Long-day variety
There are different kinds of onions, such as short-day onions which grow best in the south and long-day onions which grow best in northern climates. Pick the correct variety for your garden.
Heirloom - Non-GMO
-
Large flattened globe with very thin, reddish-purple colored skin
- White flesh is very firm and tinged with pink or purple highlights
- Fine strong flavor, vigorous
- Harvest young plants for use as scallions
- Hardy to zones 3–9
Approximately 98-103 bulbs per pound
Our organically grown onion sets are US #1 grade, the best domestic quality.
Try to be careful about the fertilizers you use for onions. Onions tend to be more pungent when grown on soils with a high sulfur content. Choose a nitrate-based fertilizer over a sulfate-based fertilizer. Ask your local garden center expert for the right fertilizer. The fertilizer bag, even on all-purpose fertilizers, 12-24-12 for example, may indicate the components used to formulate the fertilizer.
Planting: For direct seeding, sow bunching onions at 24 seeds/foot and bulb onions at 12 seeds/foot, 1/4″ deep, rows 12-18″ apart. Thin bunching onions to every 1″ and bulb onions to every 4″. In short-season areas, for transplanting sow seeds indoors in flats in late February to mid-March. 2-3 seeds per cell and thin when 2″ tall. Tops may be clipped to 5″ tall. Transplant to the garden 1″ apart for bunching and 4″ apart for larger bulbs.
Care Tips/Maintenance
Onions may need lots of moisture at the beginning, but less when the bulbs are approaching full size. When the tops begin to fall over naturally, it's time to pull the onions up.
Harvest Instructions
Members of the onion family generally give a very obvious signal when they are ready to harvest. The tops fall over and the tips of the leaves start to turn brown. In addition, the bulbs are full size. Pull the onions, shake off any soil, but do not wash them or pull off any outside wrapper leaves.
Store them in a cool, dry, shaded area to cure for several days or up to 2 weeks if the weather is dry and not too hot. Then clip off the roots and tops leaving about one inch of the stem and brush off any remaining soil.
Storage Instructions
Store the onions in a very cool place (your basement or even an old refrigerator) trying to keep them between 35 and 55°F (1 and 12°C). The closer to 35 degrees the less chance the onions will sprout. Check your onions occasionally and use the ones showing signs of sprouting or softening right away. With good storage, your onion crop should last most of the winter.
