onion blahs

[3forfree]

This is the result of planting 200 yellow and red onion sets. All were planted to the same depth, watered as needed (1in per week), and kept weed free. What happened?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I had quite a bit of rot in my onions this year, it was too wet and cold in the spring, first year I tried red onions and they were the first to rot, though I did get more than you did, my beds are raised.

 

[politicalcenter]

This is the result of planting 200 yellow and red onion sets. All were planted to the same depth, watered as needed (1in per week), and kept weed free. What happened?

There are basically two types of onions...long day and short day.

I do believe that in Michigan you need to go with a short day onion. A sweet Spanish would probably bulb up well.

We raise long day onions here in the deep south. A long day onion bulbs up during long summer days and puts on green during the shorter days. a short day onion is just the opposite.

But I may have them reversed...google onions recommended for your area. I know a Spanish or Walla Walla will not bulb up where I live.

 

[3forfree]

I get my onion plants and bulbs from a local nursery every year and have never had a good crop of onions. Usually the onions are small, once in awhile there will be a few about the size of a tennis ball, most end up being the size of your thumb. I tried to grow some in a raised bed this year and got the same result, I'm going to take those small onions and keep them over the winter and plant them next year just to see what will happen.

 

[Hholly]

Onions never grow for me either. There must be some ideal soil consistency needed.

 

[3forfree]

I don't know about that either, I made a new garden last year using the lasagna method, had 6.5ph, everything I planted, except the onions, did good. I'm amending the soil where I'm putting the onions next year with rabbit manure and compost, and letting it sit over the winter. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. I split some onion bulbs with a friend this year, and his onions are as big as softballs, he just plants his and keeps the weeds out. I do that and they don't grow. go figure.

 

[Hholly]

I think I may have heard that onions like some sand in the soil.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Onions are touchy about soil moisture, enough but not too much and temperatures, they do best in cooler weather, I get mine in early and harvest early, each years crop is dependent on the correct weather, as I said earlier it was a wet spring for us and the red one rotted, I usually just grow the yellow because they are good storage onions, I never fertilize beyond the application of composted manure in the fall and leaves and grass clippings, good amended soil that drains well.

 

[RobinAnn]

In Michigan you need long-day onions. Check out dixondalefarms.com for both education and growing stock. I only use their growing stock and have had wonderful success most years. I had a couple of bad years but it wasn't the onion's fault. One year we had a killer September hail-storm when all my onions were on the ground curing; another year I bought the wrong day-length onions for my area; and this year we had bad temperature. Other years, I got over 100 pounds of onions from two or three bunches.