Walla Walla I did not get a pic of.

Looks great! I chronicled my whole onion growing one year, hope this is helpful: https://www.petersgarden.info/blog/category/onions

Your spacing is fine. Mine will all germinate over about a one week period if they are going to at all. It sounds like you used a source of bottom heat to get germination in 2 days because onion seed normally takes 5-7 days minimum. Warm soil temperatures are not required for alliums and may actually be detrimental. That may be the issue with your Pontiac.

FYI - I tried Pontiac last year for the first and last time. They germinated fine but did not bulb up worth a dang. Candy, Superstar, and Red Candy from Dixondale starts in the same bed did fine. I hope you have better luck with Pontiac than I did!

I did use bottom heat, but it is COLD in that room. Ambient temps in the mid 50s. The grow light does warm the immediate area to the 70s during the day, though.

Thanks for the heads-up on Pontiac. Do you think it’s just too long-day for your area or something else? Johnny’s rates it down to 36° latitude, so it should be OK…it is ranked for lower latitudes than Patterson, which is ranked to 38° and is the other newer ‘Copra-like’ storage onion. I’m technically about a degree further north than you (39.16).

For what it’s worth, Candy did last 5 months for me – a few did start sprouting, but we ate them all before they were no longer useable. Sierra Blanca/Superstar sprouted and went soft by Thanksgiving for the most part.

I’m trying Zoey also this year, which is supposed to store about as well as Candy.

Speaking of Johnny’s, their chart only shows Candy storing about a month, but nobody’s experience, nor any other source, suggests that it’s that short-term of an onion.

I'm really not sure what the problem was with Pontiac last year. I'm at 38.5 North so latitude shouldn't have been an issue. The plants just did not grow well and had thin, short leaves and only 8 or 9 per plant IIRC. I also grew Red Marble Cippolini from seed last year and they did well. I've grown Candy, Superstar, Ringmaster, Walla Walla, Copra, and Red Defender from seed in years past and got good sized bulbs from all of them.

With a late June or early July harvest and one month cure hanging in my shed ,Superstar and Red Candy only last until late October/early November for me in my 60ish degree basement but Candy will store into December. The only time I've grown Copra it didn't store any better than Candy for me.

I think Johnny's chart is incorrect. Dixondale Farms lists Candy's storage potential as 3 months.

When I start to see any sign of sprouting on white or yellow onions I start chopping and freezing them, dehydrate some, and make a big batch of onions rings and freeze those.

My Candy onions lasted very well for me this year. I harvested them in mid July and just sold the last of them Saturday. The Copra onions are still in excellent shape, but I only have a few hundred left so they won't last too much longer either.

Tom - that is some great onion storage! Can I ask what are the storage conditions? I assume somewhere around 40 degrees to last that long.

And welcome back to GW! Looks like you have been a member since 2005 but hadn't posted for awhile. I hope you stick around and share your gardening knowledge with us from your market growing perspective.

LoneJack- You are right- My storage temperature is most often around 40 degrees with at times as low as 34. I keep them on the warm/house side of my garage off the floor in ventilated market trays. I also drape burlap over the top and sides.

I really never have time to post much as I am doing 98 per cent of all the work on my 10 acre farm. January and February are pretty slow for me but come March I begin the scrambling all over again until the ground freezes. I extend the growing season on both ends with the use of a 90x20 high tunnel . I do quite a few winter markets and really gear up my production for them starting in July. Carrots are my #1 seller year round followed by greens then tomatoes. Right now at the winter markets I am selling pea shoots, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, rutabaga, turnips, and soup beans. I grow 25 varieties of soup beans, hand shell them and sell them year round with best sales for them in the winter. I am not certified but grow everything organically.

The problem in my area, as with our somewhat warmer climate, it just doesn’t get particularly cool in the garage until sometime in November, and by that time a lot of the onions are already on their way out. At harvest time it’s actually *hot* in the garage.

I started off with them in the basement, but in the summer even my basement is in the upper 60s.

