Larry,
I left a response earlier and now see it is gone. I grew most of my onions from seed this year. Overall they did as well as those from Dixondale. I finally found a red/bronze onion that performs well and sized up very well. It is the first red type I've had good results with since Dixondale dropped Red Bull and didn't replace it with one that would perform here.

You are further south and east than me. I could never start plants outside in the fall here. I start them from seeds around Jan 1st and they are ready to transplant from late Feb to early March which is usually about right here. You might do ok by mulching them during cold spells. Jay

Jay, thanks, I am really at a loss here. The only onions I have started from seed have been Lisbon bunching onions and Evergreen bunching onions. They both did well but I started then in winter inside the house. They were so small and crowded I just pulled them out of the rain gutter tray they were started then in and planted them in clumps after I already had the bulbing onions growing. I should have more bulbing seeds than I need and was thing of experimenting with them.

Larry

Larry,
It never hurts to experiment. And they will likely provide you some green onions. The seeds aren't real expensive and at that time of year a person usually doesn't have a lot growing in the garden anyway. Jay

I once grew some cipollini onions, tiny red ones, from seed. But not this late. I started them inside in the spring in a self watering container. They did pretty well...

Larry, I saw your post earlier but didn't want to answer until some of the experts checked in. I planted some bunching onions for Fall, not bulbing onions. I am like you, and love to experiment. In one of my Eliot Coleman books, he talks about planting bunching onions....well....in a bunch. He says you can plant 10-12 together, then space them a foot apart, and harvest the bunch at once.

I just ordered bulbing types from Willhite for Spring, and I hope to get them planted early. I plan to start mine in soil blocks because I think that should make the planting easier. Another experiment, so we will see how that goes.

I still have frozen onions from last year, about half a bag of this years fresh onions that I am using now, and two long onion storage socks (thanks Dawn) that contain the longer storage onions. I made a lot of salsa this year and used a lot of onions for that. I'm thinking that if the storage onions will hold a few more months, and with the addition of the green onions, I should make it through the winter easy.

Larry, for green onions, you can count on the Egyptian Multiplier. It greens up and grows great during all but the coldest part of the year.

I generally struggle with growing onions from seed. This is because of limited planter space. When I plant outside, it always seems that something befalls them.

Our bulbing onion crop was okay, both last year and this year. But again, I struggle with these.

Multipliers have done better for me. However, here in Oklahoma, I have found that my Potato Onions really struggle. They grow and reproduce. But the summer heat destroys about half of the crop, if I don't get them out of the ground before then (and I generally don't).

This year I trialed three shallots, from seed. True to form, I did struggle to get them from seed to healthy sized plants in the garden. But I managed to get some. So far I've only gotten around to digging one, Bonilla, I believe. I'm impressed! This made small bulbs with red skin. But most importantly, none of them rotted or went bad during the heat. I dug them just last Saturday. Most were still dormant. A few were sprouting. I replanted them all in order to multiply them. We'll see what we find with the other shallots,... and the potato onions.

But again, I have started spreading the Egyptian walking onions around the garden, as they are truly an onion I can count on. Even if I weed a plant out of an inconvenient location, and drop it on the mulch, it will generally sprout in the fall and start growing where it fell.

George

Larry, I only grow bunching onions from seed, and never from seed sown this late, but I think it will work fine as long as you only want them for green onions.

I noticed last weekend that the stores here just received shipments of bundles of Long-Day bulbing white onion plants. I have no idea why, unless people plant them for green onions. We're too far south for long-day onions to bulb up here in spring/summer, and we get too cold here for long-day onions to overwinter and then bulb up next spring. Of course, stores will sell them anyway and I hope the folks buying them understand they'll be raising green onions and not bulbing ones.

How successful your fall onions grown from seed will be is going to depend on how well-drained the soil is and on how early or late your temperatures begin dipping down before 45 degrees. Remember that onions are biennials and that prolonged exposure to temperatures at or below 45 degrees push the onions into dormancy when it occurs after the onions are 1/4" or larger in diameter. Then, when the temperatures warm back up, the onions break dormancy. Often (I won't say always, but usually this happens) when they break cold-induced dormancy, the bulbing onions then bolt and go to seed. As biennials, that is their nature and I don't know any way to work around it.

Jay, what red onion are you going to grow from seed?

Carol, I'm glad you were able to use the onion socks. I still have a bunch of frozen onions from the 2011 crop, and about half of 2012's crop is doing fine in storage. We've used all the rest of the 2012 harvest already. I have green bunching onions planted for winter. I think we will not run out of onions this winter, and am pretty happy about that.

