You may not have finished the Vidalia onions from last
season, but commercial
growers are starting now on their onion crop for next year.

If you’re an avid gardener and pine for something to grow in
the winter,
maybe sweet onions are for you.

The sandy soils in the southern half of Georgia are ideal for
growing
sweet onions. This is because these soils tend to be low in
sulfur, a major
contributor to making onions hot.

To start with, get the right kind of seed. The onions we grow
in the
South are called short-day onions. They bulb (form an onion)
during the
short days of winter. Other types called intermediate and long-
day onions
won’t form a bulb as readily during short winter days.

The seeds are very small and should be planted about one-
fourth of an
inch deep. You can plant them from the beginning of September to
the end
of October.

Because they’re so small, take care with watering so the top
one-fourth
inch of soil always remains moist. Your seedlings should be
visible in
10-14 days.

Onions should have a final spacing of about 4-5 inches in the
row so
there is plenty of room for the bulb to form. Commercial growers
typically
seed plant beds with 60-70 seeds per foot of row. They grow
these onions
for eight weeks, then pull them to transplant to the final
spacing of about
4-5 inches.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of growing onions from
seed,
transplants are usually available in late winter and early
spring from
your garden supply or department store. Local growers may share
some of
their extra transplants, too.

Onions are usually transplanted from plant beds to their
final spacing
between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But they can be transplanted
as late
as the end of February.

To produce a mild onion, select the right variety (short-day
sweet onion
type), keep it watered throughout the growing season and go easy
on the
fertilizer. Go especially light on sulfur-containing products.
These increase
the onions’ pungency.

Onions should be ready for harvest from April into June,
depending on
variety and weather. You’ll know when it’s time to harvest when
20 percent
of the onion tops have fallen over at the neck.