Onions, one of the most basic staples in cooking flavorful meals, are something that anyone can easily grow at home. While onions may seem like a challenge, growing them couldn’t be easier. The common onion is widely cultivated and can be found almost anywhere on earth with it’s signature flowers and even more signature flavors. Let’s look at what you need to grow onions at home.
The Basic Conditions For Planting Onions
Onions grow best in full sunlight on well drained soil. They are plants like the earth to be well worked and free of rocks or hard clumps, which makes sense since the vegetable we’re aiming to produce is underground. They’re a cool weather plant and can actually resist freezing temperatures quite well unlike most other plants you might have in your garden and they should be planted October through December. Onions can be planted from either seed or small bulbs often referred to as sets, with seeds being planted earlier or sets being planted or transplanted as early as January or February.
Even with all this early planting onions are typically full sized between May and July depending on when and how you started them. Growing times can vary between varieties, but in reality these are a good crop for people who like to plan a year ahead.
While figuring out when to plant your onions and wondering about weather conditions can be a bit of a headache, the plant process beyond that is very easy. Onions have few natural pests and are not prone to disease. If you do run into disease or pest problems from thrips (tiny insects) or fungal sources the good news is sulfur is an organic option that can treat both problems.
With care and some basic understanding, just about anyone can pull up a successful onion harvest.
Soil Conditions for Planting Onions
Onions like well drained well worked soil. Ground soil or raised beds should be worked at least 8 inches deep and any clay should be well broken up and rocks should be removed. Onions like a well fertilized soil as well, but they aren’t as picky as plants like tomatoes. When preparing your soil for onions you should work 1.5 lbs of 10-10-10 fertilizer for 50 square feet and work it into the top 4-6 inches of soil. Onions rarely have problems for overly rich nutrients so long as their soil pH stays in acceptable ranges.
Onion like a soil that is between a pH o 6.0 and 7.0. They can tolerate slightly more acid soil, but you should try and avoid a soil pH our of the optimal range if at all possible. For best conditions it is a good idea to test your soil with a simple pH kit before planting to avoid any heartache down the line. Luckily for you, even if you don’t test your soil, onions are fairly hearty and can still grow outside of optimal conditions.
Growing Temperatures and Climates for Onions
Onions are a cold weather plant that can either be planted late fall or early spring. This is the most confusing part about onions for first time gardeners. Planting a crop before winter can seem like a crazy idea, but onions are bulbs and do just fine. Onion sets that are planted in the fall need 4-6 weeks of cool to warm temperatures to become established, around 40-50F during that time is best. While still underground in the fall the sets will develop good roots and then go dormant as temperatures drop. When temperatures come back up in the spring the bulbs are primed and ready to go. Fall planted sets generally produce larger tastier onions.
If planting from seed onions need to be started inside and should be grown at or above 50F (10C) and will need to grow for 6 weeks before being ready to be transplanted outside in the spring. In early March or April, when the ground is ready to be worked, you can transplant your starter onions once the temperature consistently stays above 28F (-2C). Planting before that will damage the fragile onion sets or cause them to go dormant again and delay your crops growth. Even though onions can survive cold temperatures, they need to be able to set and establish themselves in the ground before they are ready to do so.
Planting Onions
As mentioned above onions can be planted from seeds or from sets (onion starters). If planting from seeds use an indoor grow tray, a general purpose seed starting mix (not potting soil) and plant the seeds 1/4 inch deep watering with a spray bottle keeping the soil moist, but not wet. As they sprout you can place the seed tray in a window or under grow lights.
When planting sets or transplanting your starters to the garden or raised bed you want to plant them 1 to 1.5 inches deep spaced 2-3 inches apart. It is recommended that rows are planted 12-15 inches apart if planting in a ground bed, but they can be closer together in a raised bed that is well fertilized.
If you have planted seeds in your beds and have had good success with many sprouting, you will need to thin them down to ensure the plants have adequate space to grow. Don’t throw out the thinned plants, instead keep these, since they’re just green onions.
