A lot depends on what part of the country you live in. There are short day and long day onions. Maybe the Dixondale Farms site will be able to steer you in the right direction.

http://www.dixondalefarms.com/

I've never done it but I'm pretty sure planting onions in June isn't going to work for exactly the reason you were told. Onions are photoperiod sensitive and form bulbs when the days lengthen and get to a specific amount depending on the type of the onion. What you should get would be a bunch of onion tops that you could use for scallions but I doubt you'd get bulbs since by the time the onions have enough top growth to give a decent bulb, you'll be out of the daylight they want.

Thanks for the info. I'm in southeast Michigan. Regards, Peter.

mi? will not work. period. you'll get scallions and that's ok but not bulbs.

i planted 200 sets (i hate sets and advice always to NEVER use sets) i got in mid september for free from a nursery as they were tossing them. i got nice scallions and that was what i expected.

tom

tig: seeds, or plants for best results? If seeds, do you start them indoors? Regards, Peter.

Peter - either will work though you have more flexibility with seeds. For plants, they go in about early April for your zone (about a month before the last frost) and seeds are started indoors around 10 weeks before the last frost date (you want them to be about the thickness of a pencil when they're set out).

makalu pretty much summed it up.

personally, i'd go with seeds for the ability to get the variety you want. of course then you need promix as a stating medium, grow lights would help greatly. plants do fine as long as you buy them local and don't stress them in shipping. at least you can look at them before you buy them.

tom