Dawn

Onion Sock? Exactly what is/how do you use an onion sock?

Dawn I grew Bronze D' Amposti from seed this year and overall it did well. Better than any red I've tried here since Red Bull. I will grow it again next year along with one I received seeds for that is originally from Australia. It is called Red Odorless Sweet Onion. Supposed to be large and the sweetest red onion available and also an intermediate variety. I will have a review next fall. I will add a picture of the last of onion harvest that I brought to the house tonight. All of these were pulled over the last 10 days and most the last two days. Harvest was really spread out this year. I did leave 4 in the garden that the tops are just now falling but still not dying. All 4 are large. Some of the ones I pulled would of grown some more but ready to get them out. The last were a mix of Burrell's Valencia, Sweet Spanish #6 and Bronze D' Amposti. I did grow another red this year. Cabernet Red. It was a nice tasting onion but didn't size up well. Small to medium bulbs. Won't grow it again. The ones in the picture are around a 1/3 of my total bulbing onion harvest. I also pulled around 1/2 of the total number planted for green onions. Jay

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Here is a link that might be useful: Photbucket

Larry I didn't state it but all of these were started from seeds. The only purchased plants this year were one bunch of Candy onions which matured quite a while back. Jay

Jay, those sure are pretty onions. I think I will pass on starting seed now and experiment with starting bulbing seeds inside later in the year, or early next year. The bunching onions I have started inside did very well but I expect the bulbing onions will need much closer timing.

Larry

luvabasil - 'Sock' may be my own word. LOL I don't really remember what they were called, but they are a big long tube made of a lightweight plastic and they will stretch to fit any size onion. You tie a knot in the bottom, drop in an onion, then tie another knot, etc. Mine have about 15 onions in each sock.

Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Sock

How smart! the onions are separated with good airflow! I think I actually hear thunder. What a good day.

How smart! the onions are separated with good airflow! Now if I can pnly figure out the growing part..
Hey! I think I actually hear thunder. What a good day.

luvabasil, I liked Carol's use of the term 'onion sock', so I used it too and likely will continue using it. Before I found those onion netting tubes at Dixondale, I just used to use legs cut from old pantyhose, putting an onion in and then using a zip-tie, string or twisty tie to bunch up the stocking above one onion before dropping in another onion. The net tubes are very long and hold lots more than a stocking leg ever did, so I can fill one up and hang it in the pantry or the tornado shelter, which allows good air flow all around it.

As far as the growing part, stick with us and, beginning in about January, we'll be discussing onion growing quite a lot. Onions are pretty easy as long as you have the right daylength varieties for your area, well-drained soil, adequate fertility in the soil (onions need a lot of nitrogen because it actually is the size/number of leaves that determine how big bulbing onions will be), and adequate moisture (roughly 1" of moisture ever week ). Also, it helps if you start with bundles of onion plants that are fresh and green (or grow your own from seed), and the right size. Like Goldilocks, you want onion transplants that are not too big and not too small. Avoid using the little bulb-like dry sets that are sold in net bags or plastic bags as much of them are not the right varieties to bulb up big, especially in the south.

Jay, That's a beautiful harvest and I am so proud of you that you raised them from seed. I always want to start my own onions from seed, but never quite get around to it. Maybe I'll try harder to find the time to start them from seed this winter. A lot depends on what sort of rain falls and if we have a bad winter fire season, because if it is a bad winter fire season, I'll be so busy that finding any seed-starting time will be difficult. I'm hoping for lots of fall and winter rain and no winter fire season at all, but who knows if that wish will come true?

There sure is a lot of rain still moving into OK from TX. I hope those of you in the path of the storms get a lot of rain today, and the more rain, the merrier.

Dawn

Dawn, Those are the long day onions that I grew although I am not supposed to be in a long day area according to the map. I learn a little more about onions every year and maybe someday I will get those huge ones like Busy1 grows. LOL

Those are just hanging in the end of my kitchen pantry but seem to be doing OK there. I think bag ties would be a better choice for separators, then you could remove them easily and probably re-use the sock. I haven't started using from those two socks yet because I have been using the short day types that probably won't store as long.

It's amazing how heavy that sock is when filled with onions.

