I ordered mine about 3 weeks ago. I remember reading somewhere about them selling out fast. I got 3 intermediate day samplers since this is my first time to grow onions and with limited space. Those consist of Candy, Super Star, and Red Candy Apple. I thought that might be the best way to see what works best for me.

OT, I have a cover crop of some form of peas growing now. If we plant onions mid Feb., when would be the best time to till the peas under?

Roger

Since you posted this, I'll chime in about Candy onions. I pulled my onions in June and let them dry on a shelf with open slits in the bottom for circulation. I let them totally dry totally before I cut the tops off. Probably a good 3 to 4 weeks. I still have a few of those Candy onions. That's a good six months. This was my first year ever growing onions and I cured them like my grandmother told me to do. I should listen to her more often. Anyway, they say 3 months, but they'll keep longer. After I cut the tops off, I tied them off individually in pantyhose and hung the onions from nails in the rafters of my shop. It got hot in there, but I guess they had plenty of circulation over them.

I'm going to order Southern Belle Red this year because I wasn't pleased with the size of the Red Candy Apple. I'm also going to order 1015Y or Candy as my other. What do you guys suggest. I'd like to try the 1015Y, but I like the idea of Candy onions keeping so long. Anyway, cabin fever is getting the best of me. I should be out with the dogs right now, but this weather sucks. In July, we'll be sweating in the garden reminiscing about this cool snap.

Roger,

I'd rototill the cover crop into the soil 2 to 3 weeks before planting.

Quailhunter,

I've always had really good luck with long-term storage of onions as long as they were well-cured. I've had 5 of the 6 types I'm growing last 6-8 months in storage and I do cure them very well for at least a month before I move them to the tornado shelter, which doubles as a root cellar for us. Red Candy Apple might have lasted longer but we used them all up after 4 or 5 months. I have stored them using panty hose and I have stored them using the onion storage tubes sold by Dixondale and both work equally well for me.

I hate to judge Red Candy Apple on the basis of one year, especially since my entire onion crop struggled after we received 12.84" of rain on April 29th. I pretty much considered it a miracle that most of them survived the severe waterlogging.

However, it wasn't just those of us here in Oklahoma who noticed Red Candy Apple seemed smaller than expected and I think many people saw the same thing nationwide. I noticed that Dixondale mentioned in their 2010 catalog that Red Candy Apple can be pushed along or encouraged to form larger bulbs with additional applications of nitrogen so I might try that this year and see if it makes a significant difference.

And, yes, you really should listen to your grandmother more often! (smiling) I always helped my older relatives (grandparents, aunt and uncles, great-aunts and great-uncles and my dad) with their gardens and learned so much from them when I was growing up, but by the time I was living here and had the space to garden to my heart's content, they were mostly all gone from this world and I have missed their advice and comments. I wish I had written down or tape recorded everything they ever said about growing, harvesting and preserving food.

As for 1015Y or Candy, it is hard for me to choose between the two. Both grow and store pretty much equally well for me, and I love the flavor of both. One advantage to growing Candy is that it is a little quicker to mature so if you're wanting fairly early onions, you might choose Candy instead of Texas 1015Y.

One other thing to consider is that (at least where I live) you can buy a bundle of Texas 1015Y onion plants at just about any nursery or store for a couple of bucks but it is still pretty hard to find Candy locally. (Some folks found Candy last year in stores, but not down here in south-central OK). So, you could make Candy a part of your 2010 order, and then if you want to try Texas 1015Y, you could pick them up locally. OR, if Dixondale goes nuts and sends out bundles of 150 or 200 or more onions instead of the 5 dozen (well, it happened to me last year), it is likely someone on this forum will get more onions than they can plant and might have some to share.

I'm in the same boat as you regarding cabin fever. The skies are gray, the ground remains a muddy mess and it is cold, cold, cold and all I can think about is being out in the garden working the soil. Yes, in June, July and August we'll likely be thinking that January wasn't so bad after all, but I'm sure not loving the January weather right now. I know we have some forecast lows for later in the week around 10 or 12 degrees, and undoubtedly it will drop into the single digits here in our very low-lying microclimate near the Red River. That's one more thing Oklahoma weather has given me that I never expected....single digit temps. I believe the coldest temperature we've recorded since moving here was 1 degree, and for a girl who grew up in Fort Worth, 1 degree is colder weather than I ever expected to experience.

