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.
If you're interested in growing your own onions, there are some great tips in this post! I found the advice on planting depth and soil preparation particularly useful. For more detailed information on how to grow white onions and make the most of your garden, click here. Happy gardening!
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