Buy plants by mail-order, is an option.

Short-day should start bulbing around 13 hrs of daylight, so in the long-day regions that means it misses most of the growing season and makes a much smaller bulb.

They make small to very small onions.

I don't know WHY these people can't get it right. Same thing happens with the big box stores that are supplied by Bonnie Plants -- Wal-mart, Meijer, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot all have short day red and yellow plants this year, just like every year.

I just sent Bonnie Plants an e-mail asking them why they always stock short day onion plants at these outlets. I'm curious to see if they reply to me.

... you could rig up a black cloth system, the same way professional growers do to force short day plants like mums and kalanchoes out of their natural season.

If you create an artificially long night by covering with a thick, heavy black cloth every evening at 6:00 pm, and remove it the next morning at 8:00 am, you would mimic the natural day length in the South when these onions grow in the fall and winter. It works in theory. I guess real world issues would be 1) its a lot of work and attention; 2) there is the issue of heat build up under the cloth/covering;

Actually I'm thinking of direct seeding the red onions. I started them inside in March. The sweet candy sprouted fine but the red ones didn't take. I never tried them from seed right in the garden. In my area I have until April 15 to do this. Any opinion on this approach?

If you plant the same seeds, you may not get anything.

I'm at latitude 36.9; Indianapolis is 39.5, so we are both in that transition zone. I find that the short day whites from the feed store are kind of nice to have around as early onions. I try different varieties from seed every year, and love growing Long Red of Tropea, an old OP Mediterranean variety. Matter of fact, the Mediterraneans in general do well, esp little cippolinis.

The problem with direct-seeding onions is weed competition. I have good luck direct-seeding Japanese onions in the fall, but use seedlings in spring. Last year I started a batch of Pattersons late, right about now, and set them out in a place that was eventually overrun with zuchetta squash. In the fall I was happy to find a pretty stand of medium onions, waiting to be lifted and cured.

Probably they won't grow large enough to bulb. Why not order online?

I got some Red Candy onions recently at the G&M Garden and Pet Center. Seeded ones would really have to hump it now if started outside in Delaware County.

I say buy from your competion so they know you`re smart enough not to plant the wrong ones. You might (both) even get a laugh about how the other place stocks the wrong ones.