 ONION Allium cepa The most desirable onions from the Urban Hominids point of view, are the red salad onions, which are sweet and desirable for summer salads. They can be sown in early spring for summer harvest. (The other alternative time to sow onions, autumn sowing, is not a practical proposition for the coldest areas, but autumn sowing can be done in warm temperate areas). |
Most of the world's onions are grown in a specific latitude, and grown outside these latitudes they do not do well, bulbing poorly or going to seed. Low latitude areas, such as New Zealand, need to grow their own locally adapted varieties. In the storage, rather than sweet salad class, hard, long storage onions are the only ones to grow. These can be sown either now or, in autumn. Onions don't need much other than a general fertiliser. Too much nitrogenous fertiliser causes excessive top growth at the expense of bulbing. Thin the seedlings to about 75mm apart, about 100mm for the sweet types. Harvest the bulbs when the tops fall over, and dry them off in the sun or a shed for at least a week before removing the tops.
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ONION, PICKLING-while 'smalls' of the standard onions of commerce are often readily available, extra special pickles can be made with 'mini' onions such as 'purplette'. These have the additional virtue of the thinnings being able to be used as spring onions. Purplette-Sow in spring, 1.5 cm between seeds. Use them as a spring onion, or harvest them at about golf ball size. The attractive burgundy color fades to murky pink when cooked. Almost skinless-a very useful attribute when preparing lots for pickles!
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ONION, SPRING Allium fistulosum (perennial), Allium cepa (annual) 'bunching onions(USA), 'Scallions' (a name also used for shallots).One of the most easily grown and valuable plants for the home gardener! Spring onions are well suited to growing in pots on the deck; the thinnings are useful; and they are hardy. Mature plants of A.fistulosum ('Welsh' onion) flower in spring, attracting myriads of bumblebees and other pollinating insects. They can be divided now, but are much better left until autumn. Seed grown spring onions can be picked over a fairly long period before they start going to flower. As the plants get older and mature, they get hotter and more pungent. Sow frequently for a continuing supply of the mildest and sweetest spring onions.Sow in early spring to be ready in early summer. Ideally, sow into potting mix for best germination, as onion seed needs good drainage, and even moisture to do well. Germination is fairly slow, 2-3 weeks, and adequate water for a week or so after germination is important. They don't compete well with weeds. White stem types--A.fistulosum.'White Welsh', 'White Bunching' 'Supreme Long White','Straight Leaf'-little or no swelling of the base into bulbs A.cepa 'White Lisbon' cold resistant , some bulbing Red stem types A.fistulosum 'Matador Red', 'Red Bunching', 'Red Streak'.Slightly later maturing (2 months, 1½ weeks vs 2 months for most others) with reddish stems
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