Before we can figure out what they need, can you describe how they were planted and how they are doing.

We need to know the variety name if you know it, whether you planted from seed, set or plant, when they were planted, how deeply they were planted, how much water they've had (excessive water could be an issue this year), what kind of soil you have, if they are planted at grade level or in raised beds or mounds, etc.

Also, when you say they are not doing well, what do you mean? Is the color poor? Do they look diseased? If you are concerned because the bit of the bulb you see sticking up out of the ground doesn't seem very large yet, that's normal. They'll bulb up more as daylength increases.

If you look at the "average" onion plant in your garden, how many leaves does it have? Believe it or not, that's a key question.

And, have they been fertilized at all or were the beds enriched before you planted?

Dawn

Dawn covered most everything as usual. I will attach a link to a site where I buy most of my onions but it also has some good information about growing and saving onions. Including fertilizers. I just grow mine in my manure and mulch but this tells what they need. The one mistake I made for years was planting them too deep. This can restrict size. I've had the biggest onions I've ever grown the last two year. Two years ago had two over 3 pounds. Will be watching for more information. Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Onions

Jay,

Ooooh, I buy from Dixondale too and recommend them here all the time. One more way that our gardening minds think alike.

Do you grow intermediate daylength onions there?

Dawn

Dawn I grow intermediates, short and long day. I try to get the short day in early. Usually do all. But if I'm late I might skip the short day. And have had good luck most years. This year they all look good and the short day are starting to bulb nice. The concern I had was the last cool spells sure slowed them up. Some are over 2" across now. Maybe a few bigger I haven't seen. Like I said I'm fortunate in that I can grow what I want in that aspect. I recommend them and also have recommended reading their site even if a person don't buy from them. I know I had grown onions for years and it really helped me. I had always planted them too deep. I have told several coworkers about it and have even gave some onions and they all say they have had better results. They shipped UPS when I requested the US mail due to trouble I've had with the new USP driver. They sent another order free. And told me to keep the other one when it arrived. The US mail order was shipped a day later and arrived two days sooner. They USP shipment was left on the door step and torn open. Imagine a dog. But most of the plants were ok. They have great customer service in my opinion. Jay

Jay,

I agree that the customer service is great.

My bundles of onions were huge this year, so I offered Red Candy Apple to some of the folks here, and sent out all the spare ones. Last year's crop was so prolific, and I froze so many, that I could have skipped growing onions completely, except I wanted some fresh ones.

I recommend Dixondale's website to other folks all the time too, even if they don't buy their onions.

It was Bill P., who posted as Gone Fishin', who convinced me a few years ago that Dixondale's onions were worth the price. Once I tried them, I was hooked.

Dawn

Okay, yeah, I guess you need more info. In early April I planted sets that I bought from walmart. don't know the type. They are planted in a raised beds. I also planted some onions that came in a bag that my mom gave me. Those seem to be doing a little better than the sets. They have 3 leaves on them. I pulled one up and it was about 1.5 inches in diameter and another one I pulled up hadn't grown at all.

The leaves are small and the ends are brown. A few have sent up flowers.

I guess I am just asking is there anything to do for them this late in the game or should I just call it a scratch and try next time?

Okiefamily,

My best guess is that the sets are the main problem. I'd say that at least 95% of the bagged onion sets sold anywhere are long-day types that, in general, don't grow well here, except they do grow well for Jay who is ever-so-slightly further north than we are. Unless the bag of sets specifically stated "southern onions" on them (and I saw one kind of bagged sets at Wal-Mart this year that said that), they need longer day length to bulb up than what we have here. Go to the Dixondale Farms link below (also linked in Jay's message above under the title "Onions") and read about short-day, intermediate and long-day and it will help you understand how to choose onions in the future.

Be careful you aren't planting your onion plants too deeply. They'll still grow if planted too deeply but they'll grow and produce much better if planted very, very shallowly. I plant mine so shallowly that they are barely covered with enough soil to help them stand upright. As they grow, you can see the bulbs at or above the soil surface. The raised beds are good, especially if you have very slow-draining soil, or if it is an exceptionally wet year.

If you planted in April, then the plants went in a little late. The usual planting time here in southern OK is around Valentine's Day. I think Dixondale usually ships my onion plants around Feb. 16th and I try to get them into the ground as soon as possible after they arrive, although I won't plant in exceptionally cold weather.

With onions, every leaf you have gives you one layer or "ring" of onion tissue. So, if you have three leaves at the time the onions begin to bulb up, you'll have smaller onion bulbs than you'll have if you have, say, 7 to 9 or more leaves at the time bulbing initiates. However, the number of rings alone do not solely determine the size of the bulb, as soil fertility and soil moisture levels (you need quite a lot of moisture, but not too much, until bulbing begins) influence bulb size too.

If the onions leaves are not a vivid dark green, then they sound starved for nitrogen. I like to give my onions a lot of nitrogen, via adding manure, compost and dried blood to the beds before I plant. You can use Dixondale's onion fertilizer (which is a very good one) by incorporating it into the bed at planting time, or you can give them a side dressing of aluminum nitrate anytime prior to bulbing for a quick nitrogen boost.

The brown tips normally are a stress-related issue---could be from being too wet, too dry, too hot, wind-burnt, frosted, etc. However, if they are brown and withered, that can be a sign of onion thrips. If you have thrips, you normally have spotty foliage too.

The flowers are an issue in and of themselves. In our erratic weather, onions occasionally bolt and send up a seed stalk/flower even if you have planted at the right time and have done everything as correctly as possible. Why does this happen? Because Mother Nature bats last. Let me explain.

Onions, like most cool-season crops, are biennial. This means that normally they grow vegetatively the first season, the go into a cold-induced dormancy, then resume growth when temperatures warm up in the spring, flower and produce seed.

However, if your onions are exposed to temperatures below 45 degrees for a specific period (10 days to 2 weeks, I think) of time once they are about the same diameter as a No. 2 pencil (1/4"), they'll go into a cold-induced dormancy and, once growth resumes, they'll bolt and send up a flower stalk. At that point, you might as well harvest and use them because they won't get any larger and their quality will decline quickly once they flower.

By the way, you can partially work around this by only planting the onion plants in your bundle that are smaller than the diameter of a pencil, but with our very erratic spring weather and the large number of late cold fronts we have had the last couple of years, bolting seems like it has become more common in recent years. You also can protect your onion plants from the cold by growing them under frost blankets (heavy floating row covers) or in a cold frame or under a low tunnel. With sets, by the way, bolting occurs in sets that are larger than 1/2" in diameter.

So, to avoid problems in the future like you're seeing this year, plant as early as you can (from mid-Feb to mid-Mar is recommended here), plant shallowly, plant in soil well-amended with slightly higher-than-usual (for other veggies) nitrogen, plant proven varieties that are short-day or intermediate day, use plants instead of sets, and pray that the weather will stay warm enough. Often, you can beat the weather by staggering your planting. If OSU says our planting date here in southern OK is Feb. 15th, for example, plant 1/3 of your plants then, plant 1/3 two weeks later, and plant the final 1/3 two weeks after that. Using this method, I always get a good crop from some, if not all, of the ones I plant. Last year, I got a good crop from all of them and harvested hundreds more onions than I expected.

The best way to learn how to garden is simply by doing it. So, consider your veggie garden to be a series of experiments. When you don't get the results you expect, try the same vegetable again the next year, but do some things differently. Keep notes if your memory sometimes fails you. Eventually you'll learn what works for you in your soil, your climate, etc.

Dawn