Jim's Favorite Onion Seeds

Onion Seeds

Useful gardening information

Onion is a cool-season vegetable that can be grown successfully throughout most of temperate North America. Onions may be grown from sets, transplants or seeds.

Onions form bulbs in response to daylength. When the number of daylight hours reaches a certain level, onion plants start bulbing, or forming bulbs. Long-day onions need about 14 to 15 hours of daylight to bulb. Short-day onions need 10 hours of daylight. Day-neutral onions form bulbs regardless of daylight hours and produce well in almost any region. As soon as daylength hits the 10-hour mark, a short-day onion starts forming a bulb. If the top of the plant hasn't had enough time to grow big and lush, the resulting bulb will be small. Conversely, if you live where daylength never hits 14 hours, long-day onions will never form a bulb. All you'll get are green leaves. By choosing the right type of onion for your region, you'll get healthy green stems that are large enough to fuel forming fat and tasty bulbs.

Generally speaking, long-day onions tend to do best in the North and short-day types tend to do best in the South. Growing onions from seed is often the only way to get varieties really suited to your location. Intermediate onions are for middle regions between north and south. Day neutral onions will grow about anywhere as will almost all bunching onions. High temperatures and low humidity are advantageous during bulbing and curing. Onions have shallow roots and compete poorly with weeds and grasses. Timely shallow hoeing and cultivation are important, especially when the onions are small.
Onions may be eaten raw, broiled, boiled, baked, creamed, steamed, fried, french fried and pickled. They are used in soups and stews and combination with vegetables and meats.

Informative articles found on the web:

How to Grow and Care for Different Types of Onions
Health Benefits of Onions

Onion Seeds

IP256 Texas Grano 1015Y (Texas Supersweet)

Heirloom variety. Sweetest of the sweet! Considered short day, but can be used in Intermediate and Long Day areas as it takes longer for bulbs to develop. Most common vidalia style Texas onion grown! So sweet, it won’t bring tears to your eyes! Typically weighs about 1 lb. and is close to the size of a softball. Very productive. Yellow skinned with white flesh. 2-4 month shelf life! Excellent for salads, slicing, grilling and cooking. Resistant: Pink Root Rot. 110 days.

TWT074 Cipollini Borretana Yellow

Borettana Cipollini onions are often referred to as summer mini onions. These pretty little Italian onions from Boretto, Italy have a flattened spherical shape and look just like rosy-bronze glossy buttons, each about 1-3" diameter and 1" thick. Plant closer together to limit the size to whatever you want. When cooked, Borettana Cipollini onions really sweeten up and caramelize to a beautiful color. A unique offering for farmers' markets. Ideal for braiding. 80 days.

SF270 Walla Walla Sweet

Heirloom variety. Long day. One of the most popular sweet Vidalia type onions! Light brown skin and very mild, juicy, sweet white flesh. Extra large Spanish type that can reach 5-6” in diameter and 2 lb! Cold hardy. Perfect for the north, northwest regions and as a winter crop in the south. Great for slicing! NOT for long term storage! 100-120 days.

IP062 Red Burgundy

Excellent slicing variety for salads or hamburgers and grilling. Red Burgundy onions produce large flattened globes 3 to 4 inches in diameter that are beautiful for slicing! Very mild and sweet flavor! Good for short term storage. Average water needs. Water regularly, but don't over water. Resistant to Botrytis and Pink Rot. This is a short day variety that matures in 95 to 165 days depending upon planting time, location and climate.

JB092 Sierra Blanca Onion

Big, mild white onions. Widely adapted, day-neutral, and matures well anywhere in North America from spring sowing. Suitable for fall planting where short-day onions are normally grown. Produces uniform, large, white-skinned onions with mild flavor and thick rings. Not for long storage. Sierra Blanca is the same variety as Super Star. It has been renamed by the breeder. Intermediate resistance to pink root. AAS winner. 110 days.

SF283 Red Creole

Red Creole is one of the best short day storage onions. This onion has a spicy, Cajun type flavor and can be added to any dish for a bolder experience. This onion is small to medium in size with pungent red-purple flesh and tolerant to disease with very little bolt resistance, so planting it a bit later will decrease the number of bulbs that bolt.
Well adapted to all short day growing areas. At maturity, you will find yourself with a dark-red, globe-shaped, pungent onion about 3-4 inches in diameter. Once planted by transplant, they take about 110 days until harvest and then can be stored for approximately 6-7 months.

3408 Onion Tokyo Long

Bunching type, long, upright single stalk, dark green leaf, little bulb, tender, tasty, heat tolerant, 75 days. Day neutral.

3563 Long Red Florence

Mediterranean fresh eating type, 5" long torpedo shape, very mild, terrific fresh or grilled, 90 days. Considered day neutral as they grow well in so many areas.

VS330 Vidalia

Large bulbed with thick flat globe shape. Excellent producer that is attractive and uniform. Used in Georgia to make the famous Vidalia onion.
F1 Short day, high yield, jumbo, dark brown, mild taste, resists pink root and fusarium, 160 days.

TWT066 Crystal White Wax

If a Gibson is your cocktail of choice, then make Crystal White Wax Onion the choice for your garden! The Crystal White Wax Onions are perfect for pickling, and they also taste delicious in stews and soups. Crystal White Wax Onion Seeds will produce small white pearl onions that should be picked when they are 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. Crystal White Wax Onions are a short-day variety, and as such thrive in southern regions.
Crystal White Wax, also known as White Bermuda, originally come from Bermuda. This island, now famous for its tourist trade, was once called "The Onion Patch" because it made most of its income by exporting its famous sweet onions to the States. When horticulturalists in Texas began cultivating the Bermuda strain of onion, one of the varieties that resulted was Crystal White Wax. 60-90 days.

TGL026 Yellow Sweet Spanish

Also called Sweet Jumbo Onion. Large, globe-shaped yellow-skinned onion with a crisp, firm white flesh that keeps well. A long day onion, it develops late in the season in the North. In the South it makes scallions, or fresh green onions, when planted as a fall onion. Needs 13 hours or more of day length for best bulb development. Make sure the thick, heavy neck dries well, and it will store for several months in a cool, dry place.
Large bulbs sometimes weighing a pound or more. Sweet and mild flavored. Has fair storage characteristics. Moderate Pink Root tolerance. Well adapted to the Western States 115 days.

TPF271 Evergreen Bunching

Bunching onion does not form a real bulb. Oriental bunching onion has a green leaf portion and a long blanched white stalk portion. The blanched portion can be from a few inches to 20 inches, depending the varieties. The long-stalk onions are blanched by earthing up during growth. The long-stalk onions are very tender and well flavored, excellent for stir-fry, sukiyaki, tempura and many Japanese dishes. Plants can be harvested for vegetable use at any growing stage. Considered a neutral day variety that grows about anywhere.