Dawn

Dag-nabit you guys!!! LOL! I just realized I don't need to hit the after-Christmas sales to cure my cabin-fever. I just hop on here, hop over the seed catalog sites and I can drop $100 easy! oh well....I've got EVERYTHING plus some for my garden this year on it's way to me sometime soon!

I ordered from Dixondale this morning (thanks to Dawn's reminder). I ordered 6 (yes, 6) bunches. 1 Candy, 1 1015Y, 2 White Bermuda and 1 each of the Short Day and Intermediate Samplers. If they go nuts and pack each bundle with too many...I'll be the one offering out onions @ the Spring Swap! We grew the 1015Y last year and they were our best onion. Just used the last about 2 weeks ago. However, our red from last year were even better as far as lasting, but I can't find the paper from the package we got at Lowes. Maybe one of the two red I get from the Samplers will do well as a replacement.

DH is now sitting down with the graph paper....we're plotting garden spot #3. That's it...I refuse to allow myself to plot out any more land for gardening! By the time I can retire and garden all I want, I'll be too old and stiff to take care of this much so I'm sure at least one of the spots will grow over in time. We have our smaller original bed which will be tomatoes and peppers this year. We extended just south of that one last year and grew pumpkins, melons, squash, potatoes, onions & cukes. This year that one will be the vining garden. It's closer to Franklin and won't need as much watering. The new spot will be for corn, beans, okra and probably a mix of a few other things (like maybe pepper overflow). I also bought some additional herbs and flowers for planting around also. Should I plant castor bean around the edges? I don't want to taint the produce, but I've heard castor bean is great to keep away gophers. I've also ordered some Stevia seed from Baker Creek. DH is diabetic so I'm curious about this little plant.

I've got to go play the Wii or something to make up for all the time I've spent sitting at this computer!

Paula

If you look I'm almost dead center in the Intermediate zone. So have had good results growing most long and short day varieties along with intermediates. I had planned to cut down on varieties this year. And looking at my order now wonder what was in the water the night I ordered. I ordered one bunch of several varieties again this year along with some sampler bunches. Will end up with around 13 varieties. So I should have extra plants. I had planned to order Red Bull elsewhere as it is the best Red I've ever raised and Dexondale discontinued it. But I ordered so many from them think I'll wait a year. I also have shallots already in the ground.

I think Dixondale gives very conservative quotes on time they will store. They say one month on Granex. We used the last of the Granex and the 1015Y's in mid December. I cure mine good under the car port and let them dry there for longer than most say. I still want a root cellar to store them in. I do have dry air here with little humidity that I'm sure helps. But overall we run out of onions before many go bad. Alisa Craig is the one I've found that is a short sotrage onion for me. I can store it 2-3 months max. I'm also trying a speciality onion Borettana Cippolini and a one bunch of leeks. Some of mine are in samplers so won't be as many of them. But the ones I think I have coming are Alisa Craig, Big Daddy, Candy, Southern Belle Red, Mars, Ringmaster, Yellow Spanish, Red Candy Apple, Sterling, Super Star, Walla Walla, Yellow Granex, 1015Y and White Bermuda. So will have two full rows for sure. And if they send the amounts they did last year will have lots of extras. Jay

Jay, First tomatoes and now onions. Poor horses!!

Carol,
You left out garlic, green house, cold frames, ect. The horses are getting a more worried look everyday. LOL. I'm hoping to be able to sell some at the farmer's market this year. So doing some experimetning on what does well and also sells well. I will try to keep it too two rows. Any extras I will give away. Jay

i purchased 1015Y Texas Super Sweet Contessa Hybrid
Southern Belle Red Yellow Granex . i grew texas super sweet last year from home depot . my wife told me i needed to grow more onions this year . so i read about dixondale farms here and wanted to try several variaties .
you guys are definatly enablers!! hahaha!!

Jay,

You're planning on selling some horses at the Farmer's Market? They're getting really worried now. I'm teasing, I know you were referring to onions.....or, were you? The horses are going to need couseling to help them deal with their fear of abandonment.