Carol,
I was very happy overall with the size of this years crop. Especially the late harvest. The onions from Burrell's I grew are called fall onions. And I see why. The part I don't like is you have to water them through the heat. I would conservatively say at least 50% of my harvest was 4 1/2 inches in diameter or larger and those have ran 1 1/2 to 1 lb 14 oz. There were more consistently large onions this year than I've ever had. I can't touch Busy but for me and my conditions I feel I'm gradually finding varieties and methods that work for me here. I was settled on varieties till Dixondale removed some of them and haven't added any intermediates to replace them. Till the last 3 years I had done well growing some short day and some long day types. It seems that in this drought they haven't sized up well. I know other market growers around here are having the same issue. All but one of the local greenhouse/nurseries that sell plants started onions from seed this year. All because their customers weren't having much success with the Dixondale varieties offered. I hope that maybe Dixondale will add some varieties for our growing conditions and area. Jay

Jay, I started onions from seed and when it was time to put them into the ground, I just had too much going on in my life and finally just dumped them out. I only did it because I had several packages that had come in a little grab bag thing I bought and I know that onion seed doesn't last long. It is such a pain if you try to plant them when they are too small so I wanted to wait, but I waited so long they were crowded. I had also ordered Dixondale onions with the group, so I knew I would have plenty.

I really like the Candy onion for taste, but I had planted those in a raised bed this year because I was concerned about onions staying too wet in the ground. Well that was a joke on me this year because we were very dry. I didn't fertilize them at all after they went in the ground, and didn't water them nearly enough. Although they weren't as big as normal, they were nice onions and have remained firm and nice where some of my white ones have not.

The onions in the picture above were Ringmaster which is a long day onion with a size potential of 5 inches. I didn't have any that large, but most of them were still a fair size. They got no extra fertilizer, but did get watered because the soaker hose went through that bed when I watered other things. They continued green and growing for more than a month after the others had died back.

I can't say if I will order onion plants again this year, but if I do, I will probably do a direct order. Because of the number of bunches I order, the price comes out about the same when I figure the postage from the group order. I sometimes see Dixondale onions for sale in my area, but they don't look as fresh as the ones we order direct.

I have been a little confused by the onion information anyway. I have seen info that long day types can be grown at 36 degrees latitude, and others that say 38-55. I am above 36, but not 38 of course. The Dixondale map shows me in the top of the short day, and the middle of the intermediate day, but I think they only jog up and get the top of Oklahoma to make it simple because the panhandle and a strip that width of Oklahoma are above 36. Because of that, I had never tried to grow a short day type. This year I grew a variety, all from purchased Dixondale plants, and I was quite pleased with the long-day type. The only problem is that they stay in the ground longer than the others so getting a 2nd crop of something in the same space is harder because by the time they finish we are into very hot weather.

So here is my plan for 2013, even if I do buy some plants. I have ordered seeds for two long day types and I am going to plant 4-5 seed into a 2 inch block and plant them as a transplant block when it is time to put onions in my garden in late February. My hope is that I will get four onions per block and as they grow they will push apart. Because I am planting more seeds to the block I will not plant them close. This should make weeding and fertilizing an easier task because there will be more space in between. I will probably order some shorter intermediate day seeds as well, just to make this experiment fair, because clearly I should be in the intermediate area.

Carol,

I think that onion science, while fairly precise, cannot always predict which onions will grow at a precise latitude.

Obviously I can grow short day types here and they do just fine, but they mature awfully early and I tend to get bigger onions from intermediate types. It varies, though, depending on how warm March, April and May are. If March stays pretty cold, the onions get off to a slower start and the short day types will have smaller bulbs than they will if March was warmer.

I think it is great you're finding you can grow some types that aren't "supposed" to grow well at your latitude.

I have tried a few long day types here just to see what they do. What they do is they do not bulb up well, but they do bulb up a little. There's no way to know that for sure about any given area other than by trying it. I think garden experimentation is fun.

Dawn

Jay, those are pretty nice onions!

I am very pleased with Onion Socks, I not see single onion spoiled in those socks so far. Thanks Dawn for lovely gift.

Only difference I made is instead of storing one per knot, I added 5-8 onions per knot to store more with less socks. Here is how they looks

I have tried all types short, long and intermediate, later is better, but I prefer growing all types so that I can harvest them as early as possible to as late as you can for longer supply of fresh onions!

This year, I have harvested them 3 times. When I took below pic, there were still another batch in the bed. and another havest 2 weeks before (in trays)

-Chandra

Chandra, What a great idea. I noticed that it would spread much wider than required, but I didn't think of multiple onions at each node. Great idea.

