Walla Walla Onion Seeds

Allium cepa Walla Walla Onion

Allium cepa Walla Walla Onion is a legendary, long-day sweet onion, renowned worldwide for its colossal size and exceptionally mild, sugary flavor. Growing to about 12 to 18 inches tall with bulbs that can reach 4 to 6 inches in diameter, this variety is the crown jewel of the vegetable garden, perfect for growers in Northern latitudes who desire a gourmet quality onion that cannot be bought in most supermarkets. Unlike pungent storage onions, the Walla Walla has such a low sulfur content that it can be eaten raw like an apple, offering a juicy, crisp texture that defines the summer harvest.

Culinary and Practical Uses

• The ultimate raw eating onion: its lack of bite makes it perfect for thick slices on burgers, fresh salads, and sandwiches where a milder flavor is preferred.
• Due to its incredibly high water and sugar content, it caramelizes faster and more richly than other varieties, making it ideal for sweet onion jams, glazes, and French onion soup.
• Best enjoyed fresh or within a month of harvest; it is a "summer onion" meant for immediate culinary gratification rather than long-term winter storage.

 Characteristics

• Foliage: Upright, hollow, blue-green scapes that are vigorous and hardy; essential for capturing the long daylight hours needed to fuel massive bulb expansion.
• Growth Habit: Biennial grown as an annual; produces huge, slightly flattened globe-shaped bulbs with light golden-brown papery skin and pearly white, succulent flesh.
• Flowers: Typically harvested before blooming to preserve bulb quality, but if left to overwinter, it produces tall stalks topped with spherical white flower umbels.
• Seeds: Harvested after flower heads dry; the small, angular black seeds are vigorous and cold-hardy, often started in late summer for overwintering or early spring.

Growing Requirements

• Sun: Thrives in full sun; requires long summer days (14 to 16 hours of sunlight) to trigger the bulbing process, making it ideal for the Pacific Northwest and Northern US.
• Soil: Prefers loose, fertile, well-draining soil rich in nitrogen; heavy clay should be amended to allow the large bulbs to expand without deformity.
• Water: Requires consistent, ample watering; because the bulbs have such high-water content, stress from drought can lead to smaller size and increased pungency.
• Spacing: Plant transplants 4 to 6 inches apart in rows 12 to 18 inches apart to allow the jumbo bulbs ample room to develop.
• Maintenance: Keep beds meticulously weeded as onions do not compete well; harvest when the tops fall over and dry, and cure for a short period before eating.

Shipping Info

Walla Walla Onion seeds ship as fresh, high-quality, viable seeds that are carefully packaged for stability and protection from damage during transit. Prompt shipping supports reliable germination and seasonally appropriate planting.