Midwest Vegetable Guide - 2022 - 220

Onions and Related Crops - Horticulture
Poast (1.5EC) (sethoxydim) POST
| 1.0-1.5 pts. per
acre. Use 1.0 qt. of COC per acre. Spray on actively growing
grass. Use high rate on quackgrass. Do not exceed 5.5 pts. per
acre per season. REI: 12-hour. PHI: 14-day. HRAC 01.
Sandea (75) (halosulfuron) POST PRE
| 0.5-1.0 oz.
per acre. Apply between rows of transplanted crop. Use lower
rates on coarse soils with low organic matter. Add 0.5-1.0 pt.
of NIS per 25 gals. of spray solution if emerged weeds are
present. Avoid contact of the herbicide with the crop. Avoid
contact with surface of plastic mulch if present. Effective
against nutsedge. Do not exceed 2 oz. per acre per 12-month
period. REI: 12-hour. PHI: 30-day. HRAC 02.
trifluralin products (trifluralin) PRE
| 0.5-1.0 lb.
a.i. per acre. Use 4EC formulations at 1-2 pts. per acre. Use
10G formulations at 5-10 lbs. per acre. Use low rate on soils
with less than 2% organic matter. Broadcast and incorporate
before transplanting. Not effective on muck or high organic
matter soils. REI: 12-hour. HRAC 03.
Onions and Related Crops -
Horticulture
Major update by Ben Phillips, Liz Maynard - Oct 2020
Reviewed by Liz Maynard - Aug 2021
Crop Description
Garlic (Allium sativum): There are two main types of garlic:
softneck and hardneck. Hardneck types overwinter better in
the Midwest, have a stronger flavor, and are easier to peel.
Softneck types have a longer shelf-life, milder flavor, and
smaller cloves. Elephant or great headed garlic (A.
ampeloprasum) is grown like other garlic, but has a milder
flavor.
Leek (A. porrum): Leeks do not bulb, but form a straight
shank of layered leaves that stay white when buried with soil.
They can be planted deeply and hilled to increase the length
of the shank. There are nonhardy summer-harvested varieties
and frost-tolerant fall-harvest varieties.
Onion (A. cepa var. cepa): Bulb onions include yellow, red,
and white-skinned types, and within each of the colors, there
are sweet varieties and pungent storage varieties. Bulb onions
are categorized as long-day, intermediate-day, or short-day
based on the day-length that stimulates bulbing. Long-day
varieties grow best in the Midwest. Some intermediate-day
onions can also do well in the Midwest. Sweet onions contain
more sugar, and do not keep as well as pungent storage
220
Planting and Spacing
Garlic: Plant in fall 6 to 8 weeks before ground freezes in
rows 12 to 36 inches apart with cloves 3 to 6 inches apart in
the row. Plant bulbs 3 to 4 inches deep, with top of clove
twice the depth of the clove height. Garlic benefits from 2 to
4 inches of straw mulch applied over winter, which can be
left on the rows until harvest. For mechanical cultivation,
plant flat side of clove perpendicular to the length of the row;
for hand cultivation in dense plantings, plant angled side of
clove parallel to the length of the row. Remove flower stalks
for maximum yield.
Leek: Seed or transplant outdoors about a month before the
frost-free date in rows 14 to 18 inches apart with plants 3 to 4
inches apart in the row. Transplants can be started 10 to 15
weeks before planting. Place transplants 4 to 8 inches deep
and backfill soil, or hill throughout the season to maintain a
long white shank.
Onion: Seed or transplant outdoors about a month before the
frost-free date, or as early as soil can be worked on raised
beds with two double rows or wide rows spaced 14 inches
apart on top of the bed with 12 seeds per foot, or 3 to 4
transplants per foot. A popular transplanting method on farms
that are hand-weeded is to plant onions in groups of four that
grow up and out as a clover shape. Transplants may also be
planted into plastic-much covered beds. When seeding, use 4
pounds per acre of onion seed and consider broadcasting 1
bushel of oats or barley per acre overtop as a nurse crop that
can protect young onions from sandblasting and hard frosts.
Kill the barley or oats when they are 5 to 6 inches tall with a
graminicide. Young onions can withstand several overnight
lows in the 23° F to 32° F range, but survivability is less if it
is also windy.
Shallots: Seed in the spring like onions with similar row
spacing, or transplant bulbs in the fall like garlic with similar
row spacings. However, if fall planted, remove mulch in the
spring before emergence. Shallot leaves are hollow and are
easy to bend and crimp by the movement of straw mulch
once they emerge. Transplanting young plants from a
greenhouse in the early spring will yield bulbs along the same
timeline as garlic.
onions. Any onion variety can also be used as a green onion,
but A. fistulosum is a species that is commonly used for
bunching that does not make a large bulb.
Shallot (A. cepa var. aggregatum or A. ascalonicum):
Shallots form clusters of bulbs and are very winter hardy, like
garlic. The torpedo-shaped bulbs are smaller than onions and
have a milder flavor.
Midwest Veg Guide 2022
Midwest Vegetable Guide - 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Midwest Vegetable Guide - 2022