Jay - Those onions are beautiful!!

I am going to give growing from seed a try this year. I did it once, but they were real small onions, inside. Now I want to try them outside, I am curious now. hehehehehe (usually leads to trouble with me...LOL)

Chandra - Nice stash!

I am going to get some onion socks, I lost half my harvest of onions last year, and now I know why...lack of air.

Chandra, That's a great idea. I never thought about putting so many onions together in the onion socks in a bunch like that. I am going to do that next year.

Ezzirah, I love the onion socks, and plain netting bags also work well although you can get more rot whenever you have onions touching one another. I will link the source of the onion mesh tubes and I believe they also sell netting bags there too.

When storing onions, to get them to last as long as possible, don't harvest them while they're wet, cure them well to dry them thoroughly before storing, and make sure they have good air flow in storage. I often have onions store from harvest in June until December or January before they start sprouting. Then, if more onions begin sprouting than I can use in that time frame, I take them outside and plant them in the ground. They will flower and that is very important because their tiny flowers early in the season attract a lot of beneficial insects to the garden at a time when there are few other blooms to attract them.

The experts tell us that the types of onions (sweet onions) that grow well in the south don't store well---just for a couple of months. However, while that may be true in general, I've learned that well-cured, well-stored onions sometimes can store for 4-6 months easily, and sometimes for up to 8 months. That's especially true of onions grown in drier years. If grown in a very wet year like 2004 or 2007, they have such a high water content that nothing you do can prolong their storage for an extra-long time.

I'm going to link the page with the mesh tubes, but if you go to the 'harvest aids' page on that website, you can find their mesh storage bags too, as well as other supplies. Of course, you also can see what onion varieties they intend to have for 2013's planting season. If anyone wants to experiment with planting onions early, Dixondale ships short-day types beginning in November. In a typical winter, I wouldn't plant early, but in a year like last year, I wish I had tried it.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Mesh Onion Storage Tubes at Dixondale Farm

Ok, now I am really confused on timing....short day in November? Are you planting onions my day light hours and not the calendar?

How you do "cure" onions?

Ezzirah,
I will attach a link. I'll add a few of my opinions and observations. And I learn a little and change some of my thoughts every year. The length of daylight triggers bulbing in onions if they are of a certain size when that length of daylight occurs. A better tool that I've found to use rather that the 3 group types(short day, intermediate and long day) is the latitude range that a variety grows best in. Some sites list it and others don't. Another tool you can use is some list varieties as short short day and long short day. I'm on the very northern edge of the short day area. I've found I can grow those listed as long short day types or those that will grow well in latitude 37 or very close to that latitude. I have grown both short and long day types with success if I'm careful in the selection. I avoid long long day types and short short day types. The latitude a grower in in determines a lot of what they can grow. With that being said Red Candy Apple is listed as an intermediate type and it doesn't size up well here for me or other growers I know who have tried it. Other climate factors enter in also. I grew two varieties developed and grown along the Arkansas River valley approx 70 miles north of me this year. They are intermediate Sweet Spanish types. They are listed as a fall onion. What I've been told is day length triggers bulbing if the plant has enough leaves and growth when the correct day length occurs. So being these varieties are normally planted directly outside in the fields in late Feb or the first half of March the plants are too small to bulb when the day length is getting longer. So the plants grow till the day length triggers them as the day length grows shorter after summer solstice. I just pulled most of these onions this week. The types like Candy came out in June if memory serves me correctly. I didn't start the seeds for these varieties earlier last year as I didn't receive one variety till the last day of Jan. I just read a guide today that stated for growers in Kansas to start their seeds in Dec for a March transplant if they want plants to mature before summer solstice rather than after. I will list the varieties I'm going to grow soon along with those that did well and those that didn't this year. In summary I look for the latitude range on a variety first if it is available, then I look for terms like short long day, long short day and finally I look at the type designation. And if starting by seeds you have a lot of intermediates to choose from. From most growers you are offered 2-3 choices if ordering plants. Jay

Here is a link that might be useful: Dixondale onion zones

Ezzirah,

If you're looking at the Dixondale catalog and wondering, for example, who would want short-day onions shipped beginning November 5th, or intermediate daylength onions shipped beginning December 3rd, the answer is that folks who live along the Gulf Coast and in some places where there is no to very little cold winter weather can/do plant that early. In fact, in some of those areas, the weather gets very hot so early in spring that it is necessary to plant their onions in fall or winter so they can make great leaf growth before the spring heat gets too hot for them to grow well.

