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Post by templeton on Mar 10, 2012 19:33:14 GMT -5
Richard, when do you plant various daylength onions? Medbury is at 42S, a bit further south than Bendigo (36S) but it probably isn't way different.
As for the price of leeks, I sam smallish ones for A$2 each in my local supermarket last week. but bunches of 3 for A$3 at a greengrocer.
Pukekohe is the only onion I've ever fluked growing into real onions.
T
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Post by raymondo on Mar 10, 2012 20:09:34 GMT -5
Holly - how much do you sell a bundle of 4's for,my 13 year old son grows them and sells at my dads front gate in town for $3 per 10 Here you could sell them for twice that ($3/bundle of 5) and you'd still be way cheaper than any supermarket or greengrocer! When do you sow your onion seed Richard? |
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Post by richardw on Mar 10, 2012 21:37:31 GMT -5
i see what you fella's are talking about ,youre talking about leeks for eating aren't you,sorry,my young fella is growing them for replanting,by the time he gets them big enough its late spring and he sells them till about end of Feb,they sell well because people like a bigger plant unlike the tiny little leeks which garden centres sell.
I sow both the California red and Pukekohe long keeper at end of Aug in trays and plant out about end of Sep, California red are still growing in the garden now but will come out in about a month.
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Post by richardw on Mar 10, 2012 23:12:55 GMT -5
Even onions that have been used for a seed crop get eaten afterwards This Pukekohe long keeper that ive cut up for tea tonight was sown 18months ago,just a matter of cutting out the flower stem.  |
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Post by raymondo on Mar 11, 2012 4:16:57 GMT -5
i see what you fella's are talking about, youre talking about leeks for eating aren't you,sorry,my young fella is growing them for replanting... Ah, that's a good price then. Like buying a punnet only bigger plants. Nice idea. I sow both the California red and Pukekohe long keeper at end of Aug in trays and plant out about end of Sep... Thanks Richard. I might try sowing then too. I haven't had a whole lot of luck sowing them in March for May/June planting. |
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Post by richardw on Mar 11, 2012 14:11:38 GMT -5
There's no way that an onion would do ok here if i was to sow that time of year Ray
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Post by wmontanez on Mar 11, 2012 17:19:36 GMT -5
Well I also had 2 years in a row tiny onions, no problem with garlic or shallots. I tried all different seeds. This year I started early and I found this gal post, and probably follow her steps even thou I hate to fertilize beside compost. Got to get some fish emulsion for them forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/allium/msg0310064812977.html |
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James
grub
Greetings from Utah -- James
Posts: 93
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Post by James on Nov 2, 2012 0:35:04 GMT -5
Walla Walla doesn't seem to do well here. I think it may be a short day type?
Want large onions? Plant a variety called Big Daddy. They get to two pounds each. I get the plants in April from the local seed store.
Yellow Spanish does well here. I plant sets and prefer them to be no larger than marbles. Larger sets tend to bloom.
I have good success growing onions from seed for scallions. Yellow Spanish is good and also White Bunching Onion.
I usually plant a Red too. Don't have a definitive name handy. They do OK.
The white onions have not impressed me so I do not plant them any more.
Egyptian onions do well here and I like to plant the bulbils for scallions. They produce a crop quickly. I keep a parent bunch just to grow bulbils. The scallions sell well.
Now, about getting them large. Plant early. Here its Early April as soon as the ground gets dry enough to get on it. They require good fertile soil for good growth. In high and dry Utah they also require irrigation on a regular schedule. You must also find a variety that likes your soil and location. Get the correct day length types. I guess that's it from here.
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Post by ilex on Nov 2, 2012 3:53:07 GMT -5
And something very important, they don't like competition. Their root system is kind of weak.
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Post by richardw on Nov 2, 2012 13:45:50 GMT -5
A question i want to put to you guys - an old gardener said to me a few years ago 'add compost and sow you onions in the same ground every year' he reckoned that onions are one of the only vegetables that do better if grown in the same dirt year after year,so ive had my Egyptian walking onions in the same beds since he told me that and so far they are doing fine.
Anyone got any thoughts on this??
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 2, 2012 14:32:51 GMT -5
My Egyptian walking onions have been growing in the same bed for ten years. They do better in the spring and early summer than the ones which I grow as annuals: They come up earlier and more robustly. The onions grown as annuals eventually produce bigger plants and bulbs, but I attribute that to a difference in cultural practices. I weed and irrigate the annual crop, but the perennial crop competes with the grass and weeds, and gets whatever water it gets.
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James
grub
Greetings from Utah -- James
Posts: 93
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Post by James on Nov 2, 2012 21:37:41 GMT -5
Can't say much about keeping them in the same spot as I move mine around. I think the most important part of this observation is: "add compost". Onions require fertile soil to do well.
I, like joseph , keep a perennial Mother clump of Egyptian onions in the same spot for years. This clump is for producing bulbils that are grown annually. I think the annual onions are really the biggest once mature, and this is likely due to less crowding.
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