The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Onion Family Growing Problems: Troubleshooting

Onions and their close relatives--chives, garlic, shallots, and leeks--are among the oldest of home garden plants. Allium is the genus for these crops. All varieties of Allium require loose, well-drained soil rich in nitrogen.

There are hundreds of varieties of onion family plants. All suffer from similar pest, disease, and cultural problems

Here is a troubleshooting list of possible onion family growing problems with control and cure suggestions:

Plants produce many leaves but no bulbs. Planting time incorrect or temperatures are too warm. Bulbing onion and garlic must be exposed to temperatures of 32° to 50°F for 1 to 2 months before planting to induce bulb formation. Place garlic cloves in the refrigerator for 4 weeks before planting or plant early in season so that cloves are chilled.

Plants are stunted; worms boring into roots. Wireworms are the soil-dwelling larvae of click beetles; they look like wirey-jointed worms. Check soil before planting; flood the soil if wireworms are present. Remove infested plants and surrounding soil. Keep the garden clean and free of plant debris.

Leaves turn silvery and white streaked or blotchy; leaves may become distorted. Onion thrips are most common during dry warm, weather. Keep the garden clean. Blast thrips with water to wash them away. Use insecticidal soap.

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How to Grow Onions

Plant onions sets (small bulblets) 3 to 4 months before the time you want to harvest mature bulbs; plant sets 3 to 4 weeks before you want to harvest immature green onions. Start onion seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the average last frost date in spring, and transplant them into the garden as soon as the soil can be worked.

How to prepare and cook onions: click here.

What is the difference between green onions, spring onions, and scallions? Click here.

Description. The onion is a hardy cool-season biennial usually grown as annual. The onion has narrow hollow leaves and a base which enlarges to form a bulb. The bulb can be white, yellow, or red. Onion flower stalk are taller than the leaves and topped clusters of white or lavender flowers. All varieties can be eaten young--within a few weeks of planting--as green onions. Spring onions, bunching onions, scallions and green onions are grown especially for their green tops. Bulb onions require 80 to 150 days to reach harvest. Bermuda and Spanish onions are milder than American onions. American and Spanish onions require more days to mature than Bermuda onions.

Yield. Plant as many onions as necessary if green and mature onions are used frequently.

Site. Grow onions in full sun in loose, well-worked, well-drained soil. Loosen the soil to 6 inches deeps and remove all lumps, stones, and roots. Add well-aged compost to the planting bed before planting. Green onions can be grown in a partially shady spot.

Planting time. Onions are temperature sensitive: they require cool weather to produce their tops and warm weather to produce their bulbs. Plant onions sets (small bulblets) 3 to 4 months before the time you want to harvest mature bulbs; plant sets 3 to 4 weeks before you want to harvest green onions. Onion seeds are best started indoors: start seeds 4 to 6 weeks before the average last frost date in spring, and transplant them into the garden as soon as the soil can be worked. In mild-winter regions, plant onions in the fall or winter, depending on the variety.

Most onions are sensitive to day length. American and Spanish onions need long days to produce their bulbs, and Bermuda onions prefer short days.

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Planting Onions

Onions are a kitchen staple. Grow onions from seed, seedlings, or sets (small dry onion bulbs started the year before). Bulbing onions require 80 to 120 days to reach harvest. Green onions are harvested before they form bulbs, in 40 days or less. Spring onions form small, immature bulbs and are harvested in 40 to 60 days.

Planting Calendar. Onions require cool weather to start growth and produce green leaves for green or spring onions and warm weather to produce mature bulbs. Onions seeds, seedlings, and sets are frost hardy. (Learn more about types of onions and varieties, click here.)

● Spring planting. Plant onion seed, seedlings, and sets in early spring in northern and cold-winter regions for harvest the following autumn after they have formed bulbs. Sow seeds directly in the garden as early as four weeks before the average last frost date, or start seed earlier in late winter in a greenhouse or cold frame and transplant seedlings to the garden in early spring.

● Autumn planting. Plant onion sets in late summer or early autumn in southern and warmer regions. Over winter these onions for lifting mid summer or autumn the following year. (Tips on planting the fall garden, click here.)

Place. Plant bulb onions in full sun. Green onions can be planted in partial shade.

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Spring Onions, Green Onions and Scallions

Young onions offer a range of taste from mild and smooth to pungent and biting. You can eat raw young onions whole with a dipping sauce or chopped in a green salad or potato salad or pasta salad. Raw green onions chopped make a colorful topping for sauces or baked potatoes.

Onions cooked become mild and even sweet. Young onions require less cooking than mature onions since they are not very pungent to begin with. Just a couple of minutes of sautéing will mellow a young onion that has gained any bite. You’ll find cooked young onions mild enough to serve at breakfast.

So what do you call young onions? Spring onions, green onions, or scallions? Here we go!

Depending upon the maturity of the onion and where you live, you will pick up a bunch of young onions and say, “I’ll take these….”

Are they spring onions, green onions, or scallions?

Here are the differences:

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Onions

Onions come in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors, as well as specific varieties.

There are fresh onions and onions for storage. There are onions for eating raw and onions for cooking. There are mild onions and pungent onions. There are onions that grow best where the days are short and onions that grow best where the days are long. There are green onions, white onions, yellow onions, and bronze onions.

There are so many kinds and uses for onions that old-time produce workers will compliment colleagues by saying, “that fella really knows his onions.”

But when it comes to onions in the kitchen or at the table, there are basically three kinds of onions: bunching onions—also called scallions, spring onions and green onions; bulb or common onions—also called dry onions, storing onions, or cooking onions; and pickling onions.

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Torpea Onion—the Red Torpedo

There is an onion that comes from Torpea in Calabria, Italy that you will enjoy. It is a mild or “sweet” flavored red onion—many say the sweetest-tasting onion in the world--that will be a welcome addition to the preparation of many meals, and, if all else fails, you can just about make a meal of this onion itself.

Torpea is a seaside village almost 400 miles south of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The gardens there are filled with bougainvillea, verbena and jasmine. The hills rising from the sea around the village are quilted with orchards of lemons and limes, olive groves and fields of vegetables and onions.

It is said that the Phoenicians—one of the great peoples of the ancient world—introduced onions to Torpea. If so, it would only be a guess where Torpea onions really originated because the Phoenicians were explorers and traders who roamed far and wide across the then known western world more than 3,000 years ago. Certainly in Torpea this onion found a perfect meeting of soil and climate from which it developed.

Today the Torpea onion—which is known in Italian markets as Torpea Rossa--is said to be the most popular onion in Italy and Europe. Those grown in the fields around Torpea are said to be extraordinarily “sweet.” If you stop in at your farm market this week, you may find Torpea Rossa onions grown close to where you live. They will be labeled sweet Italian onion, Italian red onion, Creole onion and--most commonly—red torpedo onion.

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