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Post by philagardener on Jul 14, 2017 16:56:24 GMT -5
I let mine dry on the bulbs and then trim, but haven't compared the approaches. (My gut feeling is it might affect storage longevity.)
Glad it sounds like you had a great season with these!
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Post by reed on Jul 14, 2017 17:07:52 GMT -5
I think it might be better to keep the leaves till they are completely brown. Otherwise you are cutting live tissue that is connected to other live tissue and maybe inviting various infections? If you wait till completely dry all your doing is removing the dead part and not leaving an open wound. Just a guess though, I don't really know.
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Post by steev on Jul 14, 2017 19:01:09 GMT -5
I'm convinced that as the leaves dry, any resources in them are taken into the bulbs; I've never heard of any natural system in which amputation of deciduous parts strengthens the storage/regenerative parts. Pretty sure Allium braids weren't invented as decorative items.
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Post by philagardener on Jul 14, 2017 20:49:02 GMT -5
I like to leave potato onions and shallots in the ground to cure as long as no rain is in the forecast, I seem to get better storage as a result. Risky though because if I do not dig them up and they get rained on they might start to sprout. In our clay soil a few days of rain is all it takes for everything to rot, so that's the key thing for me. I now take them up as soon as the tops fall over and the outermost leaves start to die back. |
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Post by steev on Jul 14, 2017 22:01:12 GMT -5
Lifting them makes sense; cutting off un-dried tops does not.
Germane, this, but off-target: I often argue with clients who want to cut off, or knot, the foliage of their Narcissus, thinking "it looks messy"; it's very hard to convey the idea that they are impoverishing the bulbs they hope will re-bloom. People so often have issues with "appearance", as opposed to "useful to purpose".
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Post by davidp on Jul 15, 2017 21:13:13 GMT -5
I am curious, I have no opinion either way but I am just wondering why you want to speed up the drying/curing process? What is the benefit? Well, truth be known, it's because I live in an area with extremely high humidity. What happens with all my alliums is that the constant, unrelenting humidity during the summer drying out process causes mold growth. This effects garlic, onions, shallots, etc., and any other alliums that one tries to dry out. So, I'm left with decisions about how to shorten the drying out process to eliminate the mold growth due to excessive humidity over an extended period of time. |
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Post by davidp on Jul 15, 2017 21:19:57 GMT -5
I am curious, I have no opinion either way but I am just wondering why you want to speed up the drying/curing process? What is the benefit? Well, truth be known, it's because I live in an area with extremely high humidity. What happens with all my alliums is that the constant, unrelenting humidity during the summer drying out process causes mold growth. This effects garlic, onions, shallots, etc., and any other alliums that one tries to dry out. So, I'm left with decisions about how to shorten the drying out process to eliminate the mold growth due to excessive humidity over an extended period of time. By the way, I am starting my harvest of TPOS right now. See below.    |
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Post by davidp on Jul 15, 2017 21:29:47 GMT -5
As you can see from the above photos,
The amazing diversity of colors from true seed
is over the top.
The gradation of colors is phenomenal.
And these photos are only about a third of what I've harvested so far.
I am going to have a simply great time planting these out over the fall
and spring of next year, and seeing what comes forth, and selecting
out for new strains of breeding linesl
So much fun!
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Post by kazedwards on Jul 15, 2017 21:52:56 GMT -5
Wow! Looks great. Wish I had better luck with onions. Biggest I can seem to grow is the size of a quarter.
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Post by philagardener on Jul 16, 2017 6:29:03 GMT -5
Fabulous crop. It is nice that many seem to have grown as sizeable rounds instead of splitting the first year. KellyW found something similar when starting from seed; in my garden they never get that large. Glad you hit the right combination of soil and climate for them!
Are you growing in a short/intermediate/long day onion range? Near Philly, I'm in the long day zone, and I've wondered if that has some bearing on it.
