I believe it is ail as in sick and sa rhymes with huh.

ale (like the beer) suh

wiki

Here is a link that might be useful: Ailsa Craig

Thank you for taking time to respond. The thing about reading so much information is that you don't hear words spoken.

I have onion seedlings growing and am thinking about what to start next.

Cheers, Tim

LOL, glad you asked. I've been misreading it as ALISA Craig....and certainly had no idea it was a location and not a lady's name....much less a location supplying most of the material for curling stones!

One never knows what they will learn from their gardening :)

Ailsa Craig are huge, juicy and sweet onions that are a pleasure to grow. The only downside is they do not store long, so be sure to consume or freeze your crop within a month of harvest.

TomNJ/VA

I have had much better luck storing AC onions. If they mature in the garden (no early hard frosts, etc) and they are cured well, I have had them keep until April the next year.

I have started collecting seeds from some of the best keepers and will see if they can repro that trait.

Wow Steve, what is your secret? I cure mine on a covered porch for about a month, and some start to go by then. I then move them to my cellar and more will sprout or rot within the next month. Therefore I only grow a half row (45 onions) so I can consume them fairly quickly. Most of what I grow are Copra which store for many months.

TomNJ/VA

Tom. Not sure it's any secret, just a schedule which works for me in my area (around 40* latitude at 8300' elevation).

I start seeds indoors at the end of January (coming up in a week or so). Usually with temp controlled bottom heat. And they grow under lights for 6-8 weeks. Then I transplant them to a greenhouse where they are mover further apart, and grow under natural light, but with some heat control, for another 6-8 weeks. Until they are roughly wood pencil diameter. Sometimes bigger, depends upon the weather outside as to when they move to the garden. The tops are trimmed back when they move to the garden.

They grow outside, with irrigation when needed, for about 4-5 months or so, depending again on the weather. I try to harvest them before temps fall below 28F. If they are out in colder temps than that it does reduce their storage (outer shell or two will be frost damaged). Often I am harvesting them before the tops die back. I cure them under cover, in a barn (and a few times inside the house, until the tops are dried. Then they get stored in mesh bags in a makeshift root cellar.

Depending upon the growing season this usually yeilds bulbs of 4-6" or so in diameter weighing in the 3-5# range. Of course some years are better than others. Last year was a poor one; late spring, early fall, and a surprise 20F night that was supposed to up at 30F, so I am seeing some onions come out of storage where the outer layer or two needs to be discarded. But on better years, the onions remain in good shape until April to May.

Thanks Steve. I am in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia at 2,600' and latitude 37ð. Probably much warmer here than where you are as my tops die back in early August. I start with plants from Dixondale Farms and plant outside around April 1st with a good mulch of fine hay, left on all season. Curing is in warm weather on a covered porch for about 4 weeks, then down to my cellar. My ACE onions are very juicy, so maybe this is why they store so short. My Copra are drier and carry to spring, although I lose some before then. I'll have to experiment with different conditions to see if I can improve storage, but temperature is not much of an option.

TomNJ/VA