Thread: Fresh from the garden

[QUOTE=PawPaw "gene";2353086]The variety is Candy and I grow them in a garden that has been enriched with rabbit manure. The largest one measured 17.25 inches around.
"gene"
may need a golden onion award as well Randy

My little Patch is 40x80 . I didn't get it planted this spring. It was a new garden spot and I loaded it up with Chicken Manure From A Chicken house and Ashes from almost two cords of wood from the fireplace. I have an Impressive crop of Weeds and Polk Salad

Biggest onions I've ever seen. Great job !!!

PawPaw you think you could post here, or send a PM on how you grow them big onions from seed? I would like to try it!

Redge, I'll answer you tomorrow via PM unless others are interested.
"gene"

Thanks PPG!

Originally Posted by PawPaw "gene"

Redge, I'll answer you tomorrow via PM unless others are interested.
"gene"

Gene - I'm interested, as well.

OK let me take a stab at this. I will first direct you to a site with much info on onions, this will help you understand a lot about them. This is instruction on planting onions plants not the seed. I'll cover the seeds after.

Dixondale Farms, Onion Plants Since 1913 - Dixondale Farms Mailorder Onion Plants, Leek Transplants, and Gardening Supplies - We Know Onions!

There are several types or classes of onions and each one is specific to a different growing location. There are "short day", "intermediate-day", and "Long-day". I live in the deep south so I must grow short day, the further north you go you need either the intermediate-day or long-day onions. The following link has a map showing which you should plant in your area. There is some overlapping of areas and OK seems to fall in the short-day and intermediate-day areas. There are links on the side bar of this page which gives a little more detail also.

Dixondale Farms, Onion Plants Since 1913 - Onion Plants

You should take some time to cover all of the Dixondale site to get a full understanding of onions. It won't be time wasted. Dixondale doesn't sell seed they only sell plants which I've done in the past and they work out well.

By the way I have no affiliation with Dixondale, except being a customer.

The onions I have pictured are called "Candy". They are an intermediate-day onion and should also do good in OK but probably won't grow quite as large. I buy my seeds from Johnny's Seeds. Onion seeds don't keep but for one year so you need fresh seeds every year. Johnny's has always provided me with fresh seeds.

Candy (F1) - Johnny's Selected Seeds
Again, no affiliation to Johnny's.

My method.
Since I live so far south that we don't usually get any very hard freezes this works for me but the further north you go you will need to adjust timing to your needs. Check with you local state university for advice on planting dates. Most have a web site for just that sort of thing. Do a google search for OK planting dates. Here's one, but it's for plants. If you're growing from seeds you can start them in trays inside a green house or a sun room about 2 months before you plant them outdoors.

http://oklahoma4h.okstate.edu/aitc/l...gardenplan.pdf.

I begin to get a raised bed or row ready in late August or early September after the monsoon season . I'll till up the row well making several passes going as deep and my tiller allows. I then let it sit until weed and grass start showing up. I then till it again and repeat again. In the early part of October I run my wheel hoe with a shuffle blade through the bed to a dept of an inch. I just want to unroot the weeds and grass that are growing and not turn up any more seed from below. You can do the same with a regular hoe run just below the surface. I do this several time over the next weeks up to the time I plant the seeds. Somewhere in the middle to the end of October I plant my seeds. I just scatter them thickly over the bed, no need to make neat rows or worry about spacing. Just keep the ground moist so the seed can break the surface. Now forget about the seeds, it's time to get the beds or rows ready for planting. I till them deep and add rabbit manure to them. If you have good compost available this will help also. I will till again in a couple of weeks and again, the idea is to turn up up all the weed seeds you can and have them sprout and then cut them down. The last few weeks I only run my wheel hoe to get rid to the top weeds and not turn up any more seeds from the bottom. Weeds and onions don't do well together, in the early stages they rob the onions of nutrients, and in the later stages weeds block the sun needed to dry the bulbs and the ground. I prepare my beds according to the instructions on the Dixondale site. I pull and transplant my onions around the middle of January as the weather permits. The day I want to plant I pull my onions by the handful and trim the roots to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch and trim the tops to end up with a plant about 5 inches long. I plant my onions about 6 inches apart on a row planting at least two rows parallel about 12 inches apart. You need some room to use a small narrow hoe to keep the weeds down. Some people with plenty space plant only single rows to really make it easy to keep the weed down. The trick now is to keep them well watered, weed free, and fertilized.

It's really not much work just something you have to check on a couple times a week for water and weeds. If you don't let the weeds get a jump on you it will be easy.

I know this was long winded but that's growing onions Louisiana style.
"gene"