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Posted By admin On 04/04/22If you display the SLD plot in the Onion model, it displays, but if you click anywhere outside the SLD plot it vanishes! Also, there is no way to access the plot control toolbar, or to save the SLD plot as data values (something requested by User MarcoH). Other multiplicity models may be similarly affected. Onions are a cold-season crop, easy to grow because of their hardiness. By midsummer, you can begin harvesting individual onions! Learn more about planting, growing, and harvesting onions for an endless supply in your garden. Compatible Plants With Onions & Garlic. Plants, like people, can be good neighbors or problem neighbors. Certain types of plants seem to get along better than others. Plants that are good. Onion sets are small onion bulbs that are sold specifically for gardening. Once planted, they develop into a full-size bulb after about 3½ months. Also, onion sets can be planted without worry of frost damage and have a higher success rate than planting from onion seeds or transplants. If this is a recurring problem, avoid mass plantings of onions. Instead, plant in smaller plots surrounded by plants from other families to confuse these pests. Also, avoid planting onions near cabbage or other brassicas since onion thrips feed on those plants as well. Fungal Diseases.
ONIONS are Texas' leading vegetable crop. Onion sales bring the statebetween $70 and $100 million per year and the onion industry has anoverall impact of about $350 million per year on the Texas economy. Mostof the sweet yellow onions, which people all over the world enjoy becauseyou can 'eat them like an apple', can trace their origin to the Lone Starstate.
TEXAS SWEET ONIONS CAME FROM THE BERMUDA ISLANDS IN 1898The sweet onions from Texas started when the Bermuda onion wasintroduced into South Texas in 1898 when a packet of onion seed wasplanted near Cotulla. The onions were shipped in 1899 to Milwaukee,Wisconsin, where they were so enthusiastically received that a largeracreage was planted.
By 1904, approximately 500 acres of Bermuda onions were planted inSouth Texas. In spring, 1907, 1,011 carloads of onions were shipped fromSouth and Southwest Texas; in 1908, production had more than doubled,and in 1909, 12 counties shipped 2,920 carloads. Shipments reached 6,735carloads in 1917; this figure was not exceeded until 1928 and 1929 whenthe total movements were 7,055 and 7,232 carloads, respectively. Thelargest movement in 50 years for a single season was 10,164 carloads in1946.
The Canary Islands, principally Teneriffe Island, produced most of theonion seed planted in Texas until about 1946. The two types of Bermudaonions generally grown in Texas were the Yellow Bermuda and WhiteBermuda and Crystal Wax.
TEXANS OUTPRODUCE THE BERMUDA ISLANDS AND ELIMINATE THEMAS A MAJOR GROWER -- 1920
As the acreage of Bermuda onions in Texas increased, the Canary Islandgrowers became overtaxed to meet the demand for seed and after 1920 thedeclining quality of Island seed was noticeable. There was an increasedmixing of strains and varieties, probably because new and inexperiencedgrowers were entering the seed business and the better growers could notfind sufficient isolation for their seed fields. The increase in bolting andsplits and doubles caused the per-acre yield of U.S. No. 1 onions to becomeso low that South Texas growers seriously considered changing from theIsland-grown Bermuda seed to the Babosa, or Grano varieties, which wereimported originally from Spain in 1925.
TEXAS A&M WORKING WITH THE U.S.D.A BREED THE TEXAS GRANO502 - THE MOTHER OF ALL SWEET ONIONS IN THE WORLD - 1933
To develop varieties better adapted to South Texas, the Winter Gardenstation of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station inaugurated anonion-breeding program in 1933. The program was expanded considerablyin 1939 with the establishment of a cooperative breeding program by theU. S. Department of Agriculture and the Texas Agricultural ExperimentStation. The breeding work was again expanded in 1946 when breedinglines, experimental varieties and hybrids were planted cooperatively ingrowers' fields throughout South Texas.