All my onions keep for a long time if properly cured so I'm glad to hear that you and Quailhunter have the same results. I do think extra-long curing adds to their longevity.

Y'all remember too, that you can Plant A Row For The Hungry and contribute your extras to your local food bank or to any local church that has a food program to help the hungry!

Jeff, Oh, we've only just begun. You cannot imagine what we're like by the time we can actually put plants in the ground.

Dawn

Jeff yes I agree Dawn in an "enabler". She is sneaky also.

Dawn I think the horses are too the point nothing would surprise them now. If they only knew my boss was wanting to buy one of them last week. Jay

I usually just buy my onion plants at Atwood's.

I had Hubs stop in there last week, while he was out in the area, to find out when their onions would be in. They said "As soon as we get them we'll put them out." I'm kind of put-out with them for being so durn vague. He said he asked two people and got the same answer from both. That must be what they're told to say.

Since they run out of the Candy sets pretty early, it's going to be kind of a pain to stop in there regularly till they've got them. But their prices are pretty good. If it wasn't for that....

I got a catalog from Gurneys just the other day. They have Candy plants for $16.95, approximately 55-75 plants per bundle and one order consists of two bundles. Plus they have a $25 off coupon if you order $50-worth of merchandise. But then the postage for merchandise totalling over $50.01 is $12. So I don't know if this is a good deal or not.

I love the candy onions, but Dawn is right, last year was not a good year for onions and a lot of other things so you shouldn't judge something just on last year. The year before, I had Candy onions and they were softball size. And oh, so good. I cut off the tops, probably 3/4 of the way down and they didn't keep very well at all, so Quailhunter, I will leave them on next time. My mother used to braid the tops and then hang the braid somewhere out of the sun to dry. Not sure that would work for something as heavy as Candy though.

Last year, Atwoods sold out of Candy before I got there. So I planted red Southern Belle. They didn't do anything. Some of them, I dug back up and I'll put them back in the ground when it's time. Maybe they'll make something, maybe they'll bolt to seed. Some of the ones that Dawn sent me made decent sized onions but none the size I'd had the year before. It was the weather.

So lets all get out in our yards in our Crocs and do a "weather dance", once the snow all clears (If I wanted to see snow every day I'd have stayed in northern Indiana) so that maybe we'll have decent growing conditions. One thing about having a variety of stuff growing is that, no matter what the weather, something will find it perfect and grow well. Last year, for me, it was cabbage.

Ilene,
The price is good. Shipping is not out of line from what I've seen. I used to order from Gurney's a lot. But myself and a few coworkers had germination problems with the sweet corn seed we received last year. The seed didn't even look good. Which concerned me when planting. Maybe just a bad batch from a supplier. Have never ordered onion plants from them so can't comment.
I agree for those of us who have to travel to shop the businesses aren't very accomadating. I'm trying to find some potting and seed starting mix so I can start winter sowing. All they will say is when we get the Christmas stuff put up we will start putting it out if it is in. Just keep checking. Might order a small amount online. Shipping is high but gas adds up also. And if you call on the phone sometimes you can't find out much. Jay

Ilene,

If I could find the onion varieties I wanted locally, and if the quality of the plants was equivalent to Dixondale's, then I'd buy locally. However, I've never seen Candy onion plants in stores here in southern OK or anywhere in north central Texas, so I keep ordering them from Dixondale. In general, the quality of the onion plants in many stores here is sadly lacking. The onions look as if they were pulled and held long before they were shipped, and the stores leave them outside in the weather 24/7 which tends to dry them out even more.

The price Gurney's is charging for two bundles of Candy onions is not out of line with what some other mail order/online retailers charge for an equivalent amount of the same item. However, you also could order two bundles of Candy onions directly from Dixondale for about $2.00 less (I think two bundles are $14.75) than Gurney's is charging and the Dixondale price includes shipping. So, since Dixondale's price includes shipping, they seem like a better deal to me, assuming Gurney's doesn't have something else you intend to order to get to that $50 amount to get the 50% off.

