Onion suggestion

9 years ago

I am thinking about buying onion transplants for next year if they are not too expensive, you get a ton of onions in a bunch so it is not too bad. I am in SE NY, so long day would be good. I got red onion set at home depot last year and they did terrible, they made tiny bulbs, and were probably in storage way too long.

I was thinking about Walla Walla, but it says they are extremely mild and that doesn't sound good to me, I'd like a mix of sweet and pungent, with large bulbs of course.

Any suggestions?

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Comments (8)

braeburn040
9 years ago
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Peter1142
Here is a picture of a Hendrix Onion that I grow from transplants, I buy the seed from (Stokes Seeds) and plant in flats Late March, Transplanting out in Mid May in our area zone 2b/3 for a late August harvest. I think you would like them, they are large, pungent, and store well into May.
This was my third season and I'm a believer! Another one that you may like is" Candy" larger with zing, they keep til Late January early Feb. They are listed as a sweet Spanish, but are more pungent than Walla Walla. Hope this info helps.
Chic. P.S the paper that it is on is 81/2x11" to give you an idea of size they average 3-4", I've had some up to 5"!
Peter1142
Original Author
9 years ago
Those sound great, but I didn't want to start a whole bunch of onions indoors... I was thinking of buying transplants from Dixondale. Anyone know anything about their yellow Spanish, or perhaps the red zeppelin? http://www.dixondalefarms.com/category/long_day_onions
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planatus
9 years ago
If it were me, I would try the long day sampler because varieties respond to weather conditions differently. Three varieties will tell you a lot about what your garden thinks of onions and vice versa.
Peter1142
Original Author
9 years ago
Maybe that's the best idea... thanks
makalu_gw
9 years ago
Red Zeppelin has always performed well for me (and stored longer than they say) and I'm probably 90 or so miles north of you. I'll also second growing Candy from Dixondale ... I know they say that they are day neutral but they've worked well in my 5b NY zone for a long time and they store very well.

Also, the red Cippolini from Dixondale give nice, 2+" or so onions if you want to try something a bit different. I have tried the Ringmaster many years ago but they were very, very mild so I prefer to go with Copra and sacrifice the size for the taste.
Peter1142
Original Author
9 years ago
The sampler pack, which has Walla Walla, Red Zeppelin, and Ringmaster (White Spanish), sounds great. I'm going to go for that I think. It's nice to have variety for eating anyway. I wouldn't mind throwing in a couple more varieties but it is what it is. Maybe I can see if I can spare some more space for onions, they are one of my favorite foods... what is a good spacing for bulbing onions, let's say in a wide row? Last year I got 70 onions in my set and I was throwing extra onions all over the garden, I think I will need at least 2 rows to fit 2 bunches....

Think I'll order a half bunch of the Lancelot Leeks too!

This post was edited by Peter1142 on Mon, Dec 1, 14 at 13:34
landscraper82
9 years ago
As long as you are ordering from Dixondale, you should definitely entertain the idea of trying out the ailsa craigs. In my opinion, by far one of the best onions out there!

And yes...definitely get the lancelot leeks...they are fantastic!
shuffles_gw
9 years ago
"what is a good spacing for bulbing onions, let's say in a wide row?"
I grow Texas Granex. I used to space them five inches. After cutting that to four inches, there are far fewer doubles. They turn out a little smaller but are still big. Granex doubles tend to rot quickly. This weekend, I planted a 30 foot wide row. That was about 250 or so pencil size onion plants, grown from seed this fall.