When I lived in zone 8 in Texas just 80 miles south of where I live now, we often planted our onions the first week in January. Here in southern OK, our recommended planting time is around February 12th, but in a warm winter like last year, I'll plant a couple of weeks earlier than that. I even planted them January 1st here in southern OK in a hot, dry winter in the very early 2000s and they did great, but most winters if I plant onions in early January, they get too cold at some point after that and go dormant, and then bolt when they come out of dormancy. That's why all of us don't just go ahead and plant onions when we plant garlic---the chances of the onions bolting after prolonged exposure to temperatures at or below 45 degrees is too high.

One of my favorite onions is widely known by two names: Texas Supersweet and Texas 1015Y. Guess what the 1015 stands for? A planting date of October 15th in the onion-growing areas of south Texas where this onion was bred and developed. Of course, that doesn't mean we can plant it on October 15th here a few hundred miles north of that area.

To add to what Jay said, Red Candy Apple was a big disappointment for me in the two years I grew it. It just did not size up well. I had hoped, based on its name, that it might be a red version of Candy. Well, it does not compare favorably to Candy in terms of size. Candy gets huge. Red Candy Apple certainly has not, though admittedly two years is not a long trial period. I did follow Dixondale's advice and fertilize it very heavily with nitrogen in the second year and got much larger onions than the first year, but still am not impressed with it overall. I am not sure why Red Candy Apple has to have a lot of extra nitrogen given to it in order to get it to perform as well as other onions perform on less nitrogen. I'm rarely disappointed with any short-day or intermediate daylength onion that Dixondale sells, but Red Candy Apple is a big disappointment. This year I just picked up a red bermuda type onion at Wal-Mart and it performed much, much better than RCA. It might have been 'Creole'. I don't remember.

Dawn

I haven't found a red onion that performs as well for me as white and yellow ones do. I have purchased some nice red onions and would like to find some to plant that would get that big.

Carol, In general, there are no red short-day or intermediate-day onions that ever will approach the size of Candy or Texas Supersweet. Most red onions that grow here are going to max out at 3-4" in diameter under the best of conditions, versus the 4-6" that some good white and yellow onions can achieve.

The Red Bull onion Jay mentioned likely would bulb up for you, though maybe not as much as it would for people further north. I haven't seen it offered anywhere as plants, but the last time I looked, it still was available as seed--likely at Johnny's or someplace similar that caters a bit more toward market growers.

The red onion that Dixondale used to sell that did really well for me was Stockton Red. It made the biggest red onions I've ever raised. Any red grano or red granex type you can find likely would get larger than Red Candy Apple and maybe as big as Stockton Red. I also really like Red Burgundy. I usually see it in local stores in winter as bundled plants.

Southern Belle Red and Red Creole do not get as large for me as Stockton Red, although I think I only grew them together one year for comparison's sake, and one year is not necessarily a long-enough trial. Red Burgundy sometimes gives me pretty good-sized bulbs and sometimes does not.

Dawn

Carol I hesitate to judge a variety of any species on one season especially here. The pink/purple or whatever you want to call it Bronze D' Amposti is the best overall non white/yellow I've grown especially for a milder onion. Like I said I have seeds for a supposed to be large red super sweet onion from Australia I will try to grow next year. First we will have to see if the seeds germinate. If it does well and any bolt which I can't imagine them not doing I will save some seeds next summer. I purchased the Bronze D' Amposta seeds from Baker Creek. Johnny's sells seeds for the Red Bull but says it if for latitudes 43-65. Mine is 37 but in the past it did well here. Can't remember if I grew it one or two seasons. The only place I see Stockton Red seeds listed are at Seeds of Change. I have never ordered from them but may order a few of them for comparison purposes. I don't remember ever growing them before.
Dawn I had very similar issues with Red Candy Apple . Basically I feel I could go at least a year and not add anything to my soil and produce a good crop of most veggies. I do add at least something to the garden every year. I shred and add all the leaves along with manure and alfalfa compost. And on the onions and garlic I usually add extra. I just can't believe that it is the soils fault that Red Candy Apple won't size up here. I feel it is more weather related. I think some onion varieties are like varieties of other crops. They don't tolerate the heat and wind very well. I expected the SE CO varieties to do at least decent here as they were developed in this area. Was somewhat surprised at how well the Bronze D' Amposta did though. I haven't measured any bulbs from the garden yet that went over 5 inches but several very close. I think at least 2 of the 4 left in the garden will go over 5 inches in diameter. I also had more conformity in size this year. Jay

Thanks Dawn and Jay. They will likely do better for you than they do for me because I am not one to fertilize a lot. Al grew up on a rice farm and he thought fertilizer was a must, so I probably went the other way just to prove I could. LOL I do add compost, leaves, chicken house cleanings, etc to prepare the soil, but I always forget to fertilizer the onions at the right time. When I remember, it is too late. They grow anyway, bu just don't get as big.

