Onions are relatively easy to grow in the garden. Green onions can be grown from just about any variety and only take about 30 days to mature from onion set to the table. Bulb onions come in many varieties and take about 100 or more days from onion set to table.
Where to Grow Onions
Most varieties are pretty frost tolerant and it is best to plant when the temperatures are slightly cool, about 55 to 70 degrees. Higher temperatures are needed once the foliage and root develops and the bulb starts to grow. Plant onions in loose, well drained soil that has plenty of organic matter in it. Onions do not like acidic soil so test and make sure your soil’s pH is around 6.5. Onions do love nitrogen so make sure there is plenty of it in the soil. You will be able to find out how much nitrogen is in the soil when you do your soil test to find out the acidity. Most home and garden departments have soil test kits. Onions benefit from growing in raised beds because that will give them a lot of loose soil to grow in. Make sure they get at least 10 to 12 hours of sun per day and make sure they are watered frequently.
Seeds or Sets
You can grow onion from seed but it will take considerably longer. If you live in the North growing from seed is not a good idea because it will take more days than you have warm weather for your onions to mature. Instead purchase what is called - onion sets. Sets are little onions that are dormant and once planted they come back to life and start to grow. They start to grow quickly and you will get optimum harvest from sets rather than seeds.
Planting Onion Sets
Get the garden ready in the spring in the north usually in April or May. Dig a trench about 4 inches deep and add organic material (compost, manure, 10-20-10 fertilizer). Fill in to about 1 inch with loose soil. If you only want bunches of green onions purchase large sets and plant 1 inch deep close enough to touch one another. If you want bulb onions purchase the smaller sets and once again, plant 1 inch deep with 3 to 4 inches between sets. Also allow 1 foot between rows.
Care
It is very important to keep weeds from growing in your onion patch. If you are going to cultivate by hoe, you need to be careful since the roots of your onions are very shallow and can be disturbed and disrupted easily. It is better to pull weeds. It is not a bad idea to mulch onions with organic material such as straw, hay or even black and white newspaper to keep the weeds down. Weeds can attract insects that can do damage to your onions.
Water moderately as onions do like water but don’t like to be flooded. If the tops seem to be wilting, give them a shot of water but otherwise, unless you are in a drought area, they should do fine on the rain water you receive. A good rule is to make sure they get about 1 to 2 inches per week.
If you are growing green onions you want to develop long white stems. To do this wait until the tops are about 4 inches tall then carefully pull loose soil up towards the onions until the tops are only 1.5 to 2 inches above the top of the soil. This is called hilling. You want to do this with green onions but not with bulb onions. You want the energy of the plant to go into the bulb instead of the stem. Therefore, you should not hill bulb onions. If any of your plants form flower stalks pull and use immediately. These onions will not produce good bulbs that will store.
You’re almost ready to go in the kitchen and cook something up with your home grown onions, but there is still a little more about growing them. Onions are great companions to some other plants in your garden and they may inhibit the growth of others. Harvesting Onions isn’t as easy as picking them out of the garden and eating them, they need to be cured. There are several diseases and pests that can destroy an onion patch. Learn all about these in the 2nd half of this Growing Onions article.
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