The beginning of the Texas onion breeding program and the origin of theMother 'Grano 502' which was in the parentage of all SuperSweet onionssuch as Granex (Vidalia, Maui Maui and NoonDay) and the Texas A&M;1015Yand others is told by Ernest Mortensen, horticulturist extraordinaire and aman who was there, to Jerry Parsons, Texas Agricultural ExtensionService Horticulturist, for the October 28, 1979, San Antonio LightNewspaper:
'Horticulturists of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (CrystalCity, Texas) used crossing techniques to improve tomatoes, cantaloupes,and strawberries. Our main crop, onions, are not easy to cross since theyhave large flower heads, so we didn't attempt much in onion breeding. Wehad good relations with Dr. Fabian Garcia, Director of the New MexicoAgricultural Experiment Station, and he had obtained a high yieldingvariety from Spain from which he had selected a strain for New Mexico henamed Grano (Babosa). We tried this and when our grower neighbors sawthe trial, they ordered all the seed available. In 1938, the Byrd Cattlecompany at Winter Haven, Texas had 10 to 15 acres of the Grano. Thisvariety required a longer day to form bulbs and was 10 to 14 days laterthan Bermuda. This is a market disadvantage which tended to offset themuch higher yield.'
'We also had good relations with Dr. Henry A. Jones, onion breeder for theU.S. Department of Agriculture. He advised us that earliness in onions is arecessive character and will reproduce in successive generations. Mr.Leslie R. Hawthorn, vegetable specialist at the Winter Garden Station,obtained permission from the Byrd Cattle Company to harvest all the earlymaturing bulbs on a certain date. He and his assistant, Oneal Blackard,spent one day harvesting all the bulbs that had matured in the whole field.This amounted to 4 or 5 bushels which were then stored in our stationbarn. Temperatures were high that summer, so many of them rotted, morethan half. They were then sent to Greeley, Colorado, for increasing theseed.'
'These seeds were planted for the 1940 crop and there proved to be enoughplants for one acre. In the spring of 1940, I was making my customary tourof the farm and came upon this block of onions in the midst of the restwith all of the tops down indicating maturity at the same time. I hadforgotten these Granos and wondered what had happened so I hastened tothe office to inform Hawthorn. Then we found that this selection was 10days to two weeks earlier than the normal Bermuda types grown at thattime. In addition, because of the large tops, the yield was much higher.Large bulbs were in demand in those days so the seed was soon multipliedby the commercial seedsmen. The original field number was 502 so thename Texas Grano 502 was first used and, in most cases, still is in use.Officially, the name of the onion released by Texas A&M;University in1944 is Texas Early Grano. This has been grown in Central America,Palestine, Australia and other parts of the warmer regions of the world.'....... Ernest Mortensen (deceased)
DESCRIPTIONS OF OPEN-POLLINATED VARIETIES RELEASED BEFORE1960
Early Grano (Babosa). The bulbs are top shaped and have very few thin tomedium-thick pale-yellow scales. The flesh is soft and very mild inflavor. Early Grano is somewhat resistant to thrips, but very susceptibleto pink root fungus. The variety bolts much less readily than YellowBermuda and Crystal Wax in Texas when planted at the same time. It is aheavy yielder in the absence of pink root. Matures later in South Texasareas than the Yellow Bermuda.
The Early Grano onion was imported originally from Valencia, Spain, in1925 under the name Valencia Grano 9452. As indicated by ErnestMortensen, the New Mexico Agricultural Experiment Station grew seedfrom the original lot and made selections. The name Early Grano wasproposed for the selected strain in 1931 in bulletin 193 of the New MexicoExperiment Station.
Excel (986) is a single-plant selection from Yellow Bermuda that wasdeveloped and introduced in 1945 cooperatively by the USDA and the TexasAgricultural Experiment Station.
Texas Early Grano 502. Characteristics of Texas Early Grano 502 aresimilar to those of Early Grano except that it is more uniform and maturesmuch earlier. The tops are not as heavy as those of Early Grano and thefoliage is more upright. The bulbs are broader and not so pointed at theroot end as those of Early Grano. Like other strains of Early Grano, it isvery susceptible to pink root. However, on good soil where pink root is nota factor, it will produce tremendous yields. Early Grano matures along withExcel in south Texas.
A selection out of Early Grano was released by the Texas Station as TexasGrano in 1944. (1) An earlier selection with small upright tops wasreleased in 1947 as Texas Early Grano 502 to replace the original release.
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Yellow Bermuda. Bulbs are flat with very few thin, shiny, pale-yellowscales that are soon broken and lost in handling. The flesh is soft and mildin flavor. The bulbs reach a diameter of 3 to 3 1/2 inches when grownunder irrigation.
The Bermuda onion with pale-yellow skins was first listed by PeterHenderson &;Co. in 1888 as White Bermuda. D. Landreth &;Co. for 1890 saysthat although shipped as White Bermuda it really 'had quite a yellowishcharacter' and, although known as a product of Bermuda, is of Italianorigin.
