dug onions 14-17 days early

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by raindrops27

I usually do buy seeds from reputable places, but this was an impulse buy when I saw one of your posts and knew I would not get onions seeds shipped to me on time to start them. I will however remember this.

I do have a question if the very tips of the growing onion seedlings are shriveling am I doing something wrong? I will try to post pictures tomorrow since it's late, and I just took some sleeping pills to rest.

you can start your seeds as late as the last week of february but i wouldn't go later so you can order later if you can be sure of getting them right away. i used to start mine on 2/22 and did ok but i found starting them the 1st week gave me a little bit more time to get a larger transplant, the last week of january may be even better but never tried that early. you want the largest plant with the most leaves by mid june when they start to bulb up here. each leaf represents a ring in the onion.

i never have the tips shrivel. don't over water but make sure they get adequate water. you should have them under lights not in a window. keep the lights 2" above the top of the plants and trim them 1" when they are 5" tall as this will create thicker stalks. i fertilize them a little more than in the past. i use a weak solution of nh fish and seaweed at about 2" tall and then every 10 days. in the garden i don't over do the fertilize but in the early growth under lights inside i now do fertilize about 2x as much as i used to w/o any problems. mine grow at about 48-53 degrees in the basement once they get to be about 3/4" tall, prior to that they are upstairs in the window as right now they are 1/4" tall. post pictures if possible.

tom

[raindrops27]

Ok, the picture is not that great, but I hope you can see where they are shriveling at the tips. This is not happening with all, but some of them.

[tjg911]

i think they need a haircut. i don't plant so densely, maybe they are struggling for root space or nutrients?

i plant in a 4" X 6" planter and i plant rows not scattered planting. i found they grow better in rows than just broadcasting. yes i takes time but maybe just 10-12 minutes per container. i use a tweezers to put each seed in place but it's my way of doing it. i put about 81 seeds in each container so i have 9 rows with 9 seeds per row. if you plant 500 or 1000 then this is going to take time but i started 81 red wing and 144 copra.

tom

[raindrops27]

Tom, I just wanted to let you know that the granax did bulb.. I will post a picture one of these days...

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by raindrops27

Tom, I just wanted to let you know that the granax did bulb.. I will post a picture one of these days...

i had to read thru this thread to know what was being discussed.

so i see now and you say the granex are bulbing. i assume they just started over the past couple of weeks vs they are fully matured and the tops are falling over?

what size are the bulbs if dug or what size do they appear to be if still in the ground which is what i suspect is the case?

thanks for the follow up i forgot about this but i am really curious how they do for you. apparently someone was growing them in newfoundland so i think they will do well for you. maybe i was wrong and granex is day neutral or maybe day short onions will work here. i'll google them to see what the story is. pictures would be great.

tom

[raindrops27]

Tom,

You know you were my inspiration to even try onions to begin with. Last year I tried with candy onion seeds and failed miserably, this year I planted some granax, sweet spanish, and what was supposed to be red burgundy onions which weren't for none are red..

As for the granax, they were the first planted as I was reserved to use them for scallions, I pulled so many for scallions. I noticed about a month ago they started to swell and bulb. I pulled them about a week ago, as they all fell over and rain was in the forecast. They don't look as big as they should, but they did bulb.
Currently, I have them laying inside my gazebo on a side table on a towel. I have yet to wash them. When should I wash them? When should I braid them?


When I go out to put more applewood in the smoker for the ribs, I will take a picture. Anyway Happy Fourth to you, and yours!

Melissa

[raindrops27]

Here are some pictures..

[tjg911]

I pulled them about a week ago, as they all fell over

interesting. so they fell over around 6/27.

i doubt your onions behave much different than mine as our locations are not that far apart. assuming they were planted out in early april like mine is pretty early to fall over! mine don't start to do that until late july. i think this may be due to the fact they are day short onions grown in the day long part of the country. i don't know why else they'd finish so early unless others on long island say their day long and day neutral onions fall over the same time. the necks look very thin and i would have expected a fat neck as this variety doesn't store well, thin neck onions store a long time. possibly this maybe due to being a day short grown up north or maybe they just can't be put out early enough due to cold and did not have a long enough season to grow larger bulbs.

they look nice in the pictures but there is no reference to anything re size. could you take another picture with a ruler or a dollar bill for a size comparison?

tom

[raindrops27]

Tom,


I set them out the end of March I believe..I remember you had your friend pm me about when and when not to set them out since I did not think they would bulb I took the chance to set them out the same time I set the potato seeds out which was around the last week in March.. I will take a picture when I get a chance I have so much running around to do today..

Melissa

[tjg911]

so the end of march is about 7-10 days ahead of when i put out my onions. still they fell over a little sooner than i'd have thought. if you plant day long onions with a similar dtm then see when they fall over and you'd then know if the granex were early or normal.

tom

[raindrops27]

Here are the pictures..When do you normally wash the onions after they cure, or during curing?

[yopper]

DO NOT Wash your onions!!! When the dirt is dry I rub it off with gloved hands. YOPPER

[raindrops27]

Ok thanks Yopper!

[tjg911]

what yopper said! he knows onions.

nice pictures. they appear to be small relative to what i grow - copra and red wing (larger than copra) but i don't know how large granex get. i'd bet they are large cuz they have fat necks and short storage. maybe someone from down south that grows granex can tell us what the typical size is. whether small or normal sized you have some. now the big question - how do they taste? s/b sweet.

tom

[yopper]

HEY Tom Things are looking good in the onion patch lots of leaves and they are just starting to bulb! I may have to get that old backho out of mothballs this year. GOOD GARDENING TO YA YOPPER