Gurneys, VermontBean, and Territorial at least are still offering seed for sale on their websites so you might want to place and order with them and get another 2 or 3 years growing it as long as you don't mind starting it from seed indoors.

I'm guessing what is still up on those sites is 2016 seed. Hybrid onion seed does not age well, but that might be all that is available. IIRC Fedco has offered an open pollinated descendant of Copra that is supposed to keep as well. Hopefully that is still there next spring. If so I suppose I will switch over to that. I have some old seed but I do not expect it to sprout anymore.

Gurneys and Vermont Bean have changed hands some in the past couple of decades. I am not so sure I trust them anymore.

I guess I am still evaluating FEDCO. Not much experience with them, but I sorta like their outlook and displays. I see Jungs still offers Copra, too. We shall see if they offer plants next spring.

As long as the seeds are kept in proper storage and can pass the germination test for the year offered for sale, they will be available as long as the stock holds out. Bejo has moved on to newer varieties so new seed is no longer available. While true in general, hybrid varieties are mostly developed for commercial production and are quickly phased out when a more productive or salable variety is introduced. Patterson is a newer variety that seems to be the heir apparent to Copra. Bejo has introduced several new varieties in that niche including Yankee, Braddock, Festival, Gunnison, Prince, Safrane, etc. They are not readily available to small growers .

I sure hope Copra does not disappear - it is my favorite and I have 400 in the ground bulbing nicely right now. Great size, taste, shape, and storage. I buy plants from Dixondale where it is a very popular long day onion. No word from them yet about its future.

TomNJ/VA

I have only grown Copra from seed one time but I did not get the 9+ month storage that it is known for. I had a couple dozen left when they started sprouting in December IIRC. I had some Candy that stored a little longer so I don't think it was a problem with curing.

It will be interesting to see if Dixondales offers Copra in 2017. They are still offering Superstar even though the breeder changed the name to Sierra Blanca.

Interesting, I have had no problem keeping Copra (a low room temperature - cool end of the kitchen) until May and even a bit farther. I have only grown Copra from plants with about the same success from Jungs and from Dixondale.

I sorta doubt that Dixondale has put up their new catalog yet. It will be interesting for sure to see what they do.

Dixondale says they will have Copra plants for 2017, and that they already have the seed:

" Thank you for your email to us today...as far as I know, and have alerted
Bruce of your email...we are not aware that there is a shortage on seed as of yet. Now with that being said, we do order seed in a year advance. We do have seed for the 2017 season and as far as we know, there isn't a
shortages on plants for this season. We will certainly get in touch with
our seed reps and see what is going on with the retail portion of the Copra seed. Sometimes, when we have the weather patterns, the seed growers are not able to produce the seed or seed is produced and the germination falls below the standard that is required to plant...I believe that is somewhere around mid-80's...then the seed is pulled until that germination is at a larger percentage. If the seed is not able to be produced or the germination is not met, then it is pulled as we went through that a couple years back with Big Daddy. We will look into this, to let the customer base know if there is a problem with us obtaining seed for next year on Copra plants.
Thanks so much,
Mary Caddell
Customer Service/Office Manager
Dixondale Farms
1-877-367-1015 Ext. 15"

Looks like Dixondale will be a source for Copra plants anyway in 2017.

Good deal Dutch....at least you can grow it another year or 2. I may give it another chance next year if I can get some seed. My garden shop here that carries several Dixondale varieties has never offered Copra AFAIK.

Thanks for checking Dutch! Copra is the perfect onion and I'm happy I will have another crop next year!

Tom

Note that Dixondale buys their seed a year ahead; they probably need to start plants early enough that they will still using 2016 seed for 2017 plant crops. I am a bit surprised that this seems to be news to them, but with them having to order ahead of the rest of us, I suppose that is not really all that surprising. Also commercial supply and retail supply are somewhat different things anyway.

I will expect to order Copra plants from them next year.

I heard copra was going to be gone 5 years ago, (I bought a ton of seed along with many others....sort of a run on the market so-to-speak), yet I still find it at most places. It is supposed to be replaced by a newer/better variety, but I think there was/is so much backlash over it's removal that production has been continued. I expect it is going to be phased out eventually.

