[Snoop]

The winter storage onions I planted this year are not as good as I was hoping. I bought them on the recommendation of a local, but they look to me to be to be something like the Figueres type of onion and too soft to store for more than just a few months. As we eat a ton of onions and often get cut off by snow in the winter, I need good firm onions to see us through till spring.

For next year, I’ve been looking in assorted seed catalogues and have spotted Dorata di Parma and Ramata of Milano seeds listed in the Seeds of Italy catalogue. I’m looking at seeds, as I won’t be able to get sets sent over from the UK.

Does anyone have any experience or info on these two onions or indeed any others you can recommend as good flavoured onions that store well?

Thanks for any advice.

[8doubles]

Bedfordshire Champion have always done well for me in the UK climate.

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/catalogue/product/onion-bedfordshire-champion/15589/?gclid=CMjBid-T3KMCFYlg4wodohDR9A

[zazen999]

Bedfordshire Champion have always done well for me in the UK climate.

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/catalogue/product/onion-bedfordshire-champion/15589/?gclid=CMjBid-T3KMCFYlg4wodohDR9A

But the OP is in Spain!

I get excellent germination and growth from all Seeds of Italy seeds; what I do is to grow a good mix so that I get different shapes and sizes; and if one fails I've not lost out.

If I was in Spain I think I'd grow onions all year round - well, I do anyway with the use of cloches etc but I'd probably take a year; sow a good amount every months, and track a year's worth by date and type and see which one works best in my climate.

Personally, I've found one of the best are Long Red Florence. Banana Shallots as well, esp when left to get as big as possible. Great shape and great flavours. Just going to thinly slice one now on my home made flatbread as it happens

[8doubles]

Bedfordshire Champion have always done well for me in the UK climate.

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/catalogue/product/onion-bedfordshire-champion/15589/?gclid=CMjBid-T3KMCFYlg4wodohDR9A

But the OP is in Spain!

I know  and Spain has many different regional climates .

[Babstreefern]

I've always grown onions from sets until this year when I grew mammoth onions.  The onions from last year (sets), I am still eating.  The mammoths though don't last all that long, only a few months.

You can freeze them though.

[sunshineband]

Bedfordshire Champion have always done well for me in the UK climate.

http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/catalogue/product/onion-bedfordshire-champion/15589/?gclid=CMjBid-T3KMCFYlg4wodohDR9A

But the OP is in Spain!

I know  and Spain has many different regional climates .

and Teruel has skiing in the winter 

[Snoop]

Thanks everyone. Just for extra info, they don't sell sets here in this part of Spain but very young plants, a bit like the very young leeklets you get if you start leeks off using DD's method.

And yes, the weather here is not what you'd typically expect of Spain. Winter lows of minus 14ºC at night in winter though daytime temps in January can reach 20ºC. Summer highs of 44ºC in the shade, which goes on for weeks unfortunately.

Thanks for the advice zazen999. I've grown some shallots this year - Prisma and Banana shallots - from seed bought from T&M. My impression is that SoI are better value in that you get more seeds for your money. Who do you buy your shallot seeds from?

I now have onions in the ground  pretty well all year round. Last winter was the first I tried growing onions over the winter (again bought as young plants). They did quite well, though the heat in the spring meant I had to lift them much earlier than you would have to in the UK.

I take it none of you have sown the ones I mention, so I guess the best thing to do is buy 'em and try 'em.

[zazen999]

Sorry, yes I do grow the ones you mention, here in the Midlands of the uk; I sow a pinch of about 20 different types a few times a year and grow some through the winter and harvest in the spring; mine sit under a cloche though for the winter - last year they were nice and cosy in there under 4 inches of snow for weeks on end.

I do find the only way to do it is to try it; and those that survive and don't bolt; leave the last 3-4 in the ground and let them set seed; then you will breed a type that grows best in your region and you will be self sufficient in seed if you do this every year.

[shokkyy]

Sorry, yes I do grow the ones you mention, here in the Midlands of the uk; I sow a pinch of about 20 different types a few times a year and grow some through the winter and harvest in the spring; mine sit under a cloche though for the winter - last year they were nice and cosy in there under 4 inches of snow for weeks on end.

That sounds an interesting idea, and saves being restricted only to onions that are good for storing long term. But when you sow onions all through the year like that, do you still rotate them to different beds or do you always stay in the same bed? And when you're sowing/planting them at different times of year, do they still die back when they're ready to pull, in the same way as normal?

[zazen999]

Sorry, yes I do grow the ones you mention, here in the Midlands of the uk; I sow a pinch of about 20 different types a few times a year and grow some through the winter and harvest in the spring; mine sit under a cloche though for the winter - last year they were nice and cosy in there under 4 inches of snow for weeks on end.

That sounds an interesting idea, and saves being restricted only to onions that are good for storing long term. But when you sow onions all through the year like that, do you still rotate them to different beds or do you always stay in the same bed? And when you're sowing/planting them at different times of year, do they still die back when they're ready to pull, in the same way as normal?

Yes, they die back when ready, but apart from the main crop I just pick them when I'm ready! Some do 'bolt', but they usually get pulled at once, dried off and then taken back to the kitchen. There are more to follow soon afterwards from the autumn sets...

I don't do traditional crop rotation, I have quite large beds [say 1.2m x 4m] and grow several things in each every season, I just don't follow like with like so each bed might have different crops in there, but each smaller patch will have something different in there when it is cleared.