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Post by daylilydude on Feb 10, 2013 13:29:36 GMT -5
Got out there early this morning and got them planted in the garden and was wondering if anyone else has tried these? Good thing I got out there early as it is pouring rain like a cow peein on a flat rock right now...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Feb 10, 2013 18:36:44 GMT -5
Is that the same as Texas Early White? Texas Early White is a sweet, white, short-day onion I got from Dixondale this year.
Mine were planted in mid-December and are coming along. If the DTM Dixondale's site is right, they will be done about the end of March. So it's too soon to say how they will do.
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 3, 2013 19:19:20 GMT -5
I have one onion that has these flowers on them, will this be seeds?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2013 20:54:17 GMT -5
It's unlikely, but possible. The vast majority of onions have cytoplasmic male sterility bred into them, making them incapable of producing viable pollen, and therefore incapable of producing seeds. It's the hybrid seed producers' way of protecting their germplasm. Look closely at the anthers when the flowers open. If you see bright yellow pollen like my elephant garlic then you're in luck! If it looks like that, you've got live pollen, and any seeds you get will be valuable; fertile onion breeding stock is getting very hard to find. More likely though, the anthers will be brown and dead, if they're there at all. More like this: (pic borrowed from haveylab.hort.wisc.edu/images/onion_breeding.html) If it looks more like that you'll get no seed; just pull it and cook what's still edible. MB
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 7, 2013 5:46:22 GMT -5
Now all of my onion tops have laid down but are still green... do I pull these now or wait for the tops to brown?
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materman
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Post by materman on Jun 7, 2013 7:25:08 GMT -5
I see yours did like mine. A onion is a biannual and supposed to be replanted so as to go to seed the following year, but this year even my red candy onions went to seed the first year. It would have been better if you had cut the heads off so as to put the energy into the bulb but too late for that. They say to leave them in the ground for about 2 more weeks and then dig them. as well you will want to dig them on a sunny day and let them cure out in the sun before storage. Hope this helps, materman
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Post by gixxerific on Jun 8, 2013 7:19:43 GMT -5
Just remember that when an onion goes to seed it is more likely to rot faster in storage so if you can keep them separate and use first. Especially if you top the flower stalk. The Flower stalk goes right through the middle of the bulb, therefore making easy access for ugly's to get in.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 8, 2013 14:05:33 GMT -5
Hmm...wish I had read that a week ago. Oh, well. Guess there is nothing for it but to use all of my short-day onions fast, right?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 18:35:54 GMT -5
I've tried sets and plants, and nearly every one has gone to flower. So I did some research, which told me that's exactly what they're supposed to do. As biennials, they make a bulb the first season, then seed the second. Sets are bulbs (no matter how small), and plants sold in bunches usually have dried out roots, so they're essentially the same thing, so in either case you're planting second season biennials that are ready to make seed (or try to).
So.... join me in an experiment? Apparently Southerners like us are supposed to get the best results from short day onions grown from seed, sown in September, after the worst of the heat has passed but it's still warm out. I've got some yellow granex seed and am planning a raised bed full this fall.
For that matter, can anyone confirm or deny that seed grown onions do not go to flower?
MB
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 8, 2013 20:06:04 GMT -5
Got them pulled today...
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jun 8, 2013 21:46:39 GMT -5
I grew Yellow Granex from seed several years ago - had no flower stalks. But that's just my experience one year - don't take it as anything more than that. I've thought about doing them from seed again, but I don't really want to tie up the garden space that early. I can set out plants anywhere from November to early January.
With regard to the onion plants I set out this year, I have not seen any flower stalks on my intermediate day onions, and only 5 of 60+ short day onions made a flower stalk, so it was not a real problem for me this year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 8, 2013 22:14:43 GMT -5
Count yourself lucky. I can't remember exactly how many plants I set out last October/November, but at least 9 out of 10 made flower heads, just like the sets I've tried in previous years. That's why I decided to try seeds this fall. Glad to hear they worked well for you. I've got a bed full of garlic that will be ready in a month or so, which I can turn a couple inches of organic material into and leave empty until then. I've also got one full of sweet potatoes, which I usually dig in September, so the timing will work out OK for me.
MB
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materman
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Post by materman on Jun 8, 2013 22:35:12 GMT -5
Here in Missouri, we are in the line between long and short day onions. I like to plant Candy for I have had the best luck out of them. But I have never had them go to seed when using bought plants until this year. It was always a stray or two that didn't get dug that came back up the second year and went to seed. I think it was the year for me for even the walking onions and shallots acted strange this year.
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