Allium fistulosum (65 days) Open-pollinated. Japanese heirloom. Hardy perennial bunching onion. For a steady market crop, seed every two weeks.
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Allium tricoccum (6-18 months) Open-pollinated. Also called Wild Leeks. Bulb-forming perennial is a spring ephemeral. Not a good germinator; expect less than 50%.
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Allium cepa (107 days) F-1 hybrid. 16-18 oz glossy deep red globes similar to Redwing, but it sizes more consistently regardless of dry or wet conditions.
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Allium cepa (110 days) Open-pollinated. 19th century heirloom. Large medium-firm deep purple-red flattened globes with pinkish-white fine-grained flesh. Long-day. Keeps till late winter.
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Allium cepa (114 days) Open-pollinated. Red storage onion. Flat square-shouldered top tapering like a barrel to a narrower flat bottom. Tops slow to go down.
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Allium cepa (110 days) Open-pollinated. An excellent red onion for northern growers and a superior keeper. Bred in Southport, CT, in 1873, Red...
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Allium cepa (90 days) F-1 hybrid. Fresh red onions in late July! 3½"8 oz globes. Cure by Aug. 31, store for 3-4 months. Crunchy, sweet, slightly spicy. Intermediate day.
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Allium fistulosum (60 days) F-1 hybrid. In Japanese negi refers to green onions, a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. While there are several...
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Allium cepa (112 days) Open-pollinated. Dave Podoll’s breeding breakthrough, Dakota Tears was more than 20 years in the making. Though you might...
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Allium cepa (110 days) F-1 hybrid. Uniform blocky globes, 2 lbs each, with tall tops. Best for storage; keeps until mid-May. Flavor a balance of sweet and tang. Long-day northern type.
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Allium cepa (125 days) Open-pollinated. Pacific NW and Corsican heirloom. Large mild juicy sweet onion. Not for storage.
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Onions
All the varieties we list are suitable for northern growers. If you live farther south, note our latitude specifications at the end of each description.
Long-day: Must be north of 36° latitude, though some long-day types perform best north of 40°. These onions need 14-16 hours of sun a day to trigger bulb formation. May not perform well in continually hot soil temps.
Intermediate-day: Also called day-neutral onions, generally need 12-15 hours of daylight to bulb. Some can do well in parts of the upper southern U.S. all the way up through Maine. Others are best for mid-latitudes only (35-40°). All intermediate-day onions in our catalog have performed well repeatedly in our Maine trials.
Short-day: Suited for the South, below latitude 36°, bulbing when the day length measures between 10–12 hours. We don’t offer seed for short-day varieties.)
About 200-250 seeds/g, 5,700-7,000 seeds/oz.
Growing Onions
Shallow rooted, onion require rich weed-free soil and consistent water. All other factors being equal, onions grown from seedlings will grow bigger and resist disease better than set-grown onions.
Planting: Plant seedlings and sets in spring as soon as soil is workable (onion plants come with planting directions). Onions survive light frosts.
Seedlings: Set seedlings out in shallow trenches 1–2" deep. Plant 6–8" apart, with 1–2' between rows.
Sets: Plant onion sets 3" apart in rows 1' apart. Thin to 6" apart as they grow (or plant them 4–6" apart if you don’t want to thin).
Growing: Mulch when they are 1' tall. During the season, pull any plants that begin to bolt and use them as scallions. It’s a good idea to sidedress once or twice a season, especially close to summer solstice.
Harvest: After half the onion tops fall, push over the remainder and harvest within a week.
Curing: Field-cure in the sun about 10 days until dry, covering with a tarp in wet weather. In the event of extreme heat or prolonged damp conditions, we recommend sheltered curing in a well-ventilated barn or greenhouse. Curing is essential for long storage.
Storage: Store cured onions in mesh sacks in a cool dry well-ventilated place, periodically removing sprouting or rotting bulbs. Ideal storage conditions are temperatures at 32° with humidity of 60–70%. If you can’t do that, work to get a total number of 100. For example, at temperatures from 50–55°, humidity should be 45–50%. In spring, put your remaining onions in the fridge to extend storage until your new crop is ready.
Note: Onion seed is short-lived. Retest 1-year-old seed before using. Discard anything older.