many questions about strawberries, garlic, onions...

[trunkman]

Where do I start, well I'll start with the onions, I'm in zone 7b btw. I planted onions last August and the took pretty well, the question I have is is that since they have been planted that long why aren't the bulbs growing yet. The onions are vedalia, the tops are large and very green but the bulb is not getting bigger, it's been about 6 months now, or am I just impatient. As for the strawberries, last fall I covered them with about 6 inches of leaves for the winter and I just uncovered them about a week ago and see no more greenery and only a few yellow sprouts, did I kill them off?? And as far as the garlic goes I also planted last August, in late fall the tops wilted quite a bit and I thought I lost them, but about a month ago they started to really perk up and shoot up a lot of greenery, my question is when will they be ready to pull? Am I just impatient? Btw I left my carrots in the ground over the winter and just picked the last of them over the weekend, what I found was that as the weather got warmer the carrots started to soften and had a couple that started to rot so if you still have carrots in the ground you may want to check them...
There's so much to learn!!

 

[The Mama Chicken]

The sprouts on the strawberries are probably yellow because they were covered, they should green up soon. As for the garlic and onions, not sure, I planted mine a month ago (in 8a.) I've heard you can plant them in the late fall for a early spring harvest but I've never heard of planting them in the summer and overwintering them.
ETA-Summer harvest, not spring. I'm too tired to think straight, much less type.

 

[lesa]

Patience is the word of the day! The garlic has a long way to go. You will see lots of greenery, scapes, and then die back- at that time they are ready. Not to say you can't have one as soon as they start to bulb, but ready to harvest for keeping. Onions same thing, you will see them start to bulb and actually come out of the dirt. No doubt, there is quite a learning curve to gardening- seems we learn something new everyday! I'm sure the strawberries will green up in no time. Happy Gardening!

 

[trunkman]

Thanks for the responses gals...

 

[chris09]

How much water are you onions getting?
Onions need water to grow good size bulbs/heads.

Chris

 

[vfem]

Well I here I go... ignore my blah blah blah if it's off point at all. This is just my 2 cents. I'm in Zone 7B, less then 30 minutes away from Zone 8a. I tried to follow more closely to the zone 8a planting guides.

First planting in late august heat can be stressing on Onion and Garlic, they don't do a lot of actual growth of the bulb over the fall. This is the time they get established, make greenery... strong roots and such. Don't fall for the planting instructions they say 'harvest 110 days" or what not... its a crock! I plant in late September, or early October. The bulbs will actually begin to swell and form true bulbs in the spring more so then fall. So my onions and garlic have not truly formed a bulb yet. Also, you want to cut back the scraps and flower shoots if they form any otherwise they take the energy from bulb formation and the garlic/onions are not good for storage. You then wait for the tops to flop over on the ground to know they are ready for harvest. Here, that is usually the second week of June! I pull mine and sun cure for 1 day and then begin the long cure process in a shady stop that doesn't get direct sun, but good airflow. Onions and garlic take a lot more time then one would think but they are sure worth it. I just know that whatever bed I give them, I better not plan on needed that bed anytime soon!

Strawberries could benefit the first year from a cover of hay over winter. In our zone, after year one I don't bother to cover. Unless you are trying to force the earliest berries possible. Watch for new growth now, and that will let you know who survived.