Sure look like they could use same water but otherwise they look fairly ok. Maybe a little deep but you can brush the soil away form them as the bulbs begin to form Planting onions too deep is a common mistake but fixable.

Looks like you maybe ran a hoe down to create a valley for planting? Plants on the raised ridges, not the valleys showing in your photo next time and as the bulbs form the soil just falls away into the valley.

Water and lots of fertilizer. And next year go for a short day variety instead or at least one of the Intermediate varieties. Walla Walla is a long-day variety that grows best in the north, not in CA if you want decent bulb size.

Dave

They look like they might use some water.

I have been watering them almost everyday. I did put in Blood meal, Fish Bone Meal and Kelp. If I remember correctly I think there is just a 1" or less of soil above the roots.

What is the best onion for this area that can give me good size bulbs? I thought the manager at Golden Nursery knew what he was talking about. I asked him what was a good onion to grow around here and he said Walla Walla.

If you are watering them deeply then you shouldn't have to water every day. Soak them good then let them go for 4-5 days. Frequent shallow watering only results in shallow rooted water-dependent plants and soil that dries out quickly. The soil in the photo looks very gray and dry. Stick you finger in it, if it is dry they need water.

See the link below to learn all about how to grow onions. You are located in a intermediate to short day variety location, NOT a long day variety location. The link will also explain all about how to plant them. The onion bulb grows mostly on top of the soil, not in it.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Dixondale Farms - All about onions

Sounds like you fertilized well, and planted at a good depth.

Dave's advice about watering is right on . . . but from having done a couple small gardens for my son and daughter-in-law in the East Bay, it did seem that watering every day, or at least every other day, was the norm, as the desert air dried everything out so fast. Don't know if you have more humidity than the East Bay does. Does 4 or 5 days still work in the desert, Dave?

And you're right at that "in between" latitude. The Wallas should work, just won't get as big as an intermediate day onion might. I'm at 39 latitude (slightly more north than you are, though I'm across the country), and I grow Walla Wallas because they're delicious!

Onion plants always look a bit scraggly for several days after transplanting.

Looks good. They need time to grab the soil and start growing top.
You could have planted them a bit closer tho

Well I wanted to try and grow them as big as possible so I went with 4"-5".

I figured it was just them reestablishing them self's after transfer but its always nice hearing from fellow gardeners.

Long day/short day would depend on where you live in CA as it is a big state. I grow long day onions and live about the same latitude as the bay area, which is about half way up the state.

FWIW, I think yours look fine.

I did some "digging" and see that you are at 38degrees latitude (San Mateo) which is considered the lower limit for long day onions. 35degrees is considehe upper limit for short day types. I am at 41degrees.

That said, a neutral day onion (like Candy, which I have grown) is probably the best option for you, though size will be much smaller than Walla Walla ( but it will probably keep better.)

Well I did my normal daily walk around the garden and noticed all the onions have new leaves growing between the old ones.

@terry_neoh- Any good internet seed suppliers for candy onions? I started the Walla Wallas from seed so I would like to continue that practice.

Nick, I have had good luck with Harris seeds, but beware- the selection is large.

Here is a link that might be useful: Candy onion seeds

I live in the north San Francisco bay area. Walla Wallas reliably grow large for me every year here.

@johnnycom- That is good to hear. I hope I have just as much luck as you have. Do you have any pictures?

This is what my walla wallas look like this morning. (Sorry, no pictures of last year's crop.)

I planted them out in early February from a bundle of starts I bought at a local garden center. The starts were pencil sized and a bit dried out, which doesn't seem to hurt them.

I use 6 inch spacing in each direction. Lots of water, compost, plus fertilizer as needed. Onions are heavy feeders.

Yours should do fine - although may not get quite as large as if you had transplanted them earlier.

They look fine. They take a few weeks to get going after transplant. Keep them watered, NEVER let them dry out. Keep them mulched and fertilized. I use grass clippings.

Here is a little update on how my onions are doing. Last time I didn't have any mulch on the dirt but know I put down grass clippings. As you can see the onions are doing much better then the last pictures. When should I give them a side dressing of blood meal?

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