I have the same issues with storage. If I have any that are still hard and in good shape come October I move them to the garage but that is usually not very many. I'm hoping to keep some Copra thru at least January this next year.

At least it won't be too much longer before Vidalia onions are available in the stores...usually early April here.

I have an extra fridge in my basement now and can probably fit at least 20 lbs. in the veggie bins so I'll be using those to extend onion storage this year. I have about 10 lbs. of saved potato tubers in one bin now.

Tom - it sounds like you have a great operation going on there and I can understand why you don't have much time to post during the season. I'd like to maybe grow enough to sell at a weekly market someday after I retire but unfortunately that is a few years away yet. In the meantime I can gradually expand my plot a little each year.

LoneJack- I like your plan! You might even think about trying to do a Saturday market while you are still working. Little by little I expanded my gardens for 34 years at my old house. I used to joke that by retirement I hoped to have no more grass to mow. After I had everything in fruits and vegetable I began doing a farmers market 1 mile from my home. After a couple years it was time to move so we decided to take early retirement and bought a 10 acre farm in the country. I can't say it's been easy, but it's my passion and I really enjoy bringing fantastic tasting organic fruits and vegetables to the market for people to enjoy.

One question- Are you getting good air flow in your shed when drying out your onions? I stack mine up high in ventilated bins/crates on one end of my barn-then open the doors on both ends. The wind really blows them dry- I mean very dry!

Tom - I probably have enough acreage already. A little over 5 but about 3+ of that is timber. I also have access to a couple other nearby properties to grow if I want to. I'm planting a patch of sweet corn at one of them this year. No fruit trees yet but I've been kicking around the idea of getting a few peaches and/or apples. I'm out in the country south east of KC with the nearest good sized farmer's market about 20 miles away. I won't have enough product to justify going to a Saturday market until I at least double my plot but I might put up a stand on weekends to sell veggies to my neighborhood of about 150 homes.

I hang my onions and garlic from the rafters of my shed for about a month. I leave the 8' door open on one end and a small window on the other and have a fan blowing on them 24/7 so I think the air flow is sufficient for a good cure. After curing I trim stems and roots and put them in mesh bags and hang in my basement. I may try extending the cure a couple more weeks this year to make sure the necks are extra dry.

Do you use Dixondale starts for your onions or do you grow them from seed? This year I'm just growing leeks and bunching onions from seed and buying Dixondale starts locally @ $2.50/bunch for Copra, Candy, Red Candy, and Superstar.

LoneJack-Sounds like you have enough land already. I was able to supply a 6 hour market on a 3/4 acre lot. I grew very intensively on every inch replanting any time there was more space.

I too think your air flow is good. The only thing I would add is that I let them cure longer- probably more like 2 months.

I use some Dixondale but also start thousands by seed. I also start leeks by seed.

I don't know why this has gone to italics and don't know how to fix it.

How does the size of the Red Candy onions compare to Candy? I grow red onions which I have been saving seed from for 20 some years, but it never gets much bigger than a baseball.

Tom - thanks for the curing info! I will definitely give my onions a longer cure this year. I'm getting a pretty good handle on succession planting and what works well following what so I rarely have any open space for very long.

Red Candy will get to around 3" diameter for me or maybe a smidge bigger so a couple inches smaller then Candy's potential. I would really like to try Redwing but Johnny's seed shows them only adapted to 43-65 N latitude. Redwing is supposed to be the best red keeper at 10+ months. My brother grows it in his central Wisconsin garden. If you are in northern Illinois you might be able to grow it.

The Pontiacs (middle) really do appear weak and sparse in comparison.

IME Onion pungency and storage times vary greatly based on the sulfur content of your soil. Even my Ailsa Craigs come out pungent in my high sulfur soil, and store for 6+ months. If you don't mind onion pungency, maybe add some sulfur to your beds to increase storage longevity?

I have never had much luck with getting large red onions. I assume it is my climate, too short a season for them here they always seem to be very long DTM.