Onion, Sweet Spanish Colorado #6 (Organic)
Allium cepa. Yellow Sweet. 100 days. Day Neutral.
A lovely sweet onion with bronze skin and good storability, first released in 1936 by the Colorado State University Experiment Station in Rocky Ford. Sweet Spanish Colorado #6 stood out in our sweet onion trials first for its agronomic traits, and later for its delicious sweet onion flavor. We found it to be very high yielding with plants that are relatively quick to both size up and dry down. It also showed better field resistance to thrips and downy mildew than other varieties in our trials, and that’s not by accident. Apparently this onion is legendary in onion circles (or rings?) and is a parent line to many hybrid varieties. Speaking of rings… Sweet Spanish Colorado #6 is a day-neutral variety so will reliably bulb up at any latitude. We sourced this variety originally from Burrell Seed Growers in Rocky Ford, Colorado. While they have not stocked the variety for some years, they said it was popular with onion growers there, who often just called it “Number 6.”
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For bulb onions, sow indoors in flats with good potting soil February through March. Transplant into the garden in April or May, when plants are at least the size of a No. 2 pencil lead. Space 6” in rows that are 1’ apart. Onions benefit from frequent watering and shallow cultivation. Stop irrigating in August. Harvest when stem has shriveled and tipped over.
Seed Saving
To save seed, replant at least 20 onions (to avoid inbreeding) in the second spring. Large, beautiful globe shaped flowers attract pollinators. Cut whole seed heads when they open and show the black seeds. Thresh gently and winnow to remove debris and hollow seeds. Isolate from other Alliums of the same species by at least ½ mile.
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