I generally avoid ordering anything from any one of the several catalogs that offer either $20 off or $25 off because usually they don't have enough things that I want or need to reach the minimum purchase price. Also, their shipping and their prices are usually just high enough that I come out ahead ordering from someone else who is not offering a coupon, all of which is to say that I think some of those $20-off or $25-off coupons sound better than they are.

I have nothing against Gurney's. I've bought from them in the past, though not in the last couple of years, and may buy again from them in the future. Generally their seeds do just fine (though I have not been happy with the health of plants purchased from them), but Jay's experience last year is enough to make me pause and wonder if they are slipping in quality a little.

I hope all the stores here are not waiting to clear out all their Christmas merchandise before they start putting out the winter/early spring gardening supplies. The stores here still seem to have a LOT of Xmas merchandise left and it isn't selling fast, even at 50%-75% off.

And, for anyone intending to order from Dixondale, don't wait too long. Their business was up 40% last year, and I don't know what kind of increase they're prepared for this year. If you wait too long to order and reserve your onions, the kinds you want might be sold out.

Dawn

Last year several of the nurseries and greenhouses around here sold Dixondale onions. And Candy was one I saw offered. The trouble is you never know when or what they will get in. And I know late in the season some still had some so wondering if they will even handle them this year. Some set in the store for at least two months. I feel plants do better if they are fresher.

One think I've found interesting with Johnny's is they list growing areas by latitude instead of zones. After looking at their listings my results in most cases mirror what they say. Some long and short season varieties have different ranges than others. So explains why one short season will do well her and another won't. Very good information even thogh I didn't order from them.And maybe more so where I'm located. Jay

Jay,

I had noticed that about Johnny's but hadn't though about the latitude in relation to your specific geographic location and onions. You're really in the perfect place to be able to grow all kinds of onions. If I tried to grow the long-day types here, I fear I wouldn't have much success.

I love Johnny's. The catalog is a virtual "how to" garden guide. For some reason they sent me two copies! So, after I wear out one and it is falling apart, I'll have the backup.

I'm sure you'll find something from Johnny's you "need" one of these days, though maybe not this year.

I also appreciate that they have their own breeding program and have quite a bit of success with it too.

Around here, too, I noticed a lot of onions still "for sale" at the garden centers in April or May. Most stores here carry Bonnie Plants onions. I have no idea if last year's tomato blight fiasco which we all know was largely (and perhaps incorrectly) blamed on plants from BP will cause stores to seek out other suppliers for onions and vegetable/herb transplants. I wish the stores here would carry Dixondale, but since they buy their veggie and herb transplants from BP, I think they just order onions from them too.

Dawn

I got my order in last week. My budget only allowed for two bundles so I got a sampler each of the short day and intermediate day. Depending on what our onion space looks like come planting time, I can always pick up some more 1015Y locally.

Our family uses more and more onions each year, so it's time to get a bit more serious about growing onions.

Diane

Diane,

Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll overpack your bundles. Last year every bundle I received was way overpacked, so I had hundreds more onions than I'd intended to plant. If they overpack mine this year, I'll be happy to send you the extras.....our family is a lot smaller than yours and we don't need hundreds of extra onions.

Dawn

Thanks, Dawn. I'm sure they'll throw in extras for me, though. I remember reading your onion avalanche last year and was secretly hoping for that to happen to me as I placed my order. LOL Not that I have any clue where I'm planting them yet... Other than walking onions, I've only tinkered in bulbing onions so I need to get some spaces figured out.

Diane

Ordered 3 bunches of Southern Belle Red and 3 1015Y. More than I need, but I'll give some to my grandfather and his brother. If they pack like last year, I'll be giving some to a couple of friends also. Hard to know how many to order the way they packed them last year.

I agree, I simply don't know what they were thinking last year. If they overpack this year, I'll be giving away lots of onions too.

I ordered my onions from Dixondale on Thanksgiving Day. I only ordered one bundle each of Candy and Red Candy Apple. After reading about Dawn's surplus, I was afraid to order more than that amount - planting space is at a premium to begin with in my garden. I hope these varieties are as sweet as they advertise. Nothing is worse than a big 'ole hot, stinkin' onion. lol

Those two are not hot.

