Onion question
 

Last year for the first time, I tried planting a bag of red onion
bulbs. They were planted among the rows of peppers and eggplants,
which did well. So all these plants were mounded slightly higher than
the walking rows in between. All the onions put up a few green
leaves and then died back. In the fall, digging in there, there was
nary a single sign of any onion ever being there. Advice for this
year?
Kira

In article ,
Kira Dirlik !! wrote:
the walking rows in between. All the onions put up a few green
leaves and then died back. In the fall, digging in there, there was
nary a single sign of any onion ever being there. Advice for this
year?

As I understand it, the "long day" varieties of onions common up north
won't form bulbs this far south. There are "short day" varieties which
will form bulbs here. The short day varieties tend to be sweet onions
which aren't good keepers. There are also some "intermediate day"
varieties which may form bulbs and be good keepers around here, but
they tend to mature in June (same time as the short day varieties) so
it can be difficult to cure them properly.

--
Steve

Steve wrote:
In article ,
Kira Dirlik !! wrote:
the walking rows in between. All the onions put up a few green
leaves and then died back. In the fall, digging in there, there was
nary a single sign of any onion ever being there. Advice for this
year?

As I understand it, the "long day" varieties of onions common up north
won't form bulbs this far south. There are "short day" varieties which
will form bulbs here. The short day varieties tend to be sweet onions
which aren't good keepers. There are also some "intermediate day"
varieties which may form bulbs and be good keepers around here, but
they tend to mature in June (same time as the short day varieties) so
it can be difficult to cure them properly.

--
Steve

I don't know that much about bulbs but the green "leaves" which I harvested
was very aromatic - better than store bought :)

On 2005-03-10, Kira Dirlik !! wrote:
Last year for the first time, I tried planting a bag of red onion
bulbs. They were planted among the rows of peppers and eggplants,
which did well. So all these plants were mounded slightly higher than
the walking rows in between. All the onions put up a few green
leaves and then died back. In the fall, digging in there, there was
nary a single sign of any onion ever being there. Advice for this
year?
Kira

When did you plant the bulbs? If you planted them the same time as the
peppers and egg plants, then the problem is you planted them way too
late and the May heat got them.

You needed to plant onions back in mid-February. By may they will have
bolted and died back. Sounds like yours did not have enough growing
time to even bolt to seeds.

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.

Kira,

Another poster already covered the fact that you may have planted the onion
bulbs too late, and the heat got them.

However, were the bulbs nice & heavy? If not, they may have been stored
improperly, and there simply was not enough of the bulb left to sustain
growth.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh


"Kira Dirlik" !! wrote in message
...
Last year for the first time, I tried planting a bag of red onion
bulbs. They were planted among the rows of peppers and eggplants,
which did well. So all these plants were mounded slightly higher than
the walking rows in between. All the onions put up a few green
leaves and then died back. In the fall, digging in there, there was
nary a single sign of any onion ever being there. Advice for this
year?
Kira

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:50:20 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:

Kira,

Another poster already covered the fact that you may have planted the onion
bulbs too late, and the heat got them.

However, were the bulbs nice & heavy? If not, they may have been stored
improperly, and there simply was not enough of the bulb left to sustain
growth.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

They were nice and firm. Got them in bulk at Barnes Seed and Supply
in Durham, so I presume they were meant to grow here in this area.
But I probably did plant them too late. It must have been after April
15th last year, because the other plants were already in. Oh well,
NEXT year (since mid-Feb is long gone) ! Does the same advice go
for garlic? Never had success with that either.
Thanks.
Kira

Kira Dirlik wrote:
On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:50:20 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:


Does the same advice go
for garlic? Never had success with that either.

Ah, garlic! For that you plant even earlier! Plant in October for an
early summer harvest (depending on variety). The advantage there is
that you won't have all that much growing over the winter, but the
garlic will be establishing itself, growing roots, etc., and be ready to
bust forth as the weather warms. Depending how you set it out, you can
leave room for lettuce or beets or something to grow in the early spring
kind of interplanted among the garlic sprouts.

They say softnck garlic is better for the south, but I have had decent
luck with the hardneck varieties. Many of those do not keep all that
well, though. You have c. 250 varieties to choose from, so have fun!

On 2005-03-16, Kira Dirlik !! wrote:
On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:50:20 GMT, "Anne Lurie"
wrote:

Kira,

Another poster already covered the fact that you may have planted the onion
bulbs too late, and the heat got them.

However, were the bulbs nice & heavy? If not, they may have been stored
improperly, and there simply was not enough of the bulb left to sustain
growth.

Anne Lurie
NE Raleigh

They were nice and firm. Got them in bulk at Barnes Seed and Supply
in Durham, so I presume they were meant to grow here in this area.
But I probably did plant them too late. It must have been after April
15th last year, because the other plants were already in. Oh well,
NEXT year (since mid-Feb is long gone) ! Does the same advice go
for garlic? Never had success with that either.
Thanks.
Kira

I think so, but the only year I planted it we were so dry that may have
done it in. Never got a clove

--
Wes Dukes (wdukes.pobox@com) Swap the . and the @ to email me please.

is a garbage address.