Bulb Onion (short-day) Planned
1015Y Texas SuperSweet / Texas Legend / Yellow Granex / Red Creole
DEFERRED — not being grown in 2026-27. No order was placed and the Bed B band has gone to winter greens. Kept as reference for a future season. If it is revived: short-day transplants only (long-day will never bulb in Georgia), order mid-Oct for a mid-Nov ship, plant Nov 15 - Dec 15, 1" deep and 4" apart with the neck left proud, harvest mid-May - June at half tops down. Sweet short-day types are poor keepers.
YoungSingle young onion seedling with a few thin green shoots freshly growing in garden soil
Generic Allium cepa seedling (UK allotment), not confirmed as a short-day Vidalia/Yellow Granex cultivar, but visually representative of the seedling/transplant stage.
Photo: Kolforn (Kolforn) I'd appreciate if you could mail me (Kolforn@gmail.com) if you· CC BY-SA 4.0
GrowingLeafy row of established onion plants growing in a garden bed, before bulbs have swelled
Generic Allium cepa bed (UK allotment), not a confirmed short-day sweet-onion cultivar, but shows the correct leafy-row growth stage.
Photo: Kolforn (Kolforn) I'd appreciate if you could mail me (Kolforn@gmail.com) if you· CC BY-SA 4.0
Full grownPile of harvested pale golden Vidalia sweet onions
Photo: ryan griffis· CC BY-SA 2.0
Growing stages
What to look for, and what to do, at each point in its lifeShort-day Yellow Granex and Texas Legend onions start in Luke's garden as store-bought bare-root transplants set out December through February, grow leaves through the cool months, bulb up as spring daylength lengthens, and finish with tops falling over in May or June ready to cure and store; each season starts fresh from new transplants rather than saved seed.
- 1
Transplanting
December through February, Zone 8aYou'll see You're working with bundles of bare-root transplants that look like thin green scallions, roughly pencil-thin and about 6 inches tall, with no soil on the roots.
Do Plant each transplant 1 inch deep, with the basal plate no more than 1 to 1.5 inches below the surface, spacing plants 4 to 6 inches apart.
- 2
Establishment
2 to 4 weeks after transplantingYou'll see Transplants that were floppy at planting stand up straighter and root in; you'll see a little new white growth at the base and leaves staying upright rather than wilting.
Do Water regularly to keep roots from drying out, but watch the weather forecast closely for cold snaps.
- 3
Vegetative Growth
January into March, Zone 8aYou'll see The plant puts out new hollow, upright leaves in a fan shape, going from a few thin leaves to 8 or more thicker ones, deep green and standing 12 to 18 inches tall by the end of this stage.
Do Feed regularly with a nitrogen fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks and keep soil consistently moist.
- 4
Bulbing
Roughly March into April, Zone 8a, once daylength exceeds about 10 to 12 hoursYou'll see The base of each plant starts to swell out wider than the leaf stem above it, and you can see the bulb shape begin to form right at the soil surface.
Do Stop nitrogen feeding completely once you see bulbing start, and pull back mulch or soil that's covering the top of the forming bulb.
- 5
Harvest Cue: Tops Falling Over
May into June, Zone 8aYou'll see Leaves that were upright start to yellow from the tip down, then the neck of the plant softens and the whole top flops over at soil level, eventually across most of the bed.
Do Stop watering once about half the tops have fallen over, and let the bed dry out for several days before you harvest.
- 6
Harvest
May to June, Zone 8aYou'll see Bulbs sit mostly at the soil surface with dry, papery outer layers starting to show, tops flopped over and beginning to yellow or brown.
Do Lift bulbs gently with a garden fork, shake off loose soil, and set them somewhere shaded right away rather than leaving them in direct sun.
- 7
Curing and Storage
1 to 2 weeks after harvest, then ongoing storageYou'll see Outer skins tighten and dry from a dull, slightly moist look to a papery, often shiny golden layer, and the neck shrinks down and firms up.
Do Cure bulbs with tops still on in a warm, dry, airy spot out of direct sun for 1 to 2 weeks, then trim tops and roots and move to storage.
Techniques — transplant, prune, propagate, divide, seed
Full sun
Even moisture; ease off before harvest.
Bags/cells; 24" round felt bags for the allium station. Bulb onions get their own ground…
Feed early; STOP feeding garlic/onions 3–4 weeks before harvest.
Care
- Cut garlic/onion scapes immediately to redirect energy to bulbs.
- Fall planting: order seed garlic July–Aug; onion transplants order mid-Oct for a mid-Nov ship (Dixondale). Garlic goes in in October, onion transplants in November.
- Buy onion transplants rather than starting from seed — onion seed is viable only 1–2 years and wants 8–10 weeks in flats.
Harvest
Onions when tops flop; garlic when lower leaves brown. Granex/sweet onions that bolt early can be harvested as spring onions.
Watch for
Early bolting in warm spring — harvest as spring onions if it happens.