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Post by paquebot on Jul 17, 2020 7:30:43 GMT -5
You can see what I am saying about leaves not being straight/ Regular onion seedlings would be standing up. These come up in all directions and don't straighten until probably 6" or so. They also are prone to variances when planted back.
This is going to be my best year since probably 2006 when I planted into almost pure compost. Then I had some 2" x 5" bulbs. Still growing this year and there are some 2" shoulders showing. That's because of being very happy. I had loaded the bed with horse manure and my son decided to add a wheelbarrow load from the pigeon lofts. They are gobbling up that extra nitrogen like children in a candy store.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Jul 17, 2020 14:04:27 GMT -5
You can see what I am saying about leaves not being straight/ Regular onion seedlings would be standing up. These come up in all directions and don't straighten until probably 6" or so. They also are prone to variances when planted back. To be honest, I don't see any difference in the growth from regular onion seeds yet. I guess I'll have to pay closer attention the next time I start seedlings. This is going to be my best year since probably 2006 when I planted into almost pure compost. Then I had some 2" x 5" bulbs. Still growing this year and there are some 2" shoulders showing. That's because of being very happy. I had loaded the bed with horse manure and my son decided to add a wheelbarrow load from the pigeon lofts. They are gobbling up that extra nitrogen like children in a candy store. Would love to see some pictures.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 17, 2020 20:27:50 GMT -5
Just need another camera. Previous vanished 2½ years ago somewhere between hospital and rehab.
The bottle onion leaves grow straight for so long and begin to arch. Not so obvious in the seedlings but can become a tangle when mature. How to describe it? When a regular onion is growing, the leaves are lined up opposite each other. If there are 10 leaves such as most of the Patterson have, there are 5 on opposite sides. Bottle onion will have 4 or 5 and all going in different directions from a single axis. They definitely are different!
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 18, 2020 8:48:38 GMT -5
I'm going to have some bigger sets than last year. Normally do not see more than 2 leaves on a seedling. I note a lot of them with 3 today. Should not cause sets to be too big but a chance for a larger mature bulb. Always a learning process with these.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 19, 2020 11:42:21 GMT -5
For set production, growth is fast and short-lived. In just the past couple days the tips of the leaves have begun drying. Means that leaf growth is done and now will be a dash to producing bulbs.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Jul 27, 2020 14:48:12 GMT -5
My seedlings are developing nicely. Here is a picture of them.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 27, 2020 18:54:49 GMT -5
Mine are just showing "shoulders" the past two days. They will fade fast now and tops should be dry in less than 3 weeks. I'll have more sets than I can use next year so will be sharing.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by september on Jul 28, 2020 9:20:27 GMT -5
paquebot , how/where do you store your sets? I was thinking of leaving them in the pots as is, moving them into the unheated garage for more protection from the cold, and then transplanting to garden soil in the spring. Or do you need to dry them down over the winter? I am used to starting onion seed that grows to maturity the same year, so have not held over sets before.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 28, 2020 11:45:06 GMT -5
Standard for storing onion sets have always been |cool and dry". Mine are always on a shallow tray in the pantry. That has worked for almost 20 years. Leaving them dry in the pots should work as well.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by september on Jul 28, 2020 15:56:47 GMT -5
Leaving them dry in the pots should work as well. That's what I was thinking, just quit watering when they flop and leave them alone until next spring. Bringing the pots in the garage would keep rain out of them. Even if the dirt dried around them, it should insulate them from dehydrating too much over the winter.
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ponyexpress
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Zone:: 6b
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Post by ponyexpress on Jul 30, 2020 10:20:48 GMT -5
I have a second basement room that stays cold during the winter and almost never get below freezing unless it is -6deg F outside. I use these bulb crates to store my potatoes and onions. They get a lot of air circulation. I plan to keep the bottle onion sets here.
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Post by september on Jul 30, 2020 11:11:33 GMT -5
That is a wonderful set up, ponyexpress , sure wish I had something like an old time root cellar. The closest thing I have is a spare basement bedroom that may get down to 55F in the winter, but stays around 70 most of the year. We are retiring our outdoor wood burning furnace this year rather than do major repairs on the water line coming into the house. Plus hubby says chopping and moving wood is getting too hard on his back. So our furnace room will not be extra warm from the wood hot water pipes, and I may be able to store more things there over the winter.
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ponyexpress
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Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Jul 31, 2020 10:27:42 GMT -5
That is a wonderful set up, ponyexpress , sure wish I had something like an old time root cellar. There are pros/cons to my setup. The bad thing is that you have to go outside the house to access it. There's no access from the main basement. I do like my crates that I got for $1 each from a place called Marlborough Greenhouse in NH via a farmer friend (Sun Moon Farm). This place gets bulbs from the Netherlands packed in these crates. They're very sturdy/strong and stack nicely. I also get some crates from the local Asian grocery store. They're a bit flimsy but are free. Good for holding the lighter stuff like garlic bulbs and potato onions. No way I'm putting potatoes in them.
