Organic Farmer Network: Network Discussion Summary

Topic: Onion

Favorite onion varieties:

Ken says, “Anybody who hasn't tried Walla Wallas should do so.”
Cathy likes Walla Walla too.
Charlie likes Candy

Cathy wants to know about growing onions from seed and clipping the tops of the plants.

Nicolas responds: “I grow onions from seed. I started them in a cold frame in mid-November and just transplanted them out last week.(walla walla and red torpea. I did not trim the top, but I did trim the roots some. I also seeded yellow granex under the cold frame in early January and they are also ready for transplanting. On those I will trim the top and roots. Onions are easy to grow from seed as long as soil remains moist during germination.”

Ken responds: “ I sometimes clip tops and/ or roots, sometimes not, depends on how big they are. Walla Wallas have great potential here. We seed December or January and transplant. According to their hardiness rating, I believe we could put them in the field here in the fall. I haven't tried that yet. Some people direct seed Vidalia types in NC in October, but direct seeding onions without planning to use herbicides seems foolish to me here in Chickweed and Henbit world.”

Ellen responds: “we start seeds of Walla Walla and Copra (storage type) now [March] and transplant them out in a few weeks. We don't usually trim tops cause they're just barely big enough to plant by then. If you had large plants, trimming would probably be advisable (…the only reason to trim tops on any transplant is if you think that the top is out of balance with the root system, and will transpire water faster than the roots can uptake.) We then mulch the beds with leaves, and hope to only weed once. We sell the walla wallas by the each with green tops for as much as 1.50 each, with gleaming white juicy bulbs. The people just snap them up! The copras we dry and sell by the pound like regular onions without tops for $2.00 per pound. Still not sure they make money even at that price.”

Tim responds: “after trying several different planting styles the method of leaving the henbit growing with my red onion seeds/plants took a whole lot of faith in believing that it would die down and the onions would be ok. I put my seeds 10 inches apart in a furrow and cultivated 2X then let them alone. Oh the henbit sprouted up right after the onions were growing 2-4 inches tall.

I cultivated once then we had more rain on them. They grew great then the henbit took over. I was not concerned even though they over took the onions, covered them completely. it was what I expected. Then we had our ice storm of which the henbit worked as a great cover crop to insulate the onions from the cold. I did not use row covers on them. The onions survived and the henbit flowered, then died down. This week I cultivated the 2nd time so that the onions could get a nice soaking before I pull them up for transplanting on Friday. Some will be sold at the FM and a nursery. I think Ken you should consider doing separate areas and date when the henbit sprouts and when it flowers so you could get a better understanding of that great cover crop called henbit. The henbit really crowds out just about everything else, I work with and other weeds also. A hint is that it will flower right before the full moon and seed in after. This year I planted close to 1 lb of onion seed.”