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Hi there,
I ordered and planted some potato onions last fall with my garlic and EWO's.
The garlic is up very nicely, and so are the EWO's. But there is not one spout from the potato onions. (about 2 dozen were planted)
I didn't dig around in the patch to see what became of the onion bulbs, but the top was not disturbed like it was dug into from the top, and they were planted in 6 inch high raised beds. . .. .
Are they slower to get started in the spring than those other fall planted items?
Ours come up at about the same time as garlic and grow about twice as fast thereafter.
Potato onions are usually much slower to emerge than garlic. With a mid October planting in Zone 5, even with the warm winter and a good mulch of shredded leaves, the potato onions showed very little growth until the warmth in March, while garlic showed greens in November and held well all winter. If you didn't have the "zombie weather" in March of 5 consecutive days in the 70's & 80's, give them a bit.
After emergence, put down a bit of a high nitrogen fertilizer such as a lawn fertilizer or a good organic source of nitrogen and watch the potato onions take off.
I just ordered some Potato Onions (aka Multiplier Onions) from Territorial Seed and am anxious to try them!
My onions just don't seem to get very big, whether I grow them from sets or from seedlings, so...hoping for the best!
I had always been concerned about a sustainable source for onions since we love them so much so I've cast a wide net...OP seeds, multiplier onions, and Egyptian walking onions (from christieacres, of course!).
Here's some info on potato/multiplier onions - which I'd never heard of until a few weeks ago: http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/potato-onions/
I took this picture to illustrate why one should not plant after imbibing, but it can serve a dual purpose. :mrgreen:
This is garlic and potato onions in February. Garlic is on the left and potato onions on the right. They both came up in November following an October planting and only grew a couple inches before picking up in February. The potato onions definitely grow more vigorously than garlic for us.
The potato onions are now about a foot tall, while garlic is about 8 inches.
http://moclipswa.com/images/crookedrows.jpg
haha awesome, Dis!
UPdate on the potato onions.
I have about 8-10 emerging now, after our 2 weeks of unseasonably warm weather. It's turned cold again now, so hopefully everything will slow down a bit. Garlic is approaching 10 inches tall!!
I'm picking up the rest of the ingredients for COF (complete organic fertilizer) from the feed store today or tomorrow when the chicks come in, so I'll mix up a batch and fertilize.
Once the wind stops blowing 40 miles an hour!!
:shock:
COF? CM, are you gardening using Solomon's book "Gardening When it Counts"?
I'm reading it for the second time right now and am anxious to try out his methods.
YES! Although I piece-mealed my way through it (topics I liked first) I have read it cover to cover, too. How are you liking it?Quote:
Originally Posted by bbkaren
Although I must warn you, he has some discrepancies between his book about COF, and what he says on the MotherEarthNews.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...ur-Garden.aspx
In the book, he says to use COF throughout the season to fertilize, and at the above website, he says absolutely DO NOT use COF to fertilize more than once a year. Just use a straight seedmeal or you risk overliming.
Nonetheless, I am making COF, sans dolomite lime, as it is proving impossible to find around here. Nobody has heard of it. Which is odd, because this area sits on a big strip of dolomite lime!
ETA: BTW, bbkaren, I am trying to grow onions for the same reason you are. I can't get them to grow bigger than a golfball! And we go through 3-5 big onions a week sometimes, so it is a key ingredient in our house. I am hedging my bets this year. I ordered onion plants, onion sets, and put in both walking onions and potato onions last fall. Surely out of those, *something* will grow! 8) We'll have to compare notes at the end of the season.
CM, thanks! Great info--
Well, potato onions are the perfect choice. They don't grow bigger than a golf ball (well, rarely), so you will never have to feel like you didn't grow them large enough. ;)
It takes 4-6 to equal a medium sweet onion. But, they store better than the best storage onions in my experience. We have planted the remainder of our pantry onions in October after harvesting them the previous July (15 months). They don't all make it that long, but most do.
For those having trouble growing good big onions, try some plants from www.dixondalefarms.com
They're expensive if you only order a couple/few bunches. I run around to my Amish neighbors and get orders, and we buy 2 cases or more every spring.
The WallaWallas get nice and big, and are SO deliciously sweet. The Copras don't get any bigger than a tennis ball, but store for 9 months! For BIG onions, grow Ailsa Craig or Big Daddy...
The secret to big onions is planting EARLY (cover if frost looms) and lots of compost or other balanced fertilizer. Water often, but don't drown. They are classic "heavy feeders"... need lots of food. The larger the tops grow before they start to change over to bulb producing, the bigger the bulb will be.
Oh, and make sure you grow the right variety for where you live!! Growing "short day" onions in the north will give you golf balls! Ditto "long day" in the south- they may never bulb at all.
I've grown onions from seeds and purchased sets, and I've grown my own sets once or twice, but I've never had better results than from purchased field grown plants.
Summerthyme
I don't really mind them small (except when I buy them as sets and they barely double in size! grr)...if they're sustainable.
Meaning, they're small but there's a ton of them, and I can use them to make a ton more.
It just irks me when there's a finite quantity, and they're tiny...and when they're gone, I have to go buy more at the store.
ST, I confess. I ordered some...I ordered the short day sampler (for TN). Like I didn't have my bases covered; now I guess we'll be overrun with onions. I say, "bring it on!" :)