Onions are a cold-season crop, easy to grow because of their hardiness. By midsummer, you can begin harvesting individual onions! Learn more about planting, growing, and harvesting onions for an endless supply in your garden.
Onions can be planted in either the spring or fall. Onion plants grow well in raised beds or raised rows at least 4 inches high. We usually plant a mix of white, yellow, and red onions.
Should I Grow Onions from Seed or from Sets?
We prefer planting onion sets over starting them from seeds, simply because the sets establish quickly and are easier to plant. Onion sets are small onion bulbs that are sold specifically for gardening. Once planted, they develop into a full-size bulb after about 3½ months.
Also, onion sets can be planted without worry of frost damage and have a higher success rate than planting from onion seeds or transplants.
Of course, starting onions from seed is certainly doable, and may even be necessary in colder regions (Zone 5 and colder). If you’d prefer to try this method, check out our tips for growing onions from seed indoors.
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Growing onions
Just read your article about planting onions. It is quite informative. But I have a question. In one section, you recommend mulch, but in another day that mulch harbors maggots. Please explain
Onions and potatoes
My grandpa loves to tease, and he likes to tell us you should always plant onions and Potatoes together. He says they do better that way in a dry year. When we'd ask him why, he'd say, because onions make the eyes water! Lol! They make my eyes water, but not potato eyes!!!
Growing onions
I find that I have much better luck growing beautiful larger onions with transplants. I plant in early spring, and again about 4-6 weeks later to have young green onions longer. I plant them close together and thin them out and use as green onions until they are spaced about 5 - 6 inches apart. I then let them grow until they start to die back. I always plant the Walla Walla sweet onions (my favorite) I live on the central coast of California where the temperatures exceed 100*. I water my onions very well every day and they do great. I also love to grow my own garlic. Garlic takes longer and I usually plant in the fall and harvest them in early June.
Walking onions
How can I grow larger walking onions?
Revive onions
I have some small onion plants that hadn’t fully developed last year. I brought them inside, hoping to dry them out and start them this year. Any tricks for those?
I believe the are Walla Walla Sweets.
onions not bulbing
The dirt needs to be removed from around the onion to allow the onion to bulb. onion grows on top of the dirt. the deeper you plant your transplants the more dirt you will need to remove. Onion maggots is my nemisus.
My onions do not bulb out.
I planted Walla Walla onions from transplants in the fall here in CA.
This is the second year that my onions do not "bulb out". They look like leeks with a very slight swelling at the root end. I do crop rotate. They are beautiful and green and look wonderful otherwise. What am I doing wrong?
Onions
I have just put my onion sets in a raised bed. Do I water and how often?
Thanks
How Much to Water Onions
Hi Joan, Water your onions about 1 inch per week, which includes rain.
Green Onions
What about planting green onions, or scallions? Is it the same?
union planting
my onions are about 1month since i did transpanting and i have already weed them, so i was planning to buy an insectide so that i can spray..which one should i buy
Growing onions
Thank you so much for the great lesson on growing onions
onion pest
My onions are attacked by small insects looking like aphids and I have tried normal pesticides but they have proved ineffective during dry conditions, o please help me out if you have ever faced this challenge
Shallot sets
I was given a 20 kg saco of red sun shalott sets and planted half, can i pickle the rest or would it not work for some reason
Onions
This year I bought red and white onion sets with instructions to plant 4” deep. Is this correct and what results can I expect? In the past I’ve always planted one inch deep and battled with the birds.
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Planting Onions
We recommend not planting onions deeper than 1.5 inches into the ground. Deeper than that and they will struggle to do well.
onions
Where might I find "multiplying" onions... we had them when I was a kid... they "came back "every year and were wonderfully sweet...
Onions
I believe you are looking for Egyptian walking onions as they set a 1/4" to 3/8" seed on top of the green leaves . When left to maturity they will reseed themselves . As far as sweetness goes ,, it's partially dependent on how much you water . It is fine for them to be damp consistently but "wet" feet (soggy) is only tolerated on occasion . I get mine from the big seed stores and they can be found on e-bay as well .
TEXAS GRANO
HI,I have seedlings that were left in the nursery for now more than three months is there a possibility they can groe into big bulbs i can harvest from transplanting,
Harvest onions
I just pulled about 40% of my crop, as they’d tipped over and laid them out in a clear dirt patch. It’s 85 out there- is it okay for the onions to stay on the ground in mostly full sun? Will they burn like potatoes do?
Also, some of the ones that tipped earliest were rotting out the root end, any tips for preventing that next year.
Growing Onions
am very much thankful for the article it came at the right time, I have great passion in gardening s expecially vegetables I would like more information please
Does anyone know about or ever grown Egyptain Walking Onions?
I enjoy reading and the helpful info as I'm an avid gardener & try to be so in an environmental friendly manner. I've never seen Egyptian Walking Onions, but they look like regular ones so fat ? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
My attempt at growing egyptian walking onions.
My grandma in Arkansas always had me go to the garden to pull a few of these onions for meals. She'd always tell me to pull off the top bulbs and spread them back over the onion patch so they can make yet more onions.
As a kid in Llano Texas I had brought back a start of grandmas onions, and before long, I had my own onion patch that we ate from.
But after we moved I lost these onions, till I found that you can order them on amazon.com. My order came in around November I think. It was a nice number of the tiny onions that Egyptian walking onions make at their tops. Before long I had my onions again. This is here in Austin Texas now where I live, and I find that they die back in the heat of the summers. But if you keep them watered, they'll come back in the fall, and really grow in the spring. This far, I've not had much luck in keeping them nice and lush in the summer however.
Anyone have any ideas as to how to keep them doing well in the summer please advise. It gets very hot and dry here in Austin Texas. Thank you. Terry J Rogers
Onions
Terry , I have recently moved to Hamlin , Texas . We're north of Abilene but still have hot dry summers . Last year my Egyptian walking onions struggled in the 105 degree weather we had throughout last May . There is a shade tree in one corner of my garden that is useful for veggies that don't like the heat . There was a bit of space to use and extra onion seeds as well . Remember that we have a LOT of sunshine here . The tree has heavy leaf coverage and provides a small amount of dappled sun . The onions that got the most shade have done the best . I don't know if this will work for you , but worth a try . By the way , the shade protected them from the harsh evening sun.
Growing onions
In a case where i want to grow sets instead of transplants,where do i get the sets from or how do i prepare them?
I'm growing yellow onions for
I'm growing yellow onions for the first time and am wondering if I planted one of the plants too shallow. I can see the tops and some of the actual bulb. Is there a way to remedy this or is it a lost cause?
popping up
You should be fine if you throw some compost mulch on top, an inch or so.
About Onion Farming
Hi... I want to know about timings, life cycles and climate conditions required for Onions and Papaya.
onions
I have a pot full of green onions from last year. They are all bunched up together. Should I cut the tops off right above the roots and plant for more green onions or can I leave an inch or so of stalk an plant to get big onions. I'm not sure if that will work but I know cutting just above the root line works.
Onions
I've been trying to grow yellow and chive onions. The tops on both look like grass instead of the nice hearty stalks I see everywhere else. This is my first garden attempt, so I'm sure I did something wrong. Just not sure what. HELP.I know it's to late for this season but I want to try again next season.
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