I planted Copra onions last year from Dixondale and had beautiful globe shape onions averaging 9 ounces each (~3"), definitely the best of the seven varieties I planted. Although Copra is listed as a long day onion, my garden is in southwest Virginia, even further south than you. They do like a lot of water.

Dixondale says Copra are the longest storing sweet onion available (10-12 months). I still have a few dozen in my cellar now with no signs of sprouting. My second best onion was Candy, which were slightly larger and sweeter but only store about 3 months. I eat or freeze the Candy first, then switch over to the Copra.

TomNJ/VA

You are north of 38 degrees latitude so you should do well with most long day onions and don't necessarily need the intermediates unless you just like them, or want to get your crop in before the scorching heat hits.

Thanks folks for chiming in! Being located at 38 degrees N latitude, I was a bit nebulous about the correct day length..... I've started a long day, yellow (Patterson (F1) & an intermediate, red (Ruby Ring F1) Both long storage from Johhny's.......

I've struggled with growing larger bulbs, but I've done my research & came to realize the error of my ways..... Knowing onions were heavy feeders, Ive supplied what I thought was adequate N, turns out it wasn't.... Correct planting depth is also important....

Soil Ph is a bit high @ 7.1, as are P & K levels, but I'm taking steps to correct all these... Soil is amended with OM (chicken manure + compost bin). I should be growing onion the size of your head, given I've been doing this (wrong) for the bulk of my 60+ years....... Ahhhhh, the internet!

The size of my head? How much is "adequate N"? I grow nice onions but am always jealous when I go to the state fair and see all the 4H kids growing onions 3x the size I can.

While it is true that Candy is not a long storing onion, we are still eating them in February... They are about 6 months old, nearing the end.

You can push onions to get bigger by maxing out their water during periods of rapid growth, but when you want good storage onions this can be a big mistake.

I did well with Patterson and I'm at 37 degrees.

Candy has been a good grower for us, but have to agree that it hasn't been a long keeper. Harvested in the middle of July and they were on the way out in Dec. We did have an exceptionally wet growing season for them and did give them a healthy dose of N. Maybe the rapid growth lessened the storage time as planatus suggests. cugal, pH here is 7.3 - 7.4 and Candy didn't mind. Many were 4 - 4-1/2".

hortster

I am also at latitude 37 in Floyd, VA (hey Barbara!) and had good results with many long day varieties in 2013.

The largest was Ailsa Craig which averaged 14 oz. They were juicy & very sweet but only lasted a month or two after curing. Copra and Candy were consistent beautiful hard globes averaging 9 to 10 oz with Copra still storing well. Red Zeppelin was variable and late, averaging 8 oz. Some are still in storage but most didn't make it past 3 months.

The worst performers were Walla Walla, Yellow Spanish, and Big Daddy, all of which were very variable in size and many rotted during curing. They are not invited back.

All the shorter storage types were chopped or sliced and frozen in ziplock bags before they started sprouting.

For 2014 I'll be going organic and planting Copra (180), Candy (90), Ailsa Craig (45), and a new variety called Highlander (45). All are plants from Dixondale.

TomNJ/VA