I’m starting year 1 of onions and carrots this year, and I’m debating whether to keep them in ground over winter or not. I don’t have a root cellar, so it would be more convenient to overwinter, but I don’t want to risk being set back a year if none of them make it. I’m in NW Ohio, and it usually gets a bit below 0°F a few times per winter. Does anyone have any experience that could help me out?
Really depends on the variety. Some varieties should be fine with overwintering. I do, in zone 6a, it gets down to -10F or occasionally even lower here. Onions produce a lot of seed so you don’t necessarily need a huge number overwintering.
2 Likes
Do you cover with straw or anything?
Related to this, what’s the best way to taste test onions before deciding which ones to let go to seed the next season?
Great question Matthew.
I’ve been wondering this. I think you might be able to slice the top off, and get it to resprout. My issue is that it will then probably rot in the garden.
On a similar onion problem, how do you select for long keeping? Here I’m harvesting at the middle of summer in January. But i need to replant in winter, so can only test for about 5 months storage.
Initially you can grow out the first bulbs of multiple varieties, pull them for storage, replant half in labelled groups, and as the year progresses and the ones in storage fail, you can pull the corresponding ones in the garden and discard them. But how do you select for long storage in subsequent generations when everything is mixed up? I want onions that store for 12 months.
Would love to know how the pros do it.
gm
1 Like
I’m in nw Ohio too. Carrots and onions didn’t get big enough to harvest so i left most of them in the ground and I’m hoping to stock up on seed this year. We get lots of wild onion and carrot, hopefully i can prevent cross pollination, especially the carrots. I’m leaning toward interspersing onion in my perennial fruit tree areas going forward. Lurking and will let you know how it goes
Sounds good! I’d love to share seeds with you once my landraces get going in the next year or two, since we’ve got a similar environment.
I let my carrots for seed over winter in the soil so I select for their ability to do so. It is just easier for me to plant out directly after we select for taste and not have to check with them over winter in a root cellar.
1 Like
For sure! I’m planning on planting onions in my perennial zones for the option to dig em up or let them seed. I already have leeks, chives and walking onions there so i figure might as well put all the alliums there. They allegedly deter voles too.
1 Like
It’s fiddly for me to dig carrot roots, and save them in a manner that I can replant them the next spring. I can’t do it reliably. My ideal carrot would store in the ground overwinter, and grow seeds the next spring. I’m happy to cover the carrot patch with straw. I’m happy to dig the carrots so that I can taste them and evaluate for shape and flavor.
I would pull my ideal onion in the fall, and replant those bulbs that stored well in the kitchen until replanted in the spring.
I can grow potato onions, and bunching onions, by leaving them in the garden. Some varieties of bulbing onions do not overwinter in my garden.
In general, when growing biennials, I find it easier to select for varieties that can thrive when overwintered outdoors where they grew.
5 Likes
So, maybe start the first selection process by over wintering them and collecting seed from the resulting seeds from successfully overwintered populations. Then in subsequent years pull them to further select for flavor?
Yay Ohio crew! I haven’t overwintered anything yet so I don’t have any experience. But I’m hoping to select for things that can winter in place as well.
1 Like
I don’t. Maybe i would if i had straw, but i don’t have a vehicle and i really don’t have money to spend on buying straw. Doesn’t seem to be necessary. Straw is nice for paths, to keep them from getting muddy though.
Potato/multiplier onions are definitely on my short list. Will be lots of fun if they cross.
Makes sense. I’m in a similar situation. I’m currently thinking I’ll just shred up leftover plant matter at the end of the season and use that as my “straw” over the carrots.
That’s super helpful, thank you! When would you taste test the onions? Just before planting them back out in the spring?