Growing ONIONS: Lessons I learned the HARD way, so YOU DON'T HAVE TO!

[@lenaf7758]

This video is inspiring me to try onions next season! I have a shady garden so maybe I'll try short day

[@GreenLove1]

@@lenaf7758 that's awesome, so glad you are going to try! The variety you choose actually depends on the latitude you live in, not the amount of shade. You can search for "Onion plant day-length guide site:dixondalefarms.com" on the Internet and it will help you find which varieties you should be growing! Good luck!!

[@ladybugsarah6671]

I have also bought onion starts from Dixondale for 2 years and am in the intermediate area like you are. First year bought Candy and followed the directions dixondale gives. Lots of fertilizer in a trench next to the row of onions and lots of water. Applying fertilizer as the season goes on. That year was very good. My first time. This year I tried the Sampler Intremediate. Never again. It has 3 types they are not separated. Red Candy was tiny, smaller than golf ball. Not sure why, maybe someone would know why red onions are different to grow. Super stars weren't super. I'm staying with Candy from now on, if I don't succeed starting from seed next season. And the Candy lasted longer than just a few months. Still had some in April not many went bad. Maybe would have lasted longer, but I ate them. I did have them in the fridge in the last months though. I was very happy. My opinion on the planter onions is they need alot of water. The planter probably drains too quickly. I grow mine in a kiddie pool. They don't need deep ground. Roots grow shallow. I love growing onions. Easy to grow, not much maintenance and I eat alot of them. Happy growing. 🐞

[@GreenLove1]

@@ladybugsarah6671 very interesting. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm going to have buy and try Candy, I love the sweet onions anyway! Interesting that you did not have a good experience with the intermediate. I'm actually going to try short day onions this next season. Maybe I'll try the multi-pack and see! 🤞

[@MatthewCherian]

I am inspired to try onions in my new garden. Can you share your easiest to grow varieties for Zone 9b? I'm also debating seeds vs starts vs sets in 9b.

[@GreenLove1]

@@MatthewCherian if it's your first time, I recommend starts (not sets, they tend to have a high percentage that go to seed quickly). I have grown from seed as well, but as I said in the video, it can be a bit challenging. Some of my favorites are Texas Grano, Granex, and Candy, which are all short day. If you are buying starts, Dixondale Farms has a mix of different onions to try in a pack, check it out. Good luck growing this fun vegetable!

[@trobinson89]

I speculate that the onions in the bus tray grew differently than the ones in the raised bed planter because they are a different variety. Even though both were long day, perhaps the variety made the difference!

[@GreenLove1]

Most certainly, that is a probability...and very observant of you to notice that. But what I did not mention is that I also planted the bustray variety(Ailsa Craig) in another planter next to the in one in the video - they grew absolutely miserably. I had harvested them all the prior week, since we needed to use some for eating! So I don't think variety is the only reason. But certainly one of them!

[@trobinson89]

Oh, I completely missed that detail! That is very interesting. Now I'm wondering what caused it as well. 🤔 Perhaps exposure to sunlight? I'm not sure if they both had the same exposure to the light. I'm appreciative that you did this experiment, though. It's nice of you to test out these theories so that your viewers don't have to. 🙂

[@GreenLove1]

@trobinson89 I was thinking about the sunlight as well, the two planters are about 20 ft away from each other. Or it could be that I focused more on ensuring the container was properly watered? There are so many possible factors! But this is not the first time that I had smaller containers do much better. Last year, the onions I planted in flower/window boxes did better than the larger planters. 🤔 Thanks for sharing your thoughts, super helpful!

[@trobinson89]

You're welcome! I think I may try to grow some in a smaller container this coming fall. It's worth the experiment. Have a wonderful day!

[@gothic_oma]

Very interesting!