How to grow sweet tasting onions as large as oranges

You may be wondering how to grow onions.

Before you start there are many varieties of onions including; red onion, white onions, spring onions, pickling onions and shallots. All these can be either grown from seed or can be planted as sets.

Onions prefer a sunny position with a light but rich soil. Onions will grow in most types of soil as long as it’s firmed down.

Onion sets

Onion sets are small, young onions that are planted in spring or late summer. The sets start growing when planted and will produce a full-sized bulb when ready to harvest.

If at all possible you should choose onion sets that have been heat-treated. This means that they are less likely to run to seed or bolt.

Generally, gardeners find growing onions from sets is far easier and more reliable than growing them from seed. Also onion sets often yield larger bulbs then seed grown onions.

How to grow onions – Soil preparation

  • A sunny site is essential for growing a good crop of onion, shallots and garlic. If you have heavy soil you’ll need to improve drainage with compost and sand.
  • Onions, shallots and garlic like fertile soil, but they don’t like too much nitrogen, so don’t plant them in freshly manured soil. Only add manure or compost to the soil several months before planting the sets.

How to grow onions – Onion Seeds versus Onion Sets

  • Sow seed in modules in January or February in a greenhouse or cold frame at 10-15°C (50-59°F).
  • Sow five or six seeds per module in moist compost – when planted out the bulbs will push themselves apart as they get bigger.
  • Cover seeds with a layer of vermiculite and don’t forget to label with variety name and date of sowing.
  • To have a year-round supply of onions, sow once in spring for a crop in August, and again in late summer or autumn to be ready from June. To get large onions they need as long a growing season as possible.

Growing onions sets

  • It’s much easier to grow onions from sets. You can buy these from garden centres or online garden shops.
  • A couple of months before planting prepare the soil by adding manure.
  • Plant the onion sets in spring in shallow drills and cover them so the necks are just sticking out from the soil.
  • Weed regularly and water sparingly.
  • Harvest when the foliage starts to go yellow and die.

Is it better to grow winter onions or wait until the Spring to plant them?

I’ve always planted my onions in the Spring and my onions grow into fairly nice sized onions. Though we have to water them often to get them to grow to this size.

So decided to try and plant Winter Onions also known as Japanese Onions. We planted the onion sets in December and they have grown really well and are pretty big. I think this is because it rains more in the winter and also they get a longer growing season.

Some people say that Winter onions don’t keep as well as Spring planted onions. I haven’t found this. But…

We also planted some onion sets in the spring and they are also doing well, but growth-wise they are well behind the Winter Onion sets and we also needed to water the Spring planted onion sets.

If your soil is good enough then I would recommend Winter Onion sets just because they are hassle-free and don’t need watering.

If on the otherhand your soil isn’t plantable in the Winter then plant onions in the Spring.

(Picture of Onions planted in Spring taken May 2010)

 

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