Lynn, As long as you stick with short-day and intermediate day types, you won't get hot onions. I cannot think of a single short-day or intermediate-day onion variety that is a hot type since the SD and INT types are sweet/supersweet types.

The long-day onion group does have a lot of hot onions in it, but unless you're as far north as Jay is in SW Kansas, you probably couldn't get long-day types to bulb up for you.

Dawn

I'm sure the onions will taste great. We've never grown them before so that was the root of my attempted humor. Murphy's law or some such thing.

We've been spoiled by family living in Georgia who ship us Vidalia onions each year in exchange for our homemade salsa. Hubby found a perfect size slotted box that has made countless trips between the two states; salsa jars headed east and onions headed west on the return. We keep wondering how many years the box will hold up for us. And I'm definitely not telling we're growing our own onions this year... ;-)

The ones that I think would taste closest to Vidalia are Candy and Texas 1015Y Supersweet. Now, if only you could exactly replicate the Vidalia area's soil and climate! : )

ok, so now I'm completely stressed out bcz I haven't had the means to order onions yet!! You guys really get me going. I'm just like, "oh I need to get that, oh I need to get this, oh and that, oh and that too!!" My husband does concrete work and this weather is just awful for us, so my onion order has had to be put on the back burner for now. Hopefully, I can still get onions when I'm able. I do have some red onion seeds that I will try, but I also wanted to grow some other varities.

Dawn, you did say that it would work to cut the bottoms off of green onions that I've gotten from the store, didn't you? Well, I've been doing that. The only thing is: how many onions come from one little stem, just one?

I cook a lot w/ onions and so I tend to freeze some for casseroles and stuff like that. But, I prefer to cook with fresh onions, so I'm going to try to succession plant some. I think that's what I mean?! Isn't that where you plant some, then plant some more a little while later? If so, that's what I mean.

Anyway, onions are definitely on my grow list this year.

Melissa

Melissa,

Relax and do not fret. Dixondale ships hundreds of millions of onions every year (we do not know how many for sure, but last year they sold about 85 million Candy plants alone), and I think it unlikely they'll run out before you can order some. If worst comes to worst, you can just pick up what your local stores carry anyway and would have perfectly decent results from them. Using Dixondale isn't mandatory, you know, it's just that those of us who use them like their quality.

I'm not the one who said you could cut the ends off green onions, but I remember someone saying it and I know it can be done. I don't know what variety of green onion you have but, unless your green onions were a bunching onion type, then you'd only get one green onion from one root, I think.

Succession planting doesn't work with onions if you want onions that bulb up. The number of hours of daylight in a day triggers bulbing. You have to plant your onion 90-120 days before the daylength is long enough to trigger bulbing if you want full-sized onions. The later you plant them, the smaller they will be. Plant them late enough and all you have are green onions, not actual full-sized onion bulbs.

If raising onions from seed to use as green onions, you might be able to succession plant. I don't know how well they'll grow as the weather warms up though.

Starting onions from seed is harder than it sounds. To start them from seed and have them at the best planting size by your planting date, you normally need to start them about 90 days before you'll plant them. So, if your planting date is from mid-Feb through mid-March, you should have started the seeds from mid-November through mid-December. You can start the seeds later, but your onions will be smaller at planting time and will give you smaller onions.

Here's a useless piece of onion trivia: In the name of the Texas 1015Y Supersweet onion, the 10-15 stands for that variety's planting date in the lower Rio Grande Valley---October 15th.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Apple Pie Filling recipe from NHCFP

I have no idea how this link from a different post is attached to this thread. I've been out feeding chickens and locking them up for the night, but left the laptop computer on the coffee table after I thought I'd already posted this response. Can we just say the cats did it? Now I'm wondering if this recipe is linked to the right post. I'd better go look. LOL

Dawn,
So sorry, thought it was you that commented on the green onions. I know I can buy from the local store, but I'm tired of buying from the local store just to end up with either dead plants or not very good of quality. Ok, so maybe you've talked me out of planting from seed. lol! Guess I'll just wait and buy some from dixondale. Maybe my in-laws will go in half with me. If not, then who would be an alternative to buy from? I have several different catalogs that I've received, THANKS TO YOU ALL!!! Everytime you post about a new catalog I have to go and request it!! Then after I'm finished looking thru it and circling what I'd like to have, my kids take it and scour thru it!!
Thanks for the recipe link, aprec!! And yes, we'll just say the cats did it. lol

Thank you so much for the onion discussion.All I knew to do was get the sets from the local feed store.They always looked so dispirited.We enjoyed the green onions they produced, we LOVE onions and garlic.My dh especially uses them a lot to help with sinus issues.So I just ordered three bunches from Dixondale. Do you think my dh will think they are a fine Valentine's Day gift????

