My red Stockon onions are perfect. The sweets I had in the same bed had a weird core (in another post)... but my Stuttgards... oh, so sad... The bed was about three feet from the stocktons, got watered regularly, and started to bolt. I pulled once they started to bolt, to prevent the earlier problem... but look what happened... The inside is brown and mushy...
I am at a loss... any ideas?
Hum??????? I'm curious too.
Stuttgarter is a long day storage onion. It is programmed to bulb in late June for August -September harvest. That does not work too well in southern climates. You photo is an excellent example of what happens when an onion bolts.
Farmerdill you have a plethora of information, thanks.
Farmerdill, any suggestions on what I should grow next year? I'm near the SF bay area... latitude is 38, (sunset at 9pm on 1st day of summer)
I HATE the idea of tossing 28 pounds of onions... grrrrr...
happygirl, I have no doubt F-dill can give you some great suggestions. He's the man!
You should also check out Dixondale Farms, one of the best and biggest suppliers of onion plants in the US. They have them grouped by what grows best in various areas of the Country. I've used them for years and have always been pleased with their plants.
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/
Shoe
Happygirl my knowledge of the San rancisco Bay is limited To Hunters Point. Treasure Island and Alameda. It was cold in July and warm in January. Certainly would now have to worry about heat in the summer and it did not get cold in winter. I was in the Navy at the time so I did not get a lot time to wander around the country side. I would think tho, that temp wise you could grow just about any type of onion you desire. Long day onions require the summer solstice daylenght to bulb. Short day onions only require 10-12 hours of daylight and begin bulbing in March when grown in the winter. At higher elevations long day onions grow in the south. They just cannot tolerate the temps normally found in the lowlands in June -July
I am 20 miles from the mild weather given by the bay breezes -- 40s in the winter and 100 in the summer. I will try short day onions next season! Thank you...
Here's part of my onions.They did fabulous this year. Some are bigger already than they were after all season last year. We started off cool & wet through May. They never laid over after planting, just stood there & grew. These came from Dixondale. We grow Super Star, Walla-Walla, Red Candy, Candy, Big Daddy & Red Zepplin.
So CountryGardens what do you do with all those onions?
I planted Texas Sweets very late this year. I had bought a set and then couldn't seem to get them in the ground. Finally around the middle to end of April I got them in. Typically the first of March in the best time. I planted them in a bed that gets shade after 2pm instead of my usual vegetable garden. They are doing well. I am so pleased. The reason some of the tops are falling over is damage from one of my dogs. Argghhhhh!
We sell at a Farmers Market. Today we had a ton of onions along. Market runs 8 to noon, we were out of onions by 10 AM.
I read in my Territorial Seed catalog that cutting off the bolting flower is a BIG mistake - water can get inside the onion and make it rot -- which is exactly what I did, and exactly what happened.
Note to self: short day varieties, types not prone to bolting, and if they DO bolt, then harvest them quickly: don't cut the flowers off!
Live and learn... I keep tellin' myself that! Live and learn.
