Onions and grapes

 

Glenn Berman and Peter Goren lay out the footprint of the new grape arbor

Plans have been drawn, consultations have been had, materials are being assembled, and on Wednesday Peter and Glenn laid out the grape arbor which we are carving out from an uncultivated space adjacent to the VegHeadz Garden.  The arbor, designed to stretch 16’ long and 8’ wide, will host several varieties of grapes and will provide an informal laboratory for growing dooryard grapes and a cool shady place for gardeners to gather, catch their breath, and exchange ideas.  

But there’s more going on at the Garden.  It’s time to plant alliums—onions, garlic, leeks and shallots.  The VegHeadz planted sweet onion transplants on Wednesday and will plant sets for multiple varieties of garlic, shallots and multiplying onions next week.  

Granex onion transplants ready
to go in the ground 

There’s a lot to be said about onions because they have different growing habits and requirements than many other vegetables.  Two sets of characteristics distinguish onion types.  The first is important depending on where you live.  

Should you plant long day or short day bulbing onions?   In our north Florida area, short day onions work best.  In more northern latitudes, onions are grown in the summer when days are long.   Because onions need cooler weather to grow well, here in north Florida we grow onions in fall and winter when days are shorter.  Therefore we want to grow onions that have a lower requirement for hours of sunlight — hence short day.

The second characteristic depends on how you wish to use your harvest.   Do you want bulbing onions, which once harvested must be planted again next year, or do you use more scallions or flavoring types, most of which are perennial and are classified as multiplying or bunching onions.  They can be partially harvested and left to continue growing.

A third question is what’s the best way to plant onions, with seed, transplants, or sets?

Bulbing onions are the most tricky to grow.  We have had success with sweet Granex onions, which is the variety we planted from transplants on Wednesday. Transplants usually come in bundles of 50 or 100. We ordered them this year from an onion farm in Texas which ships onion seedlings to Georgia every year.  Only approved yellow Granex varieties are allowed in the 20 county region surrounding Vidalia, Georgia, which grow “Vidalia” onions.  Sweet Granex onions were developed in Texas by crossing a variety known as 1015 with Bermuda onions.  While we can grow these sweet onions, and they are delicious, Vidalia onions are uniquely sweet because of the soil in the area where they are grown in Georgia, which is low in sulphur.

Various types of multiplying onions, 
shallots and garlic ready to 
be planted 

For the many types of multiplying onions, it’s easier to plant with sets, which are tiny onion bulbs, harvested and dried before reaching maturity and going to seed.  They can also be grown by dividing clumps.  Bulbing or bunching onions can also be grown from seed,  providing an opportunity to try different varieties such as the Ishikura Japanese bunching onions we are now growing which are not available as sets.  Starting them in flats and transplanting into the garden works best.  Last year we planted sweet bulbing onion transplants grown from seed by VegHead Peggy MacDonald.  They grew to medium onion size and stored well.  

Leeks can be grown from seed sown directly in the garden or started earlier in flats and transplanted to the garden from October to November.

Garlic can be tricky to grow in our area, but it can be grown from the individual cloves from bulbs purchased at the grocery store. There are also two types of garlic—hard neck and soft neck. Those you find at the grocery store often have a hard stem in the center of the bulb. This is hard neck garlic which grows better in northern areas. For our north Florida area, soft neck varieties are better and by purchasing them from nurseries and seed suppliers you can select from more varieties than those you find in grocery stores.  If you want to grow hard neck varieties, it’s better to order them early and refrigerate them for 6 to 8 weeks before planting. If you’re interested in the hows and whys of hard neck and soft neck garlic, see a southern garlic growers guide here.

To plant any of the transplants or sets, start with a bed of loose, well drained soil in full sun.  Dig a trench 2 to 4 inches deep and fill several inches of compost and/or apply organic fertilizer.  Then create a raised bed at least 4” high with watering trenches on each side.  To discourage weeds you can use a pre-emergent herbicide such as corn gluten meal in the top 1 to 2 inches of soil to prevent new weeds germinating.

Plant transplants one inch deep.  Plant sets and garlic cloves 1 to 2 inches deep.  Water thoroughly.  Soil should be kept moist throughout the growing season and fertilizer or additional compost can be added periodically to encourage the best growth. Onions are heavy feeders.

For more about the different types of onions and how to grow them, see this article published in the Tallahassee Democrat several years ago:  http://blogs.tallahassee.com/community/2018/12/20/meet-the-onion-family/ and another good reference:  https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/2021/12/15/up-your-gardening-game-with-sweet-onions/.