taters and onions

[bookwormom]

you know how time flies, so when do you plant potatoes and what kind? I ordered some last year, would have been cheaper if I had just bought my potatoes. this year I am planning to grow (bless my garden) Yukon Gold, got a few bags at ALDI. I would like to grow some Kennebec but where can you get seed potatoes anymore? seems you have to order them.
Onions rot here in the ground, nobody seems to raise any except for green onions and short term use.

[Smoky]

I'm curious how your onions are rotting. Is it a low-lying spot where you plant them? How deep are you putting them? Sets or seed?
I think a slightly raised bed with a little sand added for drainage would make sure they don't rot. Make sure if they're sets, they have no mold on them when you plant.

[bookwormom]

It is not just my onions, and I have lived in other parts of the world where my onions did not rot and I tied them up and they lasted all winter. The soil here is very sandy. My garden is not low lying or wet and I hill my beds up somewhat. I used sets as I usually always do. they were wonderful as green onions, but by the time it was harvest time most were smelling bad and layers of them were mushy and rotten. My neighbor up the hill does not bother with onions anymore. It seems to be a common occurrence in this area.

[nancy1340]

Grandma always said you had to pull onions before July 4th or they would rot.

Where do you live BTW?

[bookwormom]

Kentucky. I learned to let the green part fall over and dry off a bit, then pull them let them cure a few days and then either braid them up or we have a method to tie them up with a string that allows you to pull out an onion without upsetting the whole braid. I never heard about the fourth of July part. .
My mother in law used to raise wonderful onions and kept them over winter. Husband's grandfather would hang them in the smokehouse for a bit and they would keep better over winter. there is a lady down the road about three or four miles who has gardened organically for many years who has the same problem. she harvests them a bit early, chops them up and freezes them. I am not exited about that prospect.

[nancy1340]

Book, do you mind if I take your problem to another site I belong to? Some down home country folks in South Central Mo near where I am from.

[Smoky]

If the soil is sandy and if your neighbors are having the same problem, it could be the onion fly maggot. How deep are you planting your sets? What kind of fertilizer?

[bookwormom]

I have not seen a maggot or the like, Nancy, go ahead, ask anybody, why should I mind? maybe some one else benefits from it besides me. Well I do not use a ruler to plant them, so the top of the set is covered I would say.
. In this depleted soil here I used some kind of fish fertilizer. the tomatoes seemed to like it. my soil is low in phosphate. I take it other people's is too. thanks for the concern.