Growing White Spanish Type Onions?

[Phill]

Hello All,

This is my first post since autumn last year...but a new growing year beckons and the excitement at the prospect of the second year on my allotment is beginning to stir inside.

What I would like to know is if anyone has tried growing the lovelly big mild white onions you get in spain. I've found a company online who supply the seeds, but are they native? will they grow? Any special treatment required etc...any advice/feedback on your experience would be great

THANKS

Phill

[Snadger]

I bought a packet of the white onion sets from Instore for 99p this year.

I grew them last year and they were fine, although they didn't store very well!

[burnie]

Normally grown from seed,you are a bit late ,but I'm sure you'll still have some success.

[Jardiniere]

have grown white onion from sets but not seeds................

[pigletwillie]

I bought some spanish onion seed from France last year. They have germinated ok, time will tell whether or not they do any good.

[Flummery]

But aren't they fantastic sliced on cheese sandwiches. (Drool, dribble!)

[pigletwillie]

The best indeed Flum.

[smallblueplanet]

Are you talking 'sweet onions' here? I fancied trying some so did a bit of googling...

...These sweet varieties have a lower sulfur content and a higher water content. Hence, they have a much shorter shelf life than spicier storage varieties. There are also long day length varieties available. Don't buy these. They are for the northern latitudes (i.e. Walla Walla).

So, how do we make sure our onions are sweet? It's all in the soil, or rather what is not in the soil. All sweet onion growing regions have one thing in common: soil that is deficient in sulfur. The sulfur containing compounds make onions pungent and spicy. Even the sweet varieties mentioned would become spicy when grown in sulfur rich soils. So, if you want them sweet, don't use ammonium sulfate, soil sulfur, or any other sulfur containing fertilizer. Ammonium nitrate, urea, or good old manure will add the needed nitrogen without adding sulfur.

[Phill]

I'm not sure if you would class them as 'sweet', but as I recall them they were so mild an crunchy you could almost eat them as you would an apple...gorgeous!!

[burnie]

Robinsons Mammoth,really nice taste,eat sliced with cheese and door steps of fresh home made bread(pint of cider to lubricate throat)

[Herbie]

Robinsons Mammoth,really nice taste,eat sliced with cheese and door steps of fresh home made bread(pint of cider to lubricate throat)

Sounds like heaven to me

[Martin H]

Resurrecting an old thread ...

I would like to grow those big, very mild-flavoured onions that we used to call "Spanish Onions" when I was a lad. All the ones I've grown have been great for cooking but a bit too fiery for putting in our cheese sandwiches.

Can any of you suggest a variety and a supplier of seed?

[Guest]

Hi Martin,

Some years ago I grew some white onions from sets which I think was from B+Q. Variety was Snowball I can't remember how they tasted tho. They were def. white (large round onions) rather than the usual yellow cooking/ storing onions.

[Aberdeenplotter]

if you are looking for a large mild/sweet onion suitable for slicing for sandwiches, try kelsae. They can grow humungously big but grown outside in the garden less so

[Tripmeup]

I find white onions a lot more susceptible to fungus and damp, and am thinking of steering clear of them next year..Not much help I know...