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hudson___wy

Highlander Onions

hudson___wy
9 years ago

Dixondalefarms.com introduced a new long day onion variety for 2014 called the Highlander - did any of you plant this variety? I was interested in trying it because it is an extra early maturing variety that may be suitable for intermediate day areas - like where we live. Please post photos of this variety so we can see how it is performing - we have been pleasantly pleased with the size of the onion at such an early date for Wyoming. Highlander is already larger than any of the other varieties we planted - Super Star, Ailsa Craig, Candy and Red Candy Apple. It may be an excellent choice for intermediate day areas!? The onion is as big as it looks in this photo - although anything as large or larger than the size of a baseball is considered big enough for us - the taste and storing quality is more important!

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Comments (10)

  • Jonathan29
    9 years ago

    That looks just about as large as my white sweet spanish onions. I started them early from seed inside on February 20th then planted them out early in march. just getting them out early even when still frosting is good for all veritals. just protecting them from the frost with a row hoop house is what is needed. the cold wont bother them though. my sweets and reds too several very hard frosts and some snow and showed no damage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: TheItalian Garden

  • dyeajohn
    9 years ago

    I planted Highlander this year, along with Ailsa Craig, Walla Walla sweet, and Red Torpedo. The Highlander onion is bulbing very well, much bigger than any of the others. I never can get much size to an onion here at 59degrees, but these are doing great.

  • hudson___wy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    John - Our Ailsa Craig are bulbing well also - I know what you mean about cold night temps - it was 36 degrees a couple of nights ago here in Wyoming - zone 3 - and was below 40 degrees every night most of that week. Our night time temps are around 47-53 degrees usually - this time of year. Our onions don't have a chance unless we get them planted in April - to bulb-up that is.

    {{gwi:81869}}

  • glib
    9 years ago

    John, how are you Zone 6 and 59 degrees latitude?

  • dyeajohn
    9 years ago

    We're along the coast in SE Alaska. The latest USDA zone change puts us at zone 6, though I think our harsh winters make our former zone 5 rating much more realistic. We usually have cool, cloudy summer weather, though long daylight.

  • hudson___wy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The Highlander were the first to bend their tops - we pulled them today. We have never had a variety bend their tops before the freeze - Highlander was faster to mature in zone 3 than other varieties we have tried. We will be interested to see how they store - it certainly developed larger than expected bulbs - here's a photo of a random sampling - all of them are at least the size of a softball!

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  • hudson___wy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Now that we have the onions curing in the GH - it is easy to see their size - softball and baseball for most all of them - we can recommend this variety for an area that is on the borderline between an intermediated and long-day onion!

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  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    I planted Highlander this year and was really happy with them. I pulled them the last week of July and they have been in the garage drying since we've had cooler and damp weather for the most part. Probably half my crop is softball sized or a bit larger. I'm really pleased and they are much larger than the Big Daddys which had many that didn't bulb as well as the smaller size. I won't grow the BDs again.

    I also grew Copra which is a top-notch keeper and has a strong flavor. I find Highlander to be milder in flavor, not as much as the sweet onions, but nowhere near as strong as the Copras. They're good for cooking and salads. My Copras are a bit smaller than the Highlanders, but considerably larger than the Big Daddys.

    Here's a crate with perhaps 1/6 of my Highlanders, tennis ball for scale.

  • hudson___wy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I had the same experience last year with Big Daddy - Copra and Ringmaster weren't much different. I decided for me - I was not far enough north geographically for those long-day onions to bulb-up. I think I was right. None of the long-day onions we planted stored well for us.

    This year we wanted to try Highlander because there are not that many intermediate-day onion options - and Highlander was touted as an early maturing onion. It was a good decision because the onion grew very well here and bulbed-up nicely. You can see the difference between Highlander and the other long-day onion bulbs if you compare them in the photos? The other long-day onions apparently didn't have sun and temperature necessary to complete their growth - the bulbs are narrow and elongated - the necks are thick because we had to pull them to protect them from freezing temps - and like I said - they did not store long!

    {{gwi:81872}}

  • hudson___wy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    What method do you use to cure your onions ? photos would be nice.

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