Sites with a history of onion diseases and severe weed problems should be avoided, however.

This is not always possible with fixed center-pivot systems. Land for transplant production should not have been in onions or related Alliums for at least three (3) years. Transplant production begins in late summer with land preparation followed by seed sowing in September. Short-day onions can be grown from both seed and transplants however, the majority of onions are grown from transplants. The adoption of the Federal market order and CA storage has allowed this industry to grow to its current level of approximately 12,000 acres. This has allowed the industry to expand their marketing opportunities well into the fall months. CA uses a low oxygen, high carbon dioxide refrigerated environment to store onions. In 1989, the industry began to adopt controlled atmosphere (CA) storage. The collected money is used for national and international promotional campaigns as well as for research on onion production. The Georgia Department of Agriculture website can be accessed at. Growers are required to be within the defined growing regions, use specific approved varieties, and register with the state of Georgia. Growers should check the Georgia Department of Agriculture website or call the Department for information about growing Vidalia onions. Growers are required to register and give check-off funds to support the industry. The Vidalia Onion Committee was formed to oversee the Federal market order. Finally, in 1989, the industry was able to obtain Federal Market Order 955, which gave the industry national protection. State recognition however did not give the industry the national protection it needed. There had been some problems with onions being brought in from other areas and bagged as Vidalia onions. In 1986, the State of Georgia gave Vidalia onions official recognition and defined the geographic area where these onions could be grown. At this time, approximately 600 acres of onions were produced. In order to help promote the onions further, onion festivals were started in both Vidalia and Glennville in the mid 1970’s. Slowly the industry began to gain a national reputation. In addition, the supermarket chain Piggly Wiggly maintained a distribution center in Vidalia and would buy the onions and distribute them through their stores. Its growth was fueled by the fact that the city of Vidalia sat at the intersection of important roads prior to construction of the interstate highway system. The industry grew slowly and steadily for several decades. Soon other growers became interested in these mild onions. bag, a considerable amount of money at the time.

At the beginning of the depression, these onions sold for $3.50 a 50 lb. These mild onions were immediately popular with customers. The Vidalia onion industry began in 1931 when a grower by the name of Mose Coleman grew the first short-day onions in Toombs County. The Granex name is a combination of Grano and Excel, the original parents. The other parent was YB986, which was selected from Excel, which in turn was derived from White Bermuda. The variety Early Grano 502 resulted in the Texas Early Grano 951C, which became one of the parents for Yellow Granex hybrid. Yellow Granex, the standard for Vidalia onions, has its origin from Early Grano.

The first of these varieties came through Bermuda and were thus referred to as Bermuda onions. In particular, varieties from Spain and Italy would become important to the Vidalia onion industry. Varieties from warmer regions of the Mediterranean eventually made their way to the Southeastern United States. These onions were adapted to the temperate climate found throughout the Northeast where the first European settlements occurred. Onions were first brought to this country by early European settlers. Finally, long-day onions are adapted to the most northern climes of the United States as well as Canada and bulb with daylengths greater than 14 hours. The short-day varieties bulb with daylengths of 10-13 hours, intermediate varieties bulb with day lengths of 13-14 hours and are found in the mid-temperate regions of this country. Onions are grouped into three groups based on their response to hours of daylength. Unlike most other species, day length influences bulbing in onions as opposed to flowering. This adaptation is primarily due to differing response to day length. They can be grown from the tropics to subarctic regions. Onions are among the most widely adapted vegetable crops. There are no known wild ancestors, however, the center of origin is believed to be Afghanistan and the surrounding region. The ancient Egyptians are known to have cultivated this crop along the Nile River.

Onions are one of the oldest vegetables in continuous cultivation dating back to at least 4,000 BCE.

Yellow granex onion seed