I put in some onion starts in the ground about 3 yrs ago and since I wanted the spot for something else, I figured it was a good time to dig them today. But although the foliage has been and was already again this year nearly the size of Gladiolus, and there were huge blooms the past couple years, the bulbs are barely bigger than when they were planted. I've given them plenty of water when it didn't rain, compost, mostly sunny spot.

They were supposed to be big & sweet. Conditions? Needed more time? TIA for sharing your thoughts!

What type of onions. In your zone you would start biennial onions in the fall harvest full grown onions in April May. I f you wanted to save seeds, you would set the large onions into the ground in October, harvest seeds the following June. Once they seed they are finished. There are perennial onions, but they are never big and sweet.

What kind of onions? Maybe they were bunching onions. Years ago i bought sets thinking they were regular bulbing kind but they weren't. Greens were big and beautiful but I never got big bulbs.

Thank you very much for the responses! I should have kept the pkg, or at least added to my list on here because I don't remember a name. They were @ a BBS & the pic on the package was of big onions and it said they were sweet.

While not hard once you learn the tricks of trade, staring onions from seed is not for beginners. Most BBS carry Ferry- Morse and Burpee Seeds. Ferry moss has the Utha Yellow Sweet Spanish which is marginal for your area. Burpee offers Georgia Queen, Yellow hybrid Granex and Texas 1015 which are suited to your area. Ther a dozens of large sweet short day onions available. They are available as White, Yellow, Pink, and Red varieties. All have the same cultural requirements. Seeds are started in September. I am in middle Georgia. Start seeds just after labor day. Use planting trays, Promix. and start trays in the coolest dampest area I have( under tree cover on the edge of a holding pound). After emergence and cooler temps, I move the trays to more sunlight. Transplant in December, Harvest in May. I use a heavy application of N at transplanting and again In late February. Onion (Allium cepa 'Pumba')

Thank you very much for the detailed info!