From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Come on you guys cough up some tips for growing these things as big as a volleyball.
Light
Pruning
Soil
Spacing
Fertilizer

2/12/2007 10:26:10 AM

Netherlands

I asked the same on another vegetable website but didn't get an answer. This is what I have found doing some googling.

These regard Kelsae onions which I plan to grow this year once I get some seed.

The current record is just over 17 lbs and dates from 2005.

Tips and hints:
1. Dig deep, making a trench which you refill with layers of manure and really good topsoil. It should be well settled before planting out time, so begin this in January at the latest.

2. Start early, sowing seed in trays, rather sparingly, in a reasonable compost in a cool room or greenhouse where the temperature will be somewhere between 50F and 60F. Too much heat is apt to produce weak, lanky seedlings.

3. When the onion seedlings are about an inch tall and - still at the looped stage – pot them up, using long pots: biodegradable growing tubes which should be available at a good gardening centre. These are perhaps no more than two or three inches wide at the top but are more than twice that in depth, designed to help plants develop long and straight tap roots. Old gardeners use toilet roll inners – same thing really! When you put a seedling at the top and keep the container fairly dry, the roots will reach to the bottom of the tube in search of moisture.

4. The young onions will need careful attention to maintain growth right through until planting out in April - biodegradable pots mean you don’t disturb the root which is important to getting really big onions.

2/12/2007 1:08:14 PM

Netherlands

Light - lots
Pruning - none
Soil - see above
Spacing - about a square foot per plant
Fertilizer - no idea

I am going to be growing them in three totally different locations to see what the difference will be.

Hope this helps a bit.

2/12/2007 1:10:58 PM

Antigonish,Nova Scotia,Canada

Just check in with Don Young,,,,NOT Bohica Tom!!!....LOL

2/12/2007 3:49:54 PM

Williamsport, Pa.

onions like wet feet, lots of compost, hit them with a little nitrogen early on, plant as soon as you can work the ground... plant, plants not bulbs

2/12/2007 3:51:07 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

Light,16-24 hrs for the first couple of months.
Winter sown onions will need potting up a few times and should fill up an 8" pot by April.
Pruning,? never heard of it.
Spacing,3-4 sq.ft each plant.

Heat may be a problem for some u.s. growers causing early ripening.

2/12/2007 4:26:56 PM

Cornwall UK.(50N 5W)300ft.

After a very long wait giantveg.co.uk is back up here is a link to their onion page http://giantveg.co.uk/?page_id=59
The polythene they mention is black on one side white on the other you have it black side up for warming the soil and turn it over when you plant out so the white side reflects light back up to the plant,that may also make heat problems worse for some.There are also some onion pics in my 2002 diary.

2/12/2007 4:57:06 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Here is some info I got from talking to an onion farmer...
Before planting, apply a balanced fertilizer (10-20- 10) in bands three inches below the surface, and within 10 inches of where you'll plant the onions. Phosphate, potash, copper, manganese, and zinc are usually applied only at planting.
Once the onions are established (three weeks after planting), they'll require more nitrogen for leaf formation. An onion typically generates a new leaf every 2-3 weeks.
The perfect onion has 13 rings, so the key is to generate as many large leaves as you can before the onion starts bulbing.

Feeding the onion every 2-3 weeks with a good source of nitrogen, such as ammonium sulfate (21-0- 0), or Blood meal is essential. Water the onions after every application, because the only way for the plant to take up the nitrogen is through the root system. Once the onion starts bulbing, additional nitrogen shouldn't be applied, since it will produce bulbs with thick necks. These won't shrink on drying, and therefore won't store well

2/12/2007 5:21:40 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

HMMMM Me Thinks I will grow the Largest Onion ever Muh ha ha ha aaaaah...

2/12/2007 9:17:06 PM

try to get big plants before they start to bulb.
bulbing is day length sensitive

2/13/2007 1:20:38 PM

Rochester, Minnesota

It would be great if competitions included a category for largest onion. I think some of the insane people I hang around with (birds of a feather) could grow a few 20 to 40 pounders on a dare.

2/13/2007 2:40:00 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Jim is that a challenge...just leave your cocktail onions home come October :)

2/13/2007 3:53:04 PM

Bethlehem CT

Every year I grow walla walla and a large sweet spanish type. Starting very early december or January,then potting into individual 3 or 4" peat pots. I really think that the onions thrive when there roots don't have to be disturbed at transplanting time. I used to grow them in flats and plant them out. These ones take longer to get going because of the transplant shock. I plant them outside as soon as the soil is ready in spring. Keep the plants free of onion thrips, and other pests. Onions don't have a ton of foliage. The little they have needs to be healthy.

2/14/2007 10:29:30 AM

Montoursville, PA

Talk to your friends, talk to your site coordinator. For the cost of a couple of ribbons I'd bet any other vegetable could be included. Two or three guys could sponsor a two ribbon event to get it started.
......Some sites do have other vegetable or fruit competition. All it takes is some help to the organizing committee and maybe a few bucks sponsorship. Bet you can find the helping hand at the end of your arm.

2/18/2007 9:44:27 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

OHH I QUIT...that new guy in england has onions as big as a softball already. Mine look like chives.

2/28/2007 2:34:29 PM