Dixondale's 2017 catalog just came out and they are offering Copra plants for the new year.

Nice to hear from you Dutch and nice that you will be able to grow Copra once again!

I think I am going to try the Pontiac onions from Johnny's in 2017 for a long keeper. I am down to a couple dozen Candy in storage now plus a few Red Candy left that managed not to sprout yet.

Hey Jack

I haven't exactly had a bright summer, losing not just a small handful of close relatives but also our mother at the end of July. Also some health problems.

And then every time I have time to work the garden it rains the night before and all I have is mud; so my garlic beds have not even been prepared yet much less planted.

On the brighter side all my onions and garlics have stored real well, with virtually no sprouting yet, not even Xian or Japanese or any of the onions. Even onions that bolted for me last summer are storing pretty well. I
think it is in the cure. I don't rush it either, longer on the racks is
definitely far better than too short. Also store dry. I find too many
basements especially in older houses are too moist, mine certainly is.
That is just fine for cured potatoes, if it is cool enough, but not
cured alliums, that really don't want it cool anyway.

If you don't mind little, such as shallot size, the yellow multipliers (also known as yellow Dutch shallots - one of my Dutch ancestral lines brought some with them when they immigrated generations ago - that line has been lost unfortunately) store much better even than Copra (just braid them and hang them somewhere out of the way in the kitchen), and the Green Mountain multipliers which are more of a regular onion size store almost as well. Both would be considered hardy in your area and might not even need digging every year.

Once I get the garlic beds done, I intend to plant some of both types of multipliers, too, along with the garlics and the tulips. Gotta be today and tomorrow though. It is just getting to be too late in the North Country Fair.

Dutch - I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your mother and other relatives. I know it can be very hard to deal with especially in such a short span of time. I can relate somewhat as I lost both of my parents to cancer in a 3 year span when I was in my early 30s. Hang in there and take care of yourself! Have you had a chance to get that pneumonia shot yet? You don't want to get that again.

Some of my garlic did not store so well this year but I am not sure exactly why. No sprouting but some cloves were drying out and browning. I was suspecting that it was too dry in my basement as I had the dehumidifier set to 50% all summer. They all hung in my shed for about 5 weeks with a fan blowing on them 24/7. I dug them a little early so maybe that had something to do with it.

It looks like you may have a window for planting next week especially if the Saturday rain chance falls thru.

I am cutting down on the alliums a bit next year. Just some Red Cippolini, the Pontiac, bunching onions and maybe a few Superstar for salsa.

I had my pneumonia shot last year. There are lots of kinds and not all of them are covered. I'm feeling much better now. CT Scan two weeks ago was much improved to the point that the pulmonary doctor said come back and see me in 6 months. I sorta take that as a good sign...
Jungs sent out an Email notice; so I checked out their catalog and found that they still offer Copra seed, whether that is because they still have stock or just haven't updated the site, I do not know. But I bought a bunch and then we will see if they ship it. If so, I will have enough for both trying to start plants under lights and for growing my own sets. I also have some small bulbs for next spring as well. In the past I have had pretty good luck growing the smaller bulbs on for a second year without bolting. I also have some Stuttgarters that didn't size up well last summer. Maybe they will work a second season, too, though that is not as likely.

Jungs was still offering Copra seed, so I went ahead and ordered some. They have shipped it; so I expect to see it in the next day or two. I expect that this is still seed packaged for 2016; so it may be getting a little long in the tooth. We will find out soon.

Keep us posted on the Copra package date Dutch. There are a couple things at Jungs that peaked my interest so if I decide to order from them this year I may get some Copra seed and give it another try instead of the Pontiac from Johnny's.

Jung's still has seed stock packed for 2016 with a "sell by" date of Dec. 2016, which is the case with the Copra seed I got. The package arrived today which is the kind of quick Jung's response when they are at their best. I have been dealing with Jung's off and on again for years and generally get decent prices and prompt service. The 2017 Jung's catalog is not out yet, but Dixon Dale's is and the later lists Copra plants for 2017.

Looks like the tales of Copra's demise were premature. I see both seed and plants available from several sources for 2017.