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Post by paquebot on Jul 31, 2020 12:02:18 GMT -5
I also have 5 of those bulb crates that I got from Jung's Garden Center. Two are being used now to sure the Patterson and Redwing onions. They would be good for storing lots of things except that they are a chore to get at the bottom of a stack. I prefer supermarket shopping baskets. They used to be supplied to stores by manufacturers. I'm probably the only on here with Winston, Salem, and Merit shopping baskets. Got them for nothing when cigarette advertising was banned. Picked up more when several Sentry stores closed down. Even have one from HyVee somehow and several generic. They work great for potato storage.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: alliums
Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 2, 2020 5:36:07 GMT -5
They would be good for storing lots of things except that they are a chore to get at the bottom of a stack. I prefer supermarket shopping baskets. That’s a good point about the difficulty to get to the bottom of the stack. I try not to stack them too high...probably a max of four crates high.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 2, 2020 16:49:33 GMT -5
One pot has just one green plant left today. The other has 3. That's how quick the process is. Less than 2 months from sowing to done growing to get the proper size sets.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
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Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 4, 2020 9:39:33 GMT -5
One pot has just one green plant left today. The other has 3. That's how quick the process is. Less than 2 months from sowing to done growing to get the proper size sets. That is quick. I wonder what make the plants go dormant? Is it the amount of light? The outside temperature? My pot still has the same 7 green seedlings but 1 of them is much bigger than the rest.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 4, 2020 11:44:12 GMT -5
The same thing that has all of my onions in crates is what has the bottle onion sets ready for drying, length of daylight. Growth rate is the same no matter if for big bulbs or small sets. These are Long Day types and no way to change them.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 5, 2020 9:33:58 GMT -5
Here is a picture taken of my bottle onions this morning. Finger for scale.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 5, 2020 12:50:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the pictures to document how these interesting things grow. Three of those are forming bulbs. Those plants will be dried down in 10 days. If those are all you have, I will send more when time to plant.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 5, 2020 15:38:48 GMT -5
Those that I pulled yesteray were dry enough to trim today. First pot had exactly 100 plants. 92 are normal sets, 3 are round, and 5 have thick necks which may never seal. Pulled the second pot and may be less quantity but no round ones. Also may be more with thick necks.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
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Post by ponyexpress on Aug 6, 2020 9:34:04 GMT -5
If those are all you have, I will send more when time to plant. Sounds good, I'm definitely interested in getting another batch of seeds next year to keep the pipeline going. I'm going on vacation this Saturday for a week. My daughters (20 & 17) are in charge of watering while the wife & I are gone. I have to work on notes for them to follow. I usually don't go on vacation during the gardening season.
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elkhound
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Post by elkhound on Sept 10, 2020 19:52:12 GMT -5
mine as of this afternoon.dont really like how they look but this is all new to me for most part...soooo..its what i have as of now. pot #1 pot #2
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Post by paquebot on Sept 10, 2020 22:38:44 GMT -5
elkhound, they look normal. Don't expect a round bulb like an ordinary onion. In fact, your might end up bigger than mine. They should begin to go dormant soon. Mine were done over a month ago but planted earlier. Shows how important timing is. Martin. The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by september on Sept 13, 2020 12:39:38 GMT -5
Mine were planted a few weeks later than other people's onion seed. A few of them are started to flop, but most of the tips are still green.
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Post by paquebot on Sept 13, 2020 14:35:00 GMT -5
september,I like yours, too. Great picture to show what the bulbs look like when forming. Also looks like good size. We are still learning about how to grow them. Great thing is that we are getting the information onto the Internet for future help. Hopefully I'll stick around long enough to see more gardeners enjoying them. Martin The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by september on Sept 14, 2020 9:42:22 GMT -5
I see most of my tips are now starting to brown a bit, so will quit watering them. Never did put any fertilizer on them.
I noticed a red onion in the pictures Elkhound posted, I also have two of them that have a red skin, one is lighter pink. Are there red and yellow versions of these onions? Should we be trying to separate them into two lines or doesn't it matter? (I go with doesn't matter )
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Post by paquebot on Sept 14, 2020 10:50:58 GMT -5
When I first got them, probably 10% were crossed seed. Most were red or white round bulbs. Small percentage were right shape but white. I rogued all of them out and only planted proper bulbs for seed. Last year I only got 3 odd ones and they were yellow round. The sets collected this year are 100% correct.
Five years ago I had 3 of the white ones and decided to save them. Got mature bulbs and planted them back for seed. Just as they were setting blossoms, storm dropped a tree branch on them and crushed all 3. Never got a seed and never a white one since.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Sept 14, 2020 11:28:12 GMT -5
And I've got... nothing. There are no onions where they were growing and not even any sign of them. Something chomped off a bunch of my carrot tops, but not all the way down, and whatever it was must have also made off with my tiny little onions? I'm so upset. There's not even any sign of any particular critter, but it did rain all day on Saturday so any evidence might have been washed away.
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ponyexpress
Junior Member
Posts: 86
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: alliums
Joined: June 2020
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Post by ponyexpress on Sept 16, 2020 14:31:19 GMT -5
Nice pictures everyone. I harvested one set yesterday and am still waiting for the other six or seven to finish. Here are some recent pictures.
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