mushy onions

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Pulled up some of my onions to check their progress today. When I pulled them up, the first couple of layers were very mushy. The inside was fine (and tasty!) They haven't really started to bulb out either. I have never grown onions until this year, so I have no idea what to expect

[Toil]

is anything else growing close to them and doing well?

[LindsayArthurRTR]

They are interplanted with bell peppers and hot peppers ( and grass ) all are doing well! Except the mushy onions. And their top growth is nice!

[Toil]

aha!

first off, identify your onion disease here (sounds like a rot of some kind): https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/PhotoPages/Impt_Diseases/Onion/Onion_Photos2.htm

but whatever the disease, if the grass is lawn grass and is happy, you might think about giving that bed more fungal foods. I believe but am not 100% positive that onions associate with root fungi (endomycorhizal fungi) , so that would widen you margin of error next year.

Sometimes I wonder why annual nightshades prefer more fungi, but then I remember they are perennials in their places of origin.

If you get the soil to be a bit more fungal, your peppers may be happier as well and may have better protection from pests. For sure it won't mind.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

IDK... it's doesn't look like any of these pictures. The peppers (and grass... gah) look great, they already have lots of large fleshy peppers on them, the onions are ok after you take the first couple of layers off.

How can I manufactor my own fungi?

When I planted all the nightshades, they got a hefty scoop each of mushroom compost and well rotted chicken poo . And, I do mean hefty.

[Toil]

The peppers (and grass... gah) look great

I've seen that often. All I can say is, peppers are the kale of the nightshade family.

They will not be unhappy in a more fungal, and thus more acidic soil.

The onion, on the other hand - well you know about the onion. I've never seen happy garlic or onion or scallion next to happy lawn grass, but I've seen them happy near happy tomatoes.

[garden5]

So, if tomatoes like it, so will the onions...good to know! One thing I wonder about with your onions is if the soil is perpetually damp in the area they are planted in. Now, another thing is if you had any bugs that burrowed into the onions.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

It has been raining a LOT here. I am actally starting to get a little worried about my "maymoes" ( that's what my adorable 2 year old nephew calls tomatoes) last time it rained like this, I had terrible problems with blight. The soil does drain well except for a few low spots, and I have not noticed any critters on them when I pull them up!

[garden5]

The reason I asked is because I had some mushy ones last year and they were grown in soil that pretty much stayed moist and one of them had a hole in it, which tells me there was an insect invasion.

[The Helpful Gardener]

The finest onions I have ever seen grew in the Hudson Valley of lower New York, in old alluvial plans, dark soft loamy soil feet deep. Lots of decomposed granite, good humus content, and decent drainage.

Sitting wet and soft, mushy sounds fungal, but toils pronouncements are likely correct; when we see good fungi in the microscope (toil, that's usually brown or green hyphae at 2.5 to 4 microns of diameter) there usually aren't a lot of bad fungi (usually darker and 1-1.5 microns, but I'm generalizing).

You have made a VERY bacterial soil with all that chicken poop, so the first fungi to show back up are often bad guys, UNLESS you do as toil suggests and insinuate your good guys first... we need to remember that genus Allium (onions) is a perennial (when not ripped up and eaten by humans), and most perennials like balanced to slightly fungal soils...

G5 also has a good point; often the first penetration that alows a fungus to take hold is done by some insect. I'd look at that as well...

HG

[garden5]

I learned something new, perennials prefer a slightly fungal soil whereas annuals prefer slightly bacterial, very interesting.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Well, they seemed to have recovered! I pulled several onions up today and, they aren't mushy at all nice big fat purple bulbs! It was a great surprise as I'd written them off as fungi food . We have had substantially less rain, so I'm thinkin that's the reason for the mushiness


Thanks!