The F1 Hybrid Named Granex (later to be claimed as Vidalia)Released Before 1960 -- One Of The Most Famous Onions In TheWorld!
Granex. A yellow, F1 (first-generation), Bermuda-type hybrid. Bulbs areintermediate in shape between Bermuda and Grano. Resistance to pink rootis intermediate between the two parents. This hybrid is very mild inflavor, which makes it a good salad onion. Early Grano is 3 to 5 days earlier thanExcel.
Granex, developed cooperatively by the USDA and the Texas Station, wasreleased in 1952. The female or seed parent was developed from Excel andis similar to Excel except that it is male - sterile. The pollen parent,Texas Early Grano 951, is an inbred out of Texas Early Grano 502 (2).Texas Grano 1015Y is an improved selection from 951. According to PaulLeeper, 'the Granex was the first F-1 hybrid developed for commercialproduction and used male sterility in producing the hybrid. A and B lines ofExcel are crossed to maintain the male sterile Excel A line which is thenCrossed with the C line of Texas Early Grano 951 to produce seed ofGranex. This procedure must be completed each year to produce the trueF-1 Hybrid Granex. (This procedure is explained in the USDA Yearbook ofAgriculture for 1950 and also in 'Onions and Their Allies' by Henry Jonesand L. Mann.)'
ONION TRANSPLANTS FROM TEXAS PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THEBEGINNING OF THE VIDALIA ONION - 1952
Texas-bred Granex has been popularized worldwide under many differentnames. One such onion is the Vidalia. Vidalias were first grown in ToombsCounty, Georgia when a farmer named Mose Coleman discovered that theonions he had planted were not hot, as expected. They were sweet! Thefirst Granex onions grown in the Vidalia, Georgia area were grown fromtransplants. The reason behind this was because at first herbicides werenot available to control weeds and the weeds would grow faster than theonions.
'In 1952 Granex transplants from Dixondale Farms (Carrizo Springs,Texas) were first shipped to Georgia,' said Wallace Martin, President of Dixondale Farms. Yellow Bermuda transplants were shipped in the '40's. The greatest quantity of Granex transplants shipped to Georgia by Dixondale Farms was 17 18,000 crates in 1981. Early Jordan of Griffin &;Brand took the first truckload of transplants (YellowBermuda) from Earl McClenson to Vidalia in 1944. Before that severalcrates were shipped by Rail Express. The Granex Y-33 (Asgrow SeedCompany) was the most commonly produced transplant.
It was a struggle to sell the onions at first, but Coleman persevered, andmanaged to sell them for $3.50 per 50-pound bag, which in those days wasa big price. Other farmers, who through the Depression years hadn't beenable to get a fair price for their produce, thought Coleman had found a goldmine! They began to follow suit, and soon after, their farms were alsoproducing the sweet, mild onion.
The State of Georgia built a Farmers' Market in Vidalia, and because thesmall town was at the juncture of some of South Georgia's most widelytraveled highways, the market had a thriving tourist business. Word beganto spread about 'those Vidalia onions.' Consumers, then, gave the onionstheir famous name. Vidalia Onions have developed an internationalreputation as the 'world's sweetest onion.' Their mild flavor is claimed tobe due to the unique combination of soils and climate found in the20-county production area.
'Vidalia onions' began appearing on the shelves of Piggly Wiggly andA&P;grocery stores. Through the 1950s and 60s, production grew at a slowbut steady pace, reaching some 600 total acres by the mid 1970s. At thispoint, a push was made for Vidalia onions to be distributed throughout thenation, and several promotional efforts were begun. Onion festivalsbecame an annual event in both Vidalia and nearby Glennville, Georgia, andproduction grew tenfold over the next decade.
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Approximately 225 growers cultivate Vidalia onions on over 14,000 acres.About 125 handlers are involved in the grading, packing and distribution ofVidalias. An average of 300 50-pound bags of Vidalias are produced peracre. Approximately 6% of the 275 growers cultivate 100 acres or more;7% produce on 50 to 100 acres; 40% on 10 to 15 acres; and 47 % on 10 orfewer acres. The majority of Vidalia onion farms are multi-generational,family owned-and-operated businesses.
