I've never had a problem with them freezing up here in Dallas area. Sometimes the tops look like they froze but they don't turn black after it warms up.

We plant onions every fall and harvest the end of January or beginning of February and I can't remember seeing any that looked like they froze. January and February are our cold, wet months and we often get snow and ice then.

i'm in connecticut, i put mine out around 4/20. we get frosts and freezes sometimes. i never had any problems. now if it went to 20 or lower i am not sure what to expect, at 10-15 i think they'd die but 25 to 32 is not too cold for my location.

i am also growing long day onions so maybe day short onions, assuming you are growing them vs day neutral, would not tolerate those temps. i can't say for sure.

tom

I plant my fall onions in maryland sept 14 or so last ten years.They wont grow much during winter but i use in thanksgiving stuffing and pick as scallions throughout winter.Sometimes hard to pick when ground frozen but they start growing in spring.My spring onions are the ones i dry for storage,they grow march to june-july.My leeks grow threw winter as well.

Usually top-setting onions are more cold tolerant for some reason. Tell him to try something like Egyptian onion.

Hey Snappybob! One time I asked an older/more experienced farmer dude about my onion tops turning brown(It was from our drought)and he said"Just cut off the brown part and let'em go!"It won't hurt a thang-use the 4 Ds-cut off any DEAD,DAMAGED,DISEASE,OR DYING stuff and that works for all kinds of plants.Good luck to your garden!