Onions are impossible?

[gunslingor]

Hey!

I'm in north Georgia 8a if global warming hasn't shifted anything.

It's mid February, am I late on onions?

My plan is to start seeds indoors this weekend, got pro grow lights. How long should I leave them on for?

I got long day and short, and I'm very confused by it, lol.

Some say to direct sow in October, others say February and plant outside in March. I'm just confused...

How can I grow onion from seed starting this weekend is my question, inside outside or both. Only interest in bulds really, I'm growing a pizza! Would like many onions, I failed last year.

 

[Meadowlark]

It's mid February, am I late on onions?

Yes, you should have started last fall.

My plan is to start seeds indoors this weekend, got pro grow lights. How long should I leave them on for?

Since you are late, give them all the light you can to get them as strong as you can as quick as you can and get them in the ground..

I got long day and short, and I'm very confused by it, lol.

You are in short day territory. Georgia is famous for the Vidalia onion which is a short-day onion that should be sown in the fall and harvested in the spring. Vidalias are good but not as good as our Texas Supersweet 1015 onions.

According to AI, "Onions are influenced by the number of daylight hours relative to darkness. This sensitivity to light determines when they start forming bulbs." Read up about it, and you will find it isn't that confusing.

Some say to direct sow in October, others say February and plant outside in March. I'm just confused...

The "some" that say sow in Oct. have it right...the others not so much. I've been growing onions successfully in zone 8 for decades and the direct seeding is best, followed by transplants, and last and least choice would be sets.

How can I grow onion from seed starting this weekend is my question, inside outside or both. Only interest in bulds really, I'm growing a pizza! Would like many onions, I failed last year.

You started too late for direct seeding. Many will bolt before making good bulbs and many others will be very small bulbs...but they still should taste good and make great pizza topping. Get 'em in the ground ASAP.

 

[Ruderunner]

Long day and short day always confuse me.

So short day is better in the southeast US? An area that gets more sun than the northeast US?

Seems backwards.

 

[Hdan]

I'm positioned in the long day length, latitude & onion bulb formation.

 

[Meadowlark]

So short day is better in the southeast US? An area that gets more sun than the northeast US?

Seems backwards.

Think of "land of the midnight sun" as in Alaska where they can have 24 hours a day of sunlight at times. That is long days.

" The differences between long day and short day onions are:

• Short day onions need 10-12 hour days to form a bulb, while long day onions need 14-16 hour days.
• Short day onions tend to be juicier, sweeter, and less pungent than long day onions, but they also have shorter storage life.
• Short day onions are suitable for growing in the south (Zones 7-10), while long day onions are suitable for growing in the north (Zones 1-6)."

 

[Hdan]

Think of "land of the midnight sun" as in Alaska where they can have 24 hours a day of sunlight at times. That is long days.

" The differences between long day and short day onions are:

• Short day onions need 10-12 hour days to form a bulb, while long day onions need 14-16 hour days.
• Short day onions tend to be juicier, sweeter, and less pungent than long day onions, but they also have shorter storage life.
• Short day onions are suitable for growing in the south (Zones 7-10), while long day onions are suitable for growing in the north (Zones 1-6)."

 

[YumYum]

Long day and short day always confuse me.

So short day is better in the southeast US? An area that gets more sun than the northeast US?

Seems backwards.

In the north like Kent Washington, the daylight is longer than in the south, like Atlanta GA in Summer time. That is why the north is called long day onions and the south is short day onions. In between is intermediate type onions. The wrong type onion wont bulb although it will still grow and bloom.

Also that is why they can grow such big cabbage in Alaska, because the days are longer in the Summer than down here in the lower states even though they dont have as many warm days.

 

[gunslingor]

Yes, you should have started last fall.


Since you are late, give them all the light you can to get them as strong as you can as quick as you can and get them in the ground..


You are in short day territory. Georgia is famous for the Vidalia onion which is a short-day onion that should be sown in the fall and harvested in the spring. Vidalias are good but not as good as our Texas Supersweet 1015 onions.

According to AI, "Onions are influenced by the number of daylight hours relative to darkness. This sensitivity to light determines when they start forming bulbs." Read up about it, and you will find it isn't that confusing.


The "some" that say sow in Oct. have it right...the others not so much. I've been growing onions successfully in zone 8 for decades and the direct seeding is best, followed by transplants, and last and least choice would be sets.


You started too late for direct seeding. Many will bolt before making good bulbs and many others will be very small bulbs...but they still should taste good and make great pizza topping. Get 'em in the ground ASAP.

So you think I should go onion sets? Plant directly outside immediately?

 

[gunslingor]

Oooh, I think I get it... a range 10-12 vs 14-16... no overlap there... basically what that means is if you gave an onion 13 hours, 0-9 hours or 17-24 it is impossible to buld. I was thinking differently, like short should be a subtype of long, lol.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Long day and short day always confuse me.

So short day is better in the southeast US? An area that gets more sun than the northeast US?

Seems backwards.

Also think temperature. Onion is a cooler weather, summer retreating plant like a grass called fescue. Many rural southern lawns have a wild form of onion that shows up best across winter month although they are growing in the shade of a thicker lawn in summer

 

[Meadowlark]

So you think I should go onion sets? Plant directly outside immediately?

I would at this point rather than seeds which will take days to germinate and get started. Even better would be to find some live plants. Your local feed store probably still has some...they come in bunches of about 70 small onions per.

 

[Meadowlark]

By the way, if you do find and go with plants, soak he roots in water overnight before planting them. You'll thank me later

 

[Mr_Yan]

So not to pile on the point but oh well, here goes. A few years ago I was on a forum with a bunch of Texans when I was near Chicago so I looked up the day light differences.

At the summer solstice Chicago IL was getting slightly over 2 hours more sun light per day than Houston TX. But that flips for the winter. On Christmas Houston TX has about 1 hour 6 minutes more daylight per day than Chicago.

 

[Ruderunner]

I didn't think the earth's axis would tilt that far, interesting.

But this seems to lead to short day onions being fairly happy to grow in most areas (until it gets too warm) and long day desiring more polar climates.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I didn't think the earth's axis would tilt that far, interesting.

I guess the weird one for you but I always thought was normal... I have direct sun coming in the north facing windows during summer near both sunrise and sunset.