The industry's annual Vidalia onion harvest brings some $50 milliondirectly into Georgia's economy. The economic impact from relateddownstream marketing activities is estimated at $145- $150 million.
Vidalia onions are sold loose by the pound, in 2-, 3- and 5-pound'pre-packs,' and in 10-, 25- and 50-pound mesh bags and boxes. Generallyrecognized Vidalia onion sizes are small (1 to 2 1/4 inches), medium (2 to3 inches), and jumbo (over 3 inches).
Obviously, the Texas-bred Granex has been popularized worldwide undermany different names and produced tremendous economic advantageswherever it is used.
- ONION VARIETIES AFTER 1960 - THE BEGINNING OFDISEASE-RESISTANT, TEXAS A&M;SUPERSWEET ONIONS BYPAUL LEEPER
After 1960, Paul Leeper, one of the 'youngsters' took over as curator forthe onion program in Texas of Bruce A. Perry
, Superintendent of the WinterGarden Experiment Station in Crystal City, and Henry A. Jones
, HeadHorticulturist for the Horticultural Crops Research Branch, AgriculturalResearch Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland. Hegreatly assisted with growing nurseries for the pioneers of thesweet-onion-for-Texas team. Paul W. Leeper became a horticulturist -plant breeder of mainly tomato and lettuce, for the Texas AgriculturalExperiment Station in Weslaco in 1950. He immediately became a majorplayer for the onion breeding team since he was a superb grower and had abig part in the release of the Yellow and White Granex in 1956 (3). Thefollowing is a step-by-step recollection of these historical facts in thewords of a man who was there, Paul Leeper, in correspondence to Dr. JerryParsons:'While Henry Jones was with the University of California, he discoveredcytoplasmatic male sterility in a variety of onion called 'Red Italian'. Heand others at the University developed a system for maintaining this malesterile line which was called the 'A-line and which was homozygous malesterile for both of the genes carried in the nucleus and male sterile forthe S-gene which was carried in the cytoplasm. They also foundmaintainer or restorer lines called B-lines which were male sterile in thenucleus but had a F-gene in the cytoplasm. When the B-line which isself-fertile is used to pollinate the A-line so little cytoplasm is carriedin the pollen to the A-line that it does not make the seed of the A-linefertile and all flowers produced from the resulting seed are thereforesterile. Any number of lines can be crossed on to this male sterile line toproduce any number of hybrids and these lines are called C-lines. Indeveloping C-lines, selections are made from open pollinated varieties.These selections are grown in cages and self-pollinated by using flies forabout three generations. Each time they are grown, the bulbs must bere-selected to remove any undesirable characteristics and concentrate thegenes of the desirable characteristics.'
'Dr. Henry Jones (USDA) and Dr. Bruce Perry (Texas AgriculturalExperiment Station in Crystal City, Texas) selected, developed andreleased Excel (986) from Yellow Bermuda and Eclipse (l 303), a whiteonion from Crystal Wax. They also found A and B lines in each of theselines giving us sets of both yellow and white lines for making hybrids.They developed a yellow pollinator C line, Texas Early Grano 951(TEG-951) from Texas Early Grano 502. TEG-951 was selected for itsextreme depth so that when crossed with the flat A line from Excel, itwould produce a deep semi-globe Hybrid Granex. The pollinator for WhiteGranex was developed from White Grano.
'I (Paul Leeper) started working with Jones and Perry on onion and spinachhybrids in 1952. During this period all selections and hybrid combinationswere grown in a pink root infected seedbed block on the Norman Clarkfarm near Laredo, Texas. Plants were pulled, counted, bundled andtransplanted in test blocks in the Crystal City and Weslaco ExperimentStations. Tests were also transplanted in Rio Grande City andRaymondville areas.'
'Seed for these tests were produced by Dr. Jones in Beltsville, Maryland,and in California in cooperation with seed companies. This cooperationwith seed companies was important because they needed to learn thetechniques for producing hybrid onions. Growing tests plots on growersfarms here in the Valley was important in introducing the growers to thevalue of hybrid onions. The introduction of hybrid onions here in the Valleyenabled us to move our production from dry land areas to irrigated areasbecause of the higher production of quality onions. Jones, Perry and Leeperworked as a team during most of the 1950's.'
