onions

[missyann]

I have always grown yellow onions. They are my favorite. My grandpa always planted the onions that are small and he would sprinkle on some salt and just eat them so. I can't recall the name of them right now. What are your favorite onions to grow?

 

[claudine]

My favorite is regular, yellow onion, it's the most popular variety in my area. I love it fried, it's so delicious! I always add it to scrambled eggs, it's a perfect combination

 

[justusforus]

I use the white onions exclusively since they are a little easier on the stomach.

 

[zigs]

I like the red salad onions, but I do grow the yellow ones for cooking too.

 

[headfullofbees]

I love my onions, and I particularly like them strong.
I sacrifice some size for strength and add a touch of sulphur to my onion patch.
I grow Red Baron for salads and Bedfordshire Champion for cooking,
I also grow leeks, chives, garlic and spring onions.
Love 'em. love 'em, love 'em.

 

[zigs]

They were talking about the spread of Leek Moths in the uk on the radio yesterday. Terry Walton suggested that we might need to grow Leeks under cover in future. Might have been what wiped mine out a couple of years ago, within a week they turned into a slimy mess

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/leek-moth-231878.pdf

 

[headfullofbees]

I grow brassicas near my leeks and onions (different spots each year) and tend to protect them from cabbage white butterflies with netting anyway, so they will be covered.

 

[Kansas Terri]

Home made onion rings are incredibly good. Nobody else in my family eats raw onions, not even on hamburgers, but EVERYBODY seems to love home made onion rings!

Every spring I have the option to plant onions that are labeled yellow, white, or red. In America the variety of the onion is not much talked about, unless it is the Vidalia onion which is famous for being mild.

The seed companies often list the names of the varieties, but I have never had much luck in growing onions from seeds and so each spring I head for the bins that are labeled "yellow", "white", and "red" to buy that years onion sets!

 

[zigs]

Home made onion rings are incredibly good. Nobody else in my family eats raw onions, not even on hamburgers, but EVERYBODY seems to love home made onion rings!

Every spring I have the option to plant onions that are labeled yellow, white, or red. In America the variety of the onion is not much talked about, unless it is the Vidalia onion which is famous for being mild.

The seed companies often list the names of the varieties, but I have never had much luck in growing onions from seeds and so each spring I head for the bins that are labeled "yellow", "white", and "red" to buy that years onion sets!

Try growing Kelsae Onions next year, you could get some great onion rings out of those, really nice taste too.

 

[Kansas Terri]

I have never heard of Kelsae onions, but I see that they are sold overseas. I might try ordering some and hoping that they are allowed into the country: I am not sure but I THINK that the larger seed companies are allowed to ship to the USA, as their stock is generally tested for disease. I think.

I do like the larger onions for cooking, and the sets that I plant tend to give me small onions instead of large ones. Vidalia onions are larger, I know, and I know that I can order those but they do badly in my area. Vidalia onions resent heat, and so they are grown in the winter in the warmer areas of the USA: I tried planting them once but they stopped growing as soon as the summer got warm!

I might try the Kelsae onions, though I am not yet ready to order next years seeds! I usually do that in the middle of winter when everything has died back! There is nothing like flipping through a seed catalogue when there is snow on the ground!

 

[zigs]

True, but we start the Kelsae off on Boxing day here, to give it a head start. There are other giant onions too, i'll have a look and get back, I know one of them is Mammoth something or other

Bound to be a variety on sale in the States somewhere.

 

[Kansas Terri]

True, but we start the Kelsae off on Boxing day here, to give it a head start. There are other giant onions too, i'll have a look and get back, I know one of them is Mammoth something or other

Yes, there are large onions in the USA, but they are not grown in my area. I expect that I am not the only person to have tried and failed with Vidalia onions! They did so poorly for me that I have been afraid to try anything other than the bins marked red, yellow, or white as at least in a good year they will grow to be medium sized!

 

[zigs]

Right then, we got Robinson's Giant, Ailsae and Mammoth Improved. The last one produces 8, 9 and even 10lb onions

 

[Kansas Terri]

Right then, we got Robinson's Giant, Ailsae and Mammoth Improved. The last one produces 8, 9 and even 10lb onions

WOW! I did not know that onions got that big!

If they get that large in your country they might give me half pounders? Maybe. There was a gent who used to sell onions in the farmer's market who could get them that big, though I have never seen anybody else who could!

If onions are started on Boxing day in your country, when are they set out? I suspect that we get a later spring than you do and so I should probably start the seeds later.

 

[zigs]

They don't mind a bit of frost so we harden them off for 2 weeks and plant out in March.

Soil preparation is vital when growing big onions though, lots of well rotted manure & compost, leafmold to retain moisture and firming the bed down before planting.