[Otis]

For years I have tried growing those big softball size onions and am unable to grow them.

Can someone tell us how to grow them?
Is it the type of onion, I always grow Yellow Spanish onions and they never get that large. What kind of onions are they?
Are those softball onions good keepers? I would think that they would be great for onion rings.

I have heard if you cut the tops half way off twice all the energy will go to the bulb, is this true?

[beesrus]

I guess these must be the onions you refer to. Have never grown them myself. The link seems to have all the information you need. Texas way,  apparently, and a Spanish hybrid.
http://www.texasgardener.com/pastissues/novdec05/onions.html

[mumofstig]

The tops/leaves provide the energy to feed the bulb, so wouldn't think that cutting them down would help.

[Wiltshire Worms]

My brother in law grows veg for show. The onion he grows is kelsae I think. He grows them individually in large pots in good compost..they are fantastic size and my sister says they cook well..keeping I can't say..even the onions he grows in his allottment are huge

[Eightball]

Are you growing your onions too close together? The more space you give them, the bigger they should get. I plant my onions about 10cm apart (4inch) and they give a good sized onion for me. I personally wouldn't want them any bigger but if I did (have done in the past) I would space them 15cm (6inch) or more apart.

Do you get good sunlight in your garden? Onions like lots of sun i've found.

I find once a week is enough water for onions. So either by my watering can or rain.

What's your soil like? Mine is in a pretty decent condition but before planting I will rake in a generous amount of fish blood and bone (general purpose fertiliser) and maybe give a liquid feed once or twice during the growing season. I use comfrey and nettles to make my own liquid feed.

Onions don't compete well with weeds so make sure they are kept weed free.

So spacing, light, water, fertiliser and weeds. One or more of these things may be hampering your quest for softball sized onions. Hard to know what without knowing your garden.

Here are my yellow onions for this year.

[Snoop]

If you want huge Spanish onions, try Fuentes, a sweet, white onion that's perfect for salads or onion tarts. The biggest I've grown so far was getting on for 1.5 kg but most of them are pretty large. The only problem with these onions, especially when they're very big, is that they don't store that well. Three months max. The Spanish yellow onions (Valencianas or Recas, for example) are intended for long-term storage. They will grow to a decent size (my largest are around 800 g apiece), but you won't get them to grow as big as the white ones.

I should add that to grow these onions (Spanish white or yellow), I don't give them any special treatment but they are planted about 20 cm apart. This year, they're a bit overgrown with weeds, but they look to be about the same size as in previous years.

Modified to add:

We eat a lot of onions, so these sizes are good for us. I agree with Eightball: the thing to do is to grow onions the size that you can use. Big isn't necessarily better. I can't remember what I did with the whopper onion. Probably chopped it up into eighths or so, tossed in olive oil and baked in the oven as a garnish. Onions always shrink in the wash, so to speak, so it probably seemed a bit more manageable cooked than when raw. Must do this more often, perhaps with some thyme in future.

Plus, that's a lovely wheelbarrow-load you've got there, Eightball.

[ConfusedGardener]

Are you growing your onions too close together? The more space you give them, the bigger they should get. I plant my onions about 10cm apart (4inch) and they give a good sized onion for me. I personally wouldn't want them any bigger but if I did (have done in the past) I would space them 15cm (6inch) or more apart.

Do you get good sunlight in your garden? Onions like lots of sun i've found.

I find once a week is enough water for onions. So either by my watering can or rain.

What's your soil like? Mine is in a pretty decent condition but before planting I will rake in a generous amount of fish blood and bone (general purpose fertiliser) and maybe give a liquid feed once or twice during the growing season. I use comfrey and nettles to make my own liquid feed.

Onions don't compete well with weeds so make sure they are kept weed free.

So spacing, light, water, fertiliser and weeds. One or more of these things may be hampering your quest for softball sized onions. Hard to know what without knowing your garden.

Here are my yellow onions for this year.

After seeing your pic Eightball, I'm wondering if I should have pulled up all my onions and hung them to dry? It's been a couple of weeks since they collapsed, and I've been waiting for them to dry out, but the weather has been so wet recently they've not had a chance!

[Eightball]

If a majority of them have flopped over then I would lift them and move them to somewhere undercover to dry out. Being in wet soil is just going to encourage mould/diseases, especially as it looks like we are going to get more rain over the next few days.

I personally use a small 4-tier greenhouse as that's all I have that's dry. But anywhere with good airflow and out of the rain will do (like a shed or garage).

[sunshineband]

Bedfordshire Champion comes in pretty big given the chance (as described by Eightball  ) but if you are expecting very large onions they need to start off very well spaced as otherwise they would be touching each other before they were full size

[DD.]

Are you growing your onions too close together? The more space you give them, the bigger they should get. I plant my onions about 10cm apart (4inch) and they give a good sized onion for me. I personally wouldn't want them any bigger but if I did (have done in the past) I would space them 15cm (6inch) or more apart.

Do you get good sunlight in your garden? Onions like lots of sun i've found.

I find once a week is enough water for onions. So either by my watering can or rain.

What's your soil like? Mine is in a pretty decent condition but before planting I will rake in a generous amount of fish blood and bone (general purpose fertiliser) and maybe give a liquid feed once or twice during the growing season. I use comfrey and nettles to make my own liquid feed.

Onions don't compete well with weeds so make sure they are kept weed free.

So spacing, light, water, fertiliser and weeds. One or more of these things may be hampering your quest for softball sized onions. Hard to know what without knowing your garden.

Here are my yellow onions for this year.

After seeing your pic Eightball, I'm wondering if I should have pulled up all my onions and hung them to dry? It's been a couple of weeks since they collapsed, and I've been waiting for them to dry out, but the weather has been so wet recently they've not had a chance!

I think Eightball might have been a bit quick off the mark. They look to me as though they've got a bit of growing left in them.

[ConfusedGardener]

Mine do still look very green too despite having fallen over... So I guess leave them till they at least start to look pale then?

I am a little worried about some of them that have all fallen the same way, forming a quite dense mat of leaves. Perhaps a good idea to bend some of those ones back the other way so that they are spread more evenly then?

[Snoop]

Mine do still look very green too despite having fallen over... So I guess leave them till they at least start to look pale then?

I am a little worried about some of them that have all fallen the same way, forming a quite dense mat of leaves. Perhaps a good idea to bend some of those ones back the other way so that they are spread more evenly then?

Pick a couple of the 'furthest gone' ones and have a look at how long the roots are. If they seem very short, then lift the ones that seem to have least life left in them. After all, you don't have to pick them all at once.

[ConfusedGardener]

Mine do still look very green too despite having fallen over... So I guess leave them till they at least start to look pale then?

I am a little worried about some of them that have all fallen the same way, forming a quite dense mat of leaves. Perhaps a good idea to bend some of those ones back the other way so that they are spread more evenly then?

Pick a couple of the 'furthest gone' ones and have a look at how long the roots are. If they seem very short, then lift the ones that seem to have least life left in them. After all, you don't have to pick them all at once.

Thanks. Will give it a go.

[Salmo]

Once they have gone over many people take a fork and ease them a bit to break the roots without disturbing them too much. This hastens their drying but allows them to stay where they are for a bit.