'Jones left U.S.D.A. and went with Desert Seed Company in El Centro. BrucePerry had a heart attack which limited his activity and was moved to theHorticulture Department at College Station with the closing of the CrystalCity Experiment Station. From 1960 until about 1970, Leeper testedseveral hundred hybrid combinations produced by the various commercialseed companies for adaptation to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Aboutthree years prior to Dr. Leonard Pike's arrival, Leeper started a breedingprogram with Dr. Clint Peterson (USDA). During this time period, seed ofthe A, B, and C lines of Granex and the A, B, and C lines of White Granexwere supplied to Paul Leeper by Dr. Henry Jones of Desert Seed Company.'
THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FAMOUS TEXAS A&M ONION NAMED THE1015Y AND OTHER LINES BY DR. LEONARD PIKE AND PAUL LEAPERIN THE 1980's
'When Leonard Pike and Paul Leeper started their program, it was decidedto start selections from open pollinated lines and to make a few crossesand select material for the development of new open pollinated varieties.This decision was based on the fact that after all the work on hybrids, THEMOST PRODUCTIVE ONION GROWN IN TEXAS WAS STILL TEXAS EARLY GRANO502. There were earlier hybrids and different colored hybrids but the mostproductive was Texas Early Grano 502.'
'The pink root screening block was developed at the Weslaco Station sothat Leeper and Pike could develop pink root resistance in their newvarieties. Texas Early Grano 951 was grown in this plot and selected forresistance to pink root for several years in the development of TexasGrano 1015Y. Texas Grano 1020Y, Texas Grano 1025Y, Texas Grano 1030Y,Texas Grano 1105Y and Texas Grano 438 also were screened and selectionsmade from the pink root block. Texas Grano 438 and several othervarieties were released by Dr. Leonard Pike about the time Paul Leeperretired.'
'The South Texas Onion Growers Association should be given much credit.They supported Paul Leeper's work before Dr. Pike through the TexasCitrus and Vegetable Growers Association'. When Dr. Leonard Pike, a plantbreeder from Michigan State, came to Texas, Othal Brand, Abe Katz andOtto Strubby put up the original money to support the program. The grouplater got a USDA marketing order approved to support the onion program.Onion crosses were made and trialed in Uvalde, Pecos, Presidio, El Paso,Fort Stockton, Las Cruces, Lubbock, Hereford, Munday, College Station andvarious other places with the assistance of many people including SamCotner (Wintergarden), Roland Roberts (High Plains), Tom Longbrake (RioGrande Valley), Frank Dainello (Wintergarden - Uvalde), Bill Lipe HighPlains - Lubbock), David Bender (High Plains - Lubbock), Bill Kingston andnumerous growers all over Texas and in New Mexico. Dr. Pike crossed theonion variety Ben Shemen with the famous Texas Grano 502 in hopes ofincreasing the storage ability of the sweet Texas Grano 502. Releases(1020Y, 1025Y, 1030Y, 1105Y) were made with the Texas Grano 1015Y butbecause the four other varieties mature later than Texas Grano 502 andare more pungent than 1015Y, they have been grown less than thestraight-line selection (1015Y) from Texas Early Grano 951 which is aninbred from Texas Early Grano 502 (4) without genetic crosses.
The description of the four Dr. Pike releases are:
Texas Grano 1020Y - (Tested as 434) A yellow Grano type originating froma cross between Texas Grano 502 x Ben Shemen. The variety looks similarto Texas Grano 502 but matures generally 5 to 7 days later. The bulbs aremore round in shape and have more protective scales. It possesses goodpink root disease resistance and storage qualities. It has a mild flavor,similar to Texas Early Grano 502.
Texas Grano 1025Y - (Tested as 036) A yellow Grano type with a brightfresh appearance even after storage. It originated from a cross betweenTexas Grano 502 x Ben Shemen. The variety is almost round in shape,making it ideal for mechanized harvest and handling. It matures generally10 to 15 days later than Grano 502. It produces large uniform bulbs andpossesses good pink root disease resistance and storage qualities. It hasbeen excellent for producing single center bulbs.
Texas Grano 1030Y - (Tested as 433) A yellow Grano type originating froma Grano 502 x Ben Shemen cross. It has a bright yellow color, and the bulbsare a flattened globe shape. It has excellent resistance to pink rootdisease and the best storage and shipping qualities of any of the newvarieties. It has a good scale retention, and should be a good export onion.The bulbs will grow large if given space, and they generally mature 2 to 3weeks later than Grano 502.