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Post by davidp on Jul 16, 2017 12:18:28 GMT -5
Fabulous crop. It is nice that many seem to have grown as sizeable rounds instead of splitting the first year. KellyW found something similar when starting from seed; in my garden they never get that large. Glad you hit the right combination of soil and climate for them! Are you growing in a short/intermediate/long day onion range? Near Philly, I'm in the long day zone, and I've wondered if that has some bearing on it. I'm north of you, on Cape Cod, so, long-day territory for sure. However, there are a couple other factors which come into play here that I believe have contributed to this successful harvest. First, soil. Cape Cod happens to be great for growing alliums because, below the topsoil, it is all sand down to the water table. Which makes for great drainage, which alliums love. Second however, it also means close attention to irrigation, because rain/watering doesn't stay around for very long, and the soil dries out quickly. So, while alliums love well-drained soil, they suffer from dryness, and, except for the last couple weeks before harvest, do want water regularly throughout the growth cycle. And, this spring/summer on the cape is chasing the record books for the wettest ever, and I've been blessed with not having to irrigate much at all. Third, I've been gardening these particular beds for the past 6 years, and they have been heavily composted/amended throughout, so above all that sand, the soil is pretty healthy. But also, for all my alliums, I use a combination of organic amendments which go into every hole at time of planting bulbs or seedlings. Plus, I'm side-dressing them again with one of the amendments in April. Plus I'm hitting them with an organic liquid spray fertilizer every 3 or 4 weeks March through June. So, these babies have been pretty well coddled, and they've responded in kind. |
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Post by steev on Jul 16, 2017 19:47:24 GMT -5
You do have a lovely brood of "babies"; have you an "attic" space that might get warm enough to help with the humidity problem?
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Post by reed on Jul 17, 2017 5:46:27 GMT -5
I went out and pulled my TPOS plants. I don't have nearly as many, only around fifty or so but also got lots of diversity. Mostly whites but also two or three shades of red, one is a pretty maroon color. Only one yellow one and I have to stretch the definition of yellow for that. Some made just a single round onion and lots divided into two or three, some especially the red ones are quite large. I put mine on the floor in the spare room upstairs with a small fan blowing to dry off the initial dampness and will be replanting most all of them later this fall.
Is it better to wait to divide them after they have dried down some?
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Post by davidp on Jul 18, 2017 20:45:13 GMT -5
davidp - very nice collection you have their, amazing diversity. Thanks for posting pics. " Is it better to wait to divide them after they have dried down some? " - I don't know the answer to that but I break them apart once they are cured, mainly just to get any dirt or debris out from between them before they go into long term storage. If they are clean I don't bother breaking them apart. At that time is also when I cut off the dried leaves and do a final quality inspection to remove any damaged or soft bulbs. I separate the large bulbs from the clusters of little seed bulbs, I don't split those little seed bulb clusters apart until planting time. My old strain of YPOs consistently keep well over a year, my personal record for storage for viable, edible bulbs is almost two years. My Dutch red shallots only keep up to a year at most. My strains of KYGM are all over the map, sometimes poor storage, sometimes excellent storage. Doesn't matter to me as long as they keep to spring planting time (I do both fall and spring planting of POs and shallots). Update: My transplants from TPOS are doing fantastic, plants from spring direct sown seed ranging poor to good. The transplants are bulbing, leaves are tall and healthy and are very blue gray in color with a few plants having obviously different smaller and more green leaves. Forecast here today is 92 degrees F at 77 percent humidity. Yuck. Talk about humidity issues curing garlic/alliums.  Well, I have tons to say shortly about TPOS results. Yes, indeed that I do. There is a LOT of erroneous info going on out there about this project that I want to set straight, much B.S. that needs to be corrected. But . . I'm almost through my harvest, and I could not be happier . . . I am totally thrilled with my results this year. Hundreds and hundreds of viable TPOS bulbs, healthy and big, have come from planted seedlings this year. Plus, numerous bulbs planted last October have gone to flowering and tons of swelled ovaries speak of many seeds to hopefully come. Many crosses between Green Mountain, Coral Mountain, Dakota Red and Pikant Shallot speak ofok 9 magical offspring to come. Rest for now, dear ones. Here are the bulk of my babies for now.  |
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Post by steev on Jul 18, 2017 21:10:02 GMT -5
You are blessed; such abundant good fortune.
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