Read an introduction to onion varieties here.
- Autumn Champion
- Red Barron
About Onion Varieties
There are many varieties of onion, and they can be classified by colour, shape, culinary use, and storage properties. I like to grow red varieties to eat raw in salads, and select other onion varieties with a good reputation for storing well to use in cooking during the winter months.
Buying onion seed offers the widest choice of varieties, but seeds can be hard to germinate. Many gardeners opt to grow from onion sets instead. Onion sets are immature onions, often heat treated to prevent them bolting to flower.
Onions mature in mid-summer. It is possible to overwinter onions by planting in the autumn, and doing so will result in an earlier crop. I have had mixed results with this method. It is possible to choose varieties that tolerate cold weather and mature faster if an early crop is desired.