i never heard of 1st edition but copra is listed as THE longest storage onion by johnny's of maine.

i pull my copra about 8/12, dry them in garden a week or 10 days then move them to my shed on racks where they dry until mid october. after that i trim the roots and leaves then store them in a 50# mesh bag in the basement where today it is 49 degrees. when the other onions are used i move the copra to the fridge in the basement that is 40 degrees. i read that onions store best at 37 degrees. i have had no sprouting with copra even after this WET summer (that is like calling a redwood a BIG tree) and in the past years virtually none sprout in storage. i have kept copra as late as the year after they were pulled - pulled in 8/2005 still good in 10/2006. copra is the storage onion imo. i start from seed and plant them 4" on center but in 2008 i tried 6" on center. they were slightly larger with the 6" spacing.

tom

Thanks Tom, for the very helpful post.