Bulb Onions Grown Successfully Over a Florida Winter

A grower in Deland, Florida had posted about their success in growing Texas Grano bulb onions here in Florida. I hadn’t thought it was possible to grow onions in zone 9b. Now I have tried it over this past Florida winter, and have had some success. I look forward to growing even more next year.

Growing Texas Grano Onions From Seed

After purchasing seeds online, I went around the yard and planted them in raised bed boxes and in the ground.. I didn’t have high hopes for actually getting real onions from the garden. Truthfully, some are still growing and may not turn into anything. I did get a row that grew big enough to call “onions” and their stems just recently began falling over – signaling their end to growing.

Finding good advice for growing ANYTHING in Florida is difficult. But, you can take advice from growers in other zones. I can’t always do as they do, but things like “when to pull your onions”, is universal.

Watch this quick video, from The Rusted Garden, with advice about growing bulb onions.

Here in Florida I easily grow bunching onions. Those are the ones that do not get big at the bottom and we use the green stems for eating… unless they are left to grow and grow. The white bottom gets large, and they send out a beautiful big white flower which is where the seeds will be.

When I want to grow bunching onions, I buy some at Publix and save the rooted ends. Just stick the ends into dirt and a new bunching onion grows from that. I let them get big in my yard so they will flower, because they have gorgeous, big white flowers. Bees and butterflies love the flowers! Once the flower dries, it is full of seeds.

Bulb onions don’t do this – no flower

Why I Chose to Grow From Seeds

When searching for more about growing onions you will find “starts” and “sets”, but I have tried starts and they did nothing. It was a lot of work, for NO return. This was my experience. I decided to try growing from seeds, and it is the method I prefer, now that I’ve seen good results.

I will plant seeds – directly outdoors – once again this coming Fall. Of course, it takes longer for the onions to grow from seed.

Plant seeds in September-October, Harvest onions in May

My Onion Harvest

I planted my Texas Grano Onion seeds in October. I am now harvesting them in May. That is a long time – seven months! Not all of them grew, in fact I’d say most did not grow at all, or remain small. I’m waiting to see if the small ones continue to grow.

I purchased the seed packets for Texas Grano onions at SESE (southern exposure seed exchange).

I will admit to not taking good care of my seedlings. My mindset was that they wouldn’t grow anyway, so I pretty much ignored them. Next time, I will be more careful because I know it’s possible to get nice onions from the seeds.

Curing Onions to Save

Once the onions are pulled up, I brushed the dirt off and put them under the umbrella. Now they are on the porch with the fan going. From most articles I’ve read, onions need to cure in a shaded location that is warm with good air flow. What I don’t have is low humidity, but I can’t change that.

Once the tops have dried, I’ll cut them off and bring the onions inside to store and use. A few of the smaller ones I’ve already sliced up to eat! Yummy. What is better than getting food from the backyard?

More stories from the garden…