"Allium cepa## HOW TO GROW ONION Start indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost, plant out 4 weeks before frost. For fall harvest, transplant 11 weeks before first frost. Short-day onions produce bulbs in 11-12 hours of light, long-day onions in 14-16 hours. The dividing line is 36˚, about the KA/OK border. Plant long-day varieties north of this line and short-day south. Direct sow thickly as soon as soil can be worked. If tops reach 5” before transplant, cut to 1-3” to increase girth. Transplant seedlings in shallow trench 2-7” apart. Hill sides slightly after 4-5 weeks. Knock the rest of the tops over when 60 percent have fallen. After 3 days, pull and sun-cure 7–10 days in field rotating every few days before twisting off tops and storing. Soil pH 6.2-7.5. Hardiness zones 3-10. Biennial.Days from maturity calculated from the date of seeding. Average 6,500 seeds per ounce. Average 580M seeds per acre. Federal germination standard: 70%. Usual seed life: 2–3 years. Isolation distance for seed saving: 1 mile.Planting Depth 1/8-1/4”Soil Temp. Germ. 55-75˚FDays to Germ. 7-14Plant Spacing 3-6”Row Spacing 12-24”Days To Maturity 112Storage RefrigerateFull Sun, Moist Well Drained Dakota Tears Seed Count 1 Ounce ≈ 5,670 seeds##If you love onions, like we do, and never want to be without... Dakota Tears onion is for you. Dakota Tears is a yellow-skinned, firm fleshed storage onion with robust onion flavor. Bred in the 1980-90s by David Podoll, Dakota Tears is open-pollinated and continuously selected for vigor, size, long-term storability, disease and insect resistance. This onion will store all through the winter until your next crop of onions is harvested, no joke! Average size is 12 oz each with medium-thick necks. Dakota Tears was honored by “Organic Gardening Magazine” as one of ten outstanding plants in their 2010 variety trials. It has successfully rivaled hybrid varieties in university-based variety trials! In 2016 the Podolls experimented with direct seeding their onions. The direct-seeded onions out-performed their transplants, and produced bigger and better onions!This is Open Source Pledged Seed (OSSI). By purchasing this seed you are a part of the Free The Seed movement. This variety is registered as an OSSI-pledged variety and seed. “You have the freedom to use these OSSI-Pledged seeds in any way you choose. In return, you pledge not to restrict others’ use of these seeds or their derivatives by patents or other means, and to include this pledge with any transfer of these seeds or their derivatives.” To learn more, visit: www.osseeds.org/about/. Tags: Type: Long day Color: Yellow, Size: Large, Shape: Round, Specialty: Cool Climate, Heritage: Open Source OSSI, Season: Spring Fall, Certification: Organic.
