I have always planted onions from onion sets. They grow well but once they are harvested and stored a fair percentage of them have rot in the center of the onion. I have done some research and tried different things to solve this problem, but to no avail. Then, in the late fall edition, 2015, of “Fine Gardening” magazine there was an article which addressed this very topic. It said the rot can be lessened by starting onions from seed rather than sets. So I ordered seeds of the variety named “Candy” which were supposed to store well, planted them in February in my basement greenhouse and set them in the garden in early March. The tiny seedlings suffered a little in the late cold snaps of last winter and there were times when I thought I would have to purchase onion sets after all but they all survived and grew beautifully and interestingly. As the onions enlarged they formed beautiful, clean, large globes which raised themselves out of the soil! They were very easy to harvest, and as of December 19th we have had one minor incident of rot. Pictured is some of our harvest. I intend to plant many more this year.
Joan’s onion harvest
