Ordered my Onion Plants!!

Gardening from afar, chuckle. You aren't late to set stuff out, Spring is being iffy and the time is just now coming on right, it's the equinox thing...Houston is a month ahead of most of Texas... maybe not of Brownsville and McAllen, but definitely of DFW, I have to thank my daughters hard work...she's fretting where I am gonna have room for peppers, maters and eggplants,and basil, and doesn't have a clue there are beans, hyacinth vine and sunflowers going in when next I am home...hehehe...plans to use a hugelkelter type design on those things to reduce her watering interfering with her hectic day job. I wish daddy would sent me the pic of him he posted to Facebook from last summer. His raised bed looks like it belongs in the tropics...complete with orange tree.

Well,
At least 4 of us here put in tomatoes this weekend, under hoop protection. We're having low 40s- high 30s every night this week, starting tomorrow. Plastic sheeting, and old sheets.

We usually have just a couple hours in the wee hours of the morning...

Kev,
Post a pic of the "Brown Boxers" please!

My maters are protected inside my house under the lights. :)

LOL! Uh, I caught that!

It's so windy here I can't imagine anything staying on the plants to protect them. Plastic would rip, this wind is crazy.

For once, my lack of direction is playing in my favor.

The tomato bed I planted runs north/south against the west fence. The wind is blowing straight through the tunnel! The plastic is perforated, so the winds will help control any detrimental heat buildup, so the plants won't fry. And, the most wonderful part is the soil soaking up all this gorgeous sunshine will be warm tonight.

I'll close up the ends later...

Santa Ana winds in Tejas- they blow hard and bring the rains, then disappeear. chuckl. Wind as well as dunshine are 2 good reasons to run your rows n/s. picket fences were once very popular for wind break devices...

That is exactly what I was thinking! I have lived here for 20 yrs and I know it gets windy but it has never been this windy. I was walking into a store and for a second I really thought I was back in the San Fernando Valley, CA. Stuff was flying everywhere and an 18 wheeler had flipped on it's side made me think of the Grapevine.

We had some really strong winds on Sunday, blowing from the east as well. The wind took a few of my 4" pots and couldn't believe how far they had traveled when I finally found them.

What type/brand of perforated plastic are you using? Where do you get it? It takes a long time for our nights to get warm. Maybe that would help.

TLeaves,
It's called thermal something or other. Basically perforated, clear plastic sheeting, from Territorial Seed Company.

6'x50' with shipping ran $25.

Dixondale is a great source of onions, I have been buying from them for years. I gave some to my farmer neighbor and the Candy from Dixondale was the best they had ever grown. The Candy and 1015Y did real well last year, and I am trying the Texas Legend this year.

My onions are doing just great. I planted Texas Legend and Hybrid Southern Belle Red on 01/13. The first pic are the onions in the ground in a 4x8 bed. The 2nd shows the onions in the 2 earthboxes.
Jo-Ann

Oh, those do look good. I took photos of mine (finally remembered) and now I can't find the cord thingy that connects my camera to the cpu. Sigh! I need to get my act together.....

Those ARE really nice. I don't think I'm going to get a good production from the seeds I started back in August. This year, I may go back to Dixondale -- or not!!

Congrats!

I have onion seed left over from last year (they didn't do so well for me from seed), and now you guys are making me want to try again. Thanks a lot. :)

Onion seed don't stay viable from one year to the next. They may not grow.

Thanks, CG.

Today, I stop at the community garden in Farmer Branch. It was beautiful.
One garden got my attention and the owner was there so I asked a few questions.
He already had huge onions. He transplanted them in mid November.
He said that he always does that. Only if our winter is really cold the onions will dye (like during the Superbowl freeze of 2 years ago) otherwise they are just fine.
I will try to plant some onion this year in mid November too.

I usually plant mine on New Years Day. They do get much bigger. I couldn't get my onions starts from Dixondale that early this year. So now I'm considering starting some of my own transplants this August. This way I would not have to depend on someone else's crops or time schedule.

Terri,
That's exactly why I started my own seeds! I sowed them outside in a community flat in mid-August, and they took a FULL 12 weeks to get as thick as the ones I get from Dixondale. They withstood the cold and rain just fine. In fact, I think our warm winter didn't add a thing to their growth. They actually NEED the cooler/colder weather to develop properly. I think our warm winter may have stunted them a bit.

I transplanted them into my Earthboxes on January 8th or so., and they're just now beginning to bulb up. I've side-dressed them twice with Aluminum Sulfate (high Nitrogen), to increase the leaf growth, and, they're coming along. But, I think they really needed more cold than we've had this winter.