Growing Onions after Planting
Onions are sometimes easy to forget about because they are so hearty. Planting a bunch of them in the winter often leads to a pleasant reminder they were planted in the spring as they shoot up from the ground to greet the sun. Still, while you can mostly leave them be, you’ll still need to provide some care to keep the plants growing optimally.
How to Water Onions
Onions should be watered once a week, deeply and slowly during their early growth. If it is particularly hot or dry you can water slightly more often being sure the soil doesn’t dry out too much. If the soil becomes too dry it can cause your onions to bolt and ruin the bulbs. Once the onions have burst through the top soil you can mulch the bed and reduce watering as the mulch will keep the soil more moist. If you want sweeter onions water more frequently without drowning the plant. remember moist soil is good, but wet soil isn’t.
How to Weed Onion Beds
Onions are simple to weed. Simply check the beds often for weeds and pull when they are small. If weeds get too large before you pull them you can end up hurting your onions when removing the weed roots and disturbing the soil. So remember to weed early and weed often.
How long Do Onions Take To Grow?
After onions leave their dormant cycle in the spring they grow in roughly 60-80 days. When planted from seeds onions take 100-120 days to reach full maturity. While these are the average growth times for most onions, some varieties are slower and can take upwards of 175 days to reach full maturity. In addition to this, onions planted in the fall take much longer to grow overall as they go dormant during the cold months. Onions planted in fall can make you wait for a long time to get a harvest, but the onions will be larger and often taste better, rewarding you for your patience. Spring planted onions are typically ready for harvest by mid summer.
Harvesting Onions
Onions are easy to harvest so long as you are careful and are harvesting at the right times.
When to Harvest Onions
Onions should be harvested when their bulbs are full size and have burst up from the top soil. You will know a bulb is ready when the tops of the leaves begin to yellow and fall over. An onion will be no longer growing if the plant begins to produce flower buds and these onions will have a very short shelf life, so be sure to harvest your onions before they flower.
How to Harvest Onions
When you are ready to harvest onions let the soil begin to dry out. Go a few days without rain or watering and you will be able to pull the onions right out of the ground. In addition to making the harvesting process easier to manage it will also help the onions store better. Wet onions are more prone to rot or blights, but drier onions can keep for a much longer time. When pulling your onions simply grasp firmly by the base and gently pull from the soil. If you have trouble pulling the onions up loosen the surrounding soil with a spade or hand cultivator.
How to Store Onions From the Garden
To store an onion properly you will have to prepare them a little. The roots should be clipped to the base without cutting into the onion and dirt should be gently removed from the outside without the use of water. The tops can be cut down to 1 or 2 inches tall if you want to store them topless, but you can also dry the tops and braid them together for hanging.
Once your onions are cleaned up place them in a dry warm place (or even outside in sun) and let them cure for several days or until well dried externally. Once dried you can place them in a mesh bag or braid the tops together and hang them up in a cool dry place. Do not store onions in the fridge as it is both too cold and too moist for them to keep for long term storage. Ideally onions should be kept in 40-60F temperatures.
Do not store onions with apples or pears as they can cause the onions to spoil. Additionally, do not store onions near potatoes as onions have been reported to spoil potatoes flavor, though they do not outright cause the potatoes to spoil.
If stored properly dormant onions will keep for up to year in temperatures below 50F. If kept in warmer conditions or stored improperly onions will keep for several weeks.
If you have too many onions to store from a great harvest, they can be canned for use in soups, pickled either sweet or savory, and can also be dried and reduced to onion powder for seasoning. While they do keep for a long time and can be used in almost any dish, there are limits to how many you’ll want to keep, so be ready to find alternative uses like we just mentioned.
Growing Onions Won’t Make You Cry
Onions are a great plant to grow for beginner gardeners. They’re easy to raise, simple to harvest, and they store well for a long time. While knowing the ins and outs of planting them properly can seem like a bit of a challenge, as long as you follow our simple information in this guide you’ll be growing amazing onions in your own garden in no time.