Short-Day (Southern) Onion Sets Mix

Days to Maturity: 1015Y Texas Super Sweet, 105-110; Texas Early White, 105-110; and Red Creole, 110

Bulb vegetables, Short-Day (Southern) Onion Sets Mix contains 3 highly popular varieties: Red Creole (dark red), 1015Y Texas Super Sweet (yellow), Texas Early White (white), a good combination of colors and flavors, serving all your onion needs. Onions are a good source of folate and vitamin C.

This plant is a member of the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Typically grown as an annual, the onion is an herbaceous biennial plant with an upright habit of linear, cylindrical, hollow, glaucous leaves that arise in a basal rosette and are typically bluish green in color. The plant has a medium growth rate.

Onions are great companion plants in the garden. They naturally deter certain garden pests, like aphids, Japanese beetles, sugar beet-flea beetles, deer, and rabbits. Onions can also improve the flavor of some of their companions, while some companions, like chamomile and summer savory, can improve the onion's flavor. Scattering them around the vegetable garden helps to produce healthier harvests.

Think of onions as a leaf crop, not a root crop. They prefer full sun and loose, fertile, moist, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.2 to 6.5. A lower or higher pH may result in poor bulb quality or small yields. Short-day type onion varieties are adaptable to southern regions with 10 to 12 hours of day length in the summer. The more sun and space between plants, the bigger the bulb. Onions have shallow root systems and need consistent moisture. Onions are heavy feeders. Adding manure or compost to the soil several weeks before planting (or the winter before) and applying fertilizer when planting and again when plants have 5 to 6 leaves increases plant size. And since each leaf represents one ring of the onion bulb, more leaves equal more rings, resulting in bigger bulbs. Keep beds free of weeds, which will compete with the onions for water and nutrients. To avoid disease, practice crop rotation, planting onions in a different location every year.

A cool-season vegetable, short-day onion sets can be direct sown into the garden in fall for a late spring harvest. But they can also be started indoors and transplanted, spring and fall. Planting sets in midsummer will produce a fall or spring harvest. They need cold temperatures to germinate and grow. Plant shallowly and protect plants from heavy frost with row covers.

Short-Day (Southern) Onion Sets Mix Includes:

1015Y Texas Super Sweet (yellow): developed by Texas A&M, the most famous Texas onion, an open pollinated variety setting up to 6-inch, globe-shaped bulbs with very sweet flavor. 1015 represents October 15, the ideal date to plant. An easy-to-grow, disease-resistant variety, good for beginners. Storage potential is 2 to 3 months.

Texas Early White: 2012 Direct Gardening Association "Green Thumb" award. An open-pollinated variety, setting 5- to 6-inch, globe-shaped bulbs with sweet flavor. Easy-to-grow and disease-resistant, it's good for beginners. Storage potential is 2 to 3 months.

Red Creole: sets 3- to 4-inch, globe-shaped, dark red bulbs with red-purple flesh and a bold, spicy, Cajun flavor. A disease resistant variety that has very little bolt resistance, best planted later to decrease bolting. Storage potential is approximately 6 to 7 months.

Onion sets are small onion bulbs grown in the previous season. The partially formed bulbets are around ¾ inch in diameter, making them easier to plant than seed. They develop into full-size bulbs quickly after planting, in approximately 3½ months. Sets tend to produce stronger, more vigorous plants compared to seed, ensuring larger yields.