Grow your own onions

Planting Onions

 

Onions can be planted from “sets” which look like small bulbs,

 from small plants which come tied in bunches or from seed. Usually, we’re able to plant onions from mid-March through early May.

A simple test will tell you if your soil is ready to dig in. Squeeze a fist full of soil and then let it go. If it crumbles like a cup cake, it’s okay to dig in.

Prepare your bed by working in some organic material, such as Sheep, Peat and Compost.

We’ve add some Coconut Coir to this mix. Dig up the bed at least 6" deep.

Work in some slow release nitrogen and phosphate to your planting bed. You can use Bone Meal and Blood Meal. Plant your onions close together about 2" apart.

Sets should be planted about 1" deep.

Onion plants should be planted just deep enough to hold them upright. Water your onions often enough to keep them consistently moist. You can feed them every month with blood meal. As they grow, you can pick and eat every other one. This will give the ones you leave in the ground plenty of room to grow. You have lots of choices for onions. Onion Candy is very sweet and produces in about 85 days. Super Star is a white onion which takes about 95 days to reach maturity. Texas Supersweet takes 110 days and will store well for up to two months. Yellow Granex is a common yellow sweet onion. Yellow Sweet Spanish takes 110 days to mature and can produce some very large onions. Plan at least 125 days for Walla Walla onions to mature. These onions are very sweet! Nothing tastes like onions right out of your garden.

 

Picture Credits: wmmorris, S. Albert. Harvesttotable.