Jay, I haven't been to that part of Missouri lately, but we will go soon and I will buy Bronze D' Amposta at Baker Creek and give it a try.

Dawn, I usually only order from Johnny's about once a year, and I've already spent my dollars there for this year. That was the only place I could find the greenhouse plastic I wanted to use, and some seedling trays that work better for soil blocks than the big open ones. I'll try to remember onions on my next order from them.

I had two problems with Red Candy Apple from Dixondale. (1) They didn't size up, (2) You had to peel off so many layers to get down to the usable onion, that it was really small then.

I have another question though. I have read on line that a Crystal Wax is a small onion normally used for pickling and bar use, but Willhite has an onion called White Bermuda (Crystal Wax) that says it is a 2.5 to 3.5 inch onion. Is this the same onion?

Good newsletter on onions this month.

Here is a link that might be useful: Willhite Onions

Carol, I like their newsletter. It does exactly what it is intended to do---it makes me want to buy seeds.

I forgot to answer your question about growing Crystal Wax for pickling. They are often used for pickling, but they obviously get bigger than the bite-sized onions that I think of when we are talking about pickled onions. If I was going to grow a variety for pickled onions, I'd choose a pearl onion variety that produces small, bite-sized onions---something like Territorial Seed's Pacific Pearl Onion.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Pacific Pearl

Dawn, thanks. I don't grow onions for pickling, but I had read an article about using that particular onion for pickling so that made me think it would not grow large bulbs, then I saw the Willhite listing that says up to 3-1/2 inches.

If nothing crazy happens in my life this Spring, I want to start onion seed early and compare several types. It will take more effort than just buying plants so I may not want to do it forever, but who knows.

I bought my Sweet Spanish seeds from Willhite and had an offer from a friend for some others, so we are going to trade out a few. If (or when, haha) I go to Baker Creek, I will buy the Bronze D' Amposta that Jay grew also. It sure is nice to walk past the onions in the grocery store for a whole year. Last year a few onions came in my co-op food order that I did last winter, but otherwise, I didn't have to buy onions. I didn't freeze any this year but I still have left over frozen ones from the year before. I probably have another month's worth of small onions to use, then about 30 onions (2 socks) of the long keeping onions that I haven't started using. I planted a few bunching onions under my row cover with my salad greens. I also have walking onions that come back every year, but I usually just use the green tops of them.

Hello Everyone,
Can anybody let me know which hybrid onion variety is this? How sell its seeds in Idaho or rest of USA? Any thought....!

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Thanks.

Azee where were these purchased? That will help narrow it down some. But if they are from a grocery store then they likely are one of the commercial varieties being grown and many times seeds of them aren't available to the public. I've had trouble obtaining seeds for a few I want to try.Jay

Azee, I agree with Jay. We need some sort of clue about where they were purchased or grown before we can try to figure out which onion they are.

Jay, To grow a grocery store variety, you can try what I have done in the past. Buy the onions you want to grow in the store. Store them until green sprouts start emerging. Then, plant them in pots (or in the ground) and wait for them to flower. After they flower, you should be able to harvest seed from the dried seedheads, or if you plant them in the ground and let them flower there, they'll drop the seed to the ground and you might get volunteers whenever the temperatures are right for germination. I get volunteers here from self-sown seed but my weather and soil are different from yours, so I don't know if you'd get volunteers there. The seed might wash too deeply into your sand in heavy rainfall, which normally isn't a problem in my clay...the seed rarely goes into the soil and often sprouts practically on top of the ground but roots into the clay then. If I put the onions in the sandy area under the pecan tree, I do get volunteers there sometimes.

Dawn

Well, I have taken these pictures from Pakistan.
This ia a hybrid variety with a very uniform bulbs & its seeds had been imported from a German seed company but i don't know which one. I have seen its storage capicity up to one year. Its really excellent. Believe me.
I have also heard that such varieties are grown in west africa but those will be non hybrids.
Can anybody recommend a hybrid from USA or else where like this? I havn't seen any sort of week point in it.
Please help.