulb up is that they think they are in their second year, that is why you will have better success with smaller sets. Most of the onions will probably make it so just plant a few extras and eat the flowers... Try it as soon as you notice them going to flower, if you wait to long I am sure they will have a hard core. Let us know how it works for you we could all learn something here.
Farmer Dave[/quote]
Farmer Dave[/quote]
They may already be too hard, because I have been walking by the Onion sets that flowered for a couple of weeks, wondering if I should do anything to them. (there are only a few that flowered, so I wasn't very concerned about it)Farmer Dave wrote:... Try it as soon as you notice them going to flower, if you wait to long I am sure they will have a hard core....
I did cut off some of the flowers today, just to see if those plants would ever form much of a bulb. It didn't cross my mind to try eating the flower heads ... I tossed them on the ground around some other types of plants, thinking they might discourage an insect or two.
thanks for the good advice!
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Farmer Dave
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- Joined: Sat Jan 09, 2010 7:15 pm
- Location: California
It is good to note that hybrids are not true to seed and I like to save seeds from my best plants as plants will pass on their characteristics if you save seeds from an onion that bolts and goes to seed the first year it is likely that it will pass on that characteristic. Onions are a biennial which means they go to seed every second year, so it is good to save seeds from the best plants of non-hybrids in their their second year. The flowers are beautiful!