general onion trouble

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by rokosz, Jan 15, 2017.

  1. rokosz

    rokosz Member

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    Location:
    Downstate NY
    I want to try onions (again). But I've had consistent trouble getting even an OK yield.
    Last year's attempt was Hybrid Copra (a 107d onion). If I plant in mid-March then I should be harvesting in late June yes? If I don't pull can I expect the plants to keep going until,say September?

    I ask because my onions, every year, all die/dry-off early July or so (long or short day) and the yield is not great (avg. size about a golf ball). If I miss a few at pulling -- they re-sprout in September.

    My "full sun" is not after, say July 15 (a nearby tree leafs in and as the sun declines day-by-day it spends a good part of the later morning behind that tree. So, their drying late June out doesn't seem to be sun/light related.

    That leaves really awful soil (but my garlic always does well)

    and water. I water, ok maybe not enough for robustness, but so little that the onions dry-off? An inch a week is the guideline right? I'm pretty sure I do that -- but the soil is never muddy -- in fact it might be drying out to fast? but I also mulch -- though my fingers stuck underneath don't come out muddy they aren't dusty either. Perhaps it drains way too fast? I'm going to add a pantload of peatmoss this year -- something to retain moisture longer or would you suggest something else?

    I'm zone 6A/B (downstate NY) the terrain is awful for gardening (rocky forest). I've got 2' deep raised/terraced beds. Lots o' compost, leaf litter, grass clippings, and I will fertilize with bone meal and/or miracle-gro but not overly often

    Why do these puppies dry-off without any quality production? I've also tried Stuttgarters. Any opinions? Ideas? Thanks!
     
  2. Durgan

    Durgan Contributor 10 Years

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    Location:
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    Onions are usually dead easy to grow. Reasonable soil, mulch carefully, remove weeds, roots of onions are shallow so do no disturb. Onions rise above the soil when growing- don't cover.
    Here is one of my small beds. I both grow from green seedlings and from bulbs. Never have failure in my Zone 5.
    http://durgan.org/2016/July%202016/29%20July%202016%20Vadalia%20Onions/HTML/ 29 July 2016 Vadalia Onions
    The Vidalia onions are large,still growing and appear to be perfect. None have been used yet.
    dsc_126229%20july%202016%20garden_std.jpg

    http://durgan.org/2016/August%202016/8%20August%202016%20Vidalia%20Onion/HTML/ 8 August 2016 Vidalia Onion
    My patch of Vidalia onions were harvested today. All the green part had fallen over and was soft. Nineteen pounds were obtained a total of 24 bulbs. The smallest was 298 grams and the largest 477 grams. I ate half an onion and the heat was barely perceptible, which was my aim in growing them.
    8%20august%202016%20vidalia%20onion0730_std.jpg
     
  3. rokosz

    rokosz Member

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    very nice vids. 19#/24bulbs? sheesh. My onions this year were attacked by mice/m/voles. Come out in the morning, notice a wilted top. Pull it and there's no bulb, spot a 1-2" wide hole nearby... One hole started a tunnel that ran the length of the row for 3 or 4 plants. Never found a bulb, and sometimes not even the tops (!!?). Finally fenced with plexiglass pushed into the ground an inch or two. That stopped the attacks but the damage was mostly done.
     
  4. headfullofbees

    headfullofbees New Member

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    Location:
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    It may be that your soil is too acidic for the onions to uptake nutrients.
    Add two/three handfuls of woodash p/sq/yd next Jan, to both sweeten the soil and to give your plants the potash they need to bulb up.
     

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