Leava,

That all depends. If he is a gardener or a foodie, then I think he'll love the idea of onions for a Valentine's Day gift. (grinning)

In view of the fact that onions and garlic are used to help with his sinus issues, he might consider onion plants a very thoughtful Valentine's Day gift. After all, you selected something that will help improve his health.

So, if you ordered the onions for "him" for Valentine's Day, then maybe he'll plant them as his gift to you? LOL

Dawn

I keep seeing DH, referring to a significant other or spouse I assume. What does it stand for?

Quailhunter - LOL! I just about never figured it out either! DH = "Dear Husband" or "Darling Husband". A young man I work with told me he suspected it meant "dam### husband" when his wife used the term. LOL

Accordingly - DIL = daugher-in-law, SIL = son-in-law, DS = dear son, and I've seen GD = grand-daughter or GS = grandson. Hope this helps!

Paula

Paula and Quailhunter,

Y'all left out one very important one that I've seen used on some other forums, but not here (what does that tell us?). It is: SWMBO and it means "She Who Must Be Obeyed".

Dawn

Thanks for the education. Dawn, true.

Someone told me once that DH also could mean 'dumb husband', not that I'd ever use it that way.

Also, someone asked once why we always say 'lots of love' to each other here, and we had to tell them that LOL is used to signify 'laughing out loud'.

Now, if y'all start using anything more complicated than the ones we already use, I won't have a clue what you're talking about.

Back to the topic at hand. ;-) I've ordered, for the first time, from Dixondale, Candy and 1015Y onions, and I blame all of you for that! But, I can't wait to get them in the ground. I managed a little winter-therapy today by sowing some broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, and kale for late winter planting. The bed is still covered with snow, but it got a fresh batch of compost in the fall and should be ready to receive some beautiful transplants in a month or two. It's nice to see the weather forecast with temperatures in the 40's and 50's. It won't be long, folks.
Carol

Well, I kinda like the "Lots of Love" idea. Heh.

That year I had such great success with my candy onions -- actually great success with ANY onion -- I did something that I don't know if it helped or not. I soaked them in Jerry Baker's "Root Revival Tonic": 1 tbsp of mild dish soap, 1/4 cup of strong tea and 1 tbsp epsom salt, mixed well into 1 gallon of water. This is from his book, "Old-Time Gardening Wisdom". I had used it to soak some bushes I was planting and instructions said up to 24 hours. I didn't soak the onions in it but about an hour. They made the water really "onioney" and I was worried I'd made a big mistake. But I set them out right away and those were the best and biggest onions I'd ever grown. I also didn't set them out till April 15, the approximate date of our last frost. We got a frost after that and I went out and covered them all. What concerns me is that sometimes the frost will cause the onions to think they've had another winter, and that triggers bolting to seed. Last year, I didn't soak the onions. I put the ones I got from Dawn out immediately, which was sometime in early March, I think. And then I planted Southern Belle Red later on. Of course it was a weird year and so hard to judge because of that. Got some decent-sized onions from Dawn's plants, but nothing like the previous year, others stayed small and a few of them went to seed. The Southern Belles that were planted later didn't bolt to seed but they didn't grow any, either. I dug them back up and will be planting them around April 15 to see if they'll go ahead and do anything.

This year, whatever I end up getting, I'm going to try the soak again, and wait till April 15. I know this goes against standard practice, but it did work for me that one year. Maybe I was just having "Dumb cluck luck". We'll see what happens.

Dawn, well since I have ordered three bunches my dh might want help planting them but I know he will be pleased I got him "special onions."

Leava,

Only the best onions will do. Be sure you tell him you ordered only the best. LOL

Dawn