Texas Grano1105Y - (Tested as 442) A yellow Grano type originating froma Grano 502 x Ben Shemen cross. It has a bright yellow appearance and thebulbs are a flattened globe shape approaching round, except when plantedlate. It has good resistance to pink root disease and storage quality. It hasgood scale retention and produces large bulbs if given space to grow. Ifplanted as recommended, it will produce size and mature 3 weeks laterthan Texas Grano 502.
The storage-shipping quality ratings were determined for the newvarieties from onion bulbs stored in 50 lb. bags, with 25 bags per pallet orbulk in slotted wooden pallet boxes (40' x 42' x 42' in size) , under normalSouth Texas weather conditions during April through July. Pallets andslotted boxes were stored, under a shed with fans circulating the airthrough the onions. The short storage life of the existing short-day onionvarieties is brought about by rots caused by Pyrenochaeta terrestria,Erwinia carotovora, Pseudomonas cepacia, Pseudomonas alliicola,Sclerotium rolfsii, and Fusarium species. On commercial bulbs which donot rot, considerable shrinkage occurs and is followed by severe blackmold, (Aspergillus niger).
On pink root infected land, the new varieties yielded up to 800 bags ofonions when other breeding lines and commercial varieties of TE Grano502, Ringer, and New Mexico Yellow Grano yielded 200 or less bags. Onland where pink root disease was not a problem, yields were comparableto commercial varieties. Yields of 1430, 50 pound bags have been observedin one acre test plots, indicating the potential of high yielding capabilityfor the new varieties.
Paul Leeper concluded his comments about the history of onions with thiscomment: ' Dr. Henry Jones is the father of the hybrid onion and hybridspinach. In my estimation, he is still the best plant breeder who ever livedand one of the fines gentlemen I have ever known.' ........ Paul Leeper, PlantBreeder for the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Weslaco, retired,1996
DR. LEONARD PIKE INCORPORATES THE HEALING QUALITIES OF THEONION INTO THE FAMOUS TEXAS A&M ONIONS
After the retirement of Paul Leeper, Dr. Pike continued the initiative forthe onion breeding program in Texas. His emphasis is on geneticimprovement of onions with high levels of naturally occurring chemicalsproviding health benefits in our diet.
Texans have the opportunity of enjoying the bestonion varieties - - bred and grown in Texas - - in the world. Wouldn't theMother 'Grano 502' be proud!!
LITERATURE CITED
1. Hawthorn, L. R. Texas Grano Onion. Texas Ag Exp. Sta. PR 899. 1944.
2. Jones, H. A. and B. A. Perry. 1951. Hybrid may cause boom in new silverand gold onion. Southern Seedsman 14(9):21, 61, 67.
3. S. Jones, H. A., B. A. Perry and P. W. Leeper. 1956. White Granex. SouthernSeedsman 19 (10): 20-21.
By National Gardening Association EditorsPests and diseases can ruin an onion crop. Here are ways to avoid these problems.
PestsOnions in the North aren't usually bothered by insects like onion thrips or onion maggots, but if you live in the South you'll have to deal with them.
ThripsThrips are very tiny insects that feed on the leaves of the onion plant. The plants weaken, and the yield of the crop can be reduced quite a bit. Spraying or dusting with insecticidal soap and hanging yellow sticky traps around the plantings is usually all it takes to control thrips. Follow spray directions on all sprays carefully when you use them.
The onion maggot is the offspring of a small fly that lays its eggs near the base of the plant, or late in the season right on the bulb itself. The small maggots kill the plant by burrowing into the stem and the bulb. Pull up and destroy any plants with maggots before the maggots mature into flies.
There are some insecticides that can handle a bad case of onion maggots, but an easier control is to cover the newly set out plantings with a floating row cover to prevent the adult fly from laying eggs on your onions.
DiseasesNeck rot is probably the most common onion disease. It often hits just after the harvest or while the bulbs are in storage. All onion varieties can develop neck rot, but the mild-flavored, thick-necked Bermuda-type onions are especially susceptible. Drying the onions at warm temperatures with good ventilation can help prevent this disease.
There are some fungus diseases such as pink root, mildew, and bottom rot that are carried in the soil itself, but rotating the onion plot and growing resistant varieties are just about all a home gardener has to do to avoid these.
It's a good idea to spread out your onions, planting them in several sections of the garden. You not only reduce the chance of onion disease, but, because onions repel many insects, you create a kind of defense network that protects your other vegetables.
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