My first season with Dixondale, I planted the transplants on January 8th, and was harvesting tennis ball size onions from late June through August.

I'm hoping these catch up and start to take off in a hurry. Not sure they will...

This warm winter has messed up a lot of schedules...

Linda

Linda, this last front through here really benefitted HD & Lowe's fairly well. A lot of people weren't expecting the record lows we had Wed. & Thur... I'm wondering how the onions will do in Florida, with the warm winter weather. I guess it will have to be from seed, since no one has onions ready to go as early as Oct./Nov.... What kind of flat were you using to start them??

Kev,
Remember those drawers I found and painted? Well, two of them were very deep.

Also, I'm using plastic baby spinach container from Sam's Club. I burned holes in the bottom...

Kev,
Remember those drawers I found and painted? Well, two of them were very deep.

Also, I'm using those deep, plastic baby spinach containers from Sam's Club. I burned holes in the bottom...

Okay, but how many onions could you put in each of those drawers, they weren't all that big?

I only sowed the seeds in those two deep drawers. Must've had at least 40-60 seedlings in each drawer. I just waited too long to transplant them to the EBs after the 12 weeks of initial growth. I'm sure there was a reason I was waiting, but can't remember what!

My onion plants are starting to BULB!! The Texas Legends are really growing and you can see the bulbs starting. The Southern Belle Red are a little behind but are coming along just fine. The ones I planted in earthboxes are not going as well. I think the wind really did a job on them

My little chickies are growing big also!

Jo-Ann

Jo-Ann,
Congratulations! Your onions are looking very good.

I spent time this weekend repositioning mine so they'd stand upright. Too many were tipped over. I was afraid the spot on the soil would start to rot if I didn't lift them up.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my first-time effort growing them from seeds. It's taken a LONG time, but, worth it to say I grew my own!

Linda

Jo-Ann, I think my onions are about two the three weeks behind yours. I need to get in there and fertilize one more time before they start to bulb. And you chickies look good too. I'm down to thee after five years. They just started getting old and dying (the extreme temps of the last couple of years got a couple, too), although the three I have left and still layer well and look to be going strong! Sigh, time to starting thinking of getting a few more....

terri, I had 8 RIRs previously, but they were getting old & I was down to 2-3 eggs per day. And they were still eating just as much! Since I live in the city, and have limited space, I couldn't keep them. Those chickens are for eggs - not as pets. They went to a friend who has the room to keep them. These were replaced with my current 8. This time, instead of getting all the same breed, I mixed them up - 2 each of RIRs, barred rocks, black production & easter eggers.

One thing I realized very quickly - store bought eggs are nasty!! We just couldn't eat them. Now, I have to get a dozen at the farmers market each week. We've grown accustomed to eating a lot of eggs and a dozen per week will barely make it.
Jo-Ann

was always fond of the orpingtons and new hampshire reds, as well as the aracauna and dominickers... am avoiding looking at chick babies... too tempting.

straying from topic....Annette and kittriana, I've kind of been looking at Black Giants or Black Sex Links. I like the larger sized hens that lay brown eggs. I have Buff Brahmas and really like those, but thought I'd try something different next time. We like the personalities as much as the eggs and DH likes to sit out by the coop of a warm summer evening, with a glass of wine or beer, and just let them entertain him with their quirkyness. I like the larger varieties as we also have peacocks. They need to hold their own with the female peacocks as my three peacock girls can get a little snotty at times. I'm kind of tempted to try a mix of pullets with a couple of Dixie Rainbows pullets. They look kind of cool and are bred for our climate....I just seem to be drawn to the larger sized breeds. I'll have to look at New Hapshire Reds. I saw them on the available list....

You want a large impressive chicken? find the White Langshans. so dignified, big as a peacock at least.

My onions are looking pretty good, not bulbing yet, but they shouldn't be for another few weeks. I do need to cultivate and pull some weeds. I have an abundance of the plant with tiny purple flowers-- I think it's called 'hen-bit'. Maybe I can borrow someone's chickens to do some weeding!

David

Henbit, wild verbena, means hens bane. will kill a chicken.

My chickens pull up the onions too.

I have just got to brag about how good my onions are looking. My Texas Legends are really bulking up, with the largest ones being about 11" around. They look like they still have a few weeks to go before it's time to pull them. The Belle Reds are finally starting to bulb. While I don't think they'll be as big as the Texas Legends, they will be a respectable size. Of course, I've had to sample both of the already and they are delicious!!
Jo-Ann

My plants arrived Wed. Will start planting tomorrow. 8 cases.

Lookin' good JoAnn!! My Texas Legends aren't as impressive.