
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Onions
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To make onions taste milder, soak them in milk or pour boiling water over the slices and let them stand for 20 minutes. Rinse with cold water.
Chopping onions can sometimes look like a daunting task: There’s the skin, and the layers… Where to begin? Check out our tips for chopping onions in four easy steps. Onion skins actually have several health benefits, too, so don’t throw them out!
For more tips on using onions in the kitchen and cooking them correctly, click here.
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Can you cut the green stems above ground and allow the bulb to continue to grow?
The bulb gets its food from the leaves, so one needs to wait until the leaves brown (and are no longer providing food) before harvesting the bulb, or the bulb won’t reach its full size.
If a flowering stalk appears, however, you can cut off that green stem. Unfortunately though, if an onion bolts (forms flowers) the first year, it will no longer focus on bulb growth, even if one removes the flowering stem. It is best to immediately harvest an onion that has bolted, as the longer it sits in the soil, the more chance its flavor and texture may change and rot may occur. However, you can leave the bulb in the soil for a few days, if needed, before harvesting.
Hope this helps!
I am in zone 8a, Arkansas. I have had some success growing in a 5 gallon bucket. Maybe this would be a alternative for those with fungus/worm problems?
If you get onion maggots, we’d suggest planting in raised beds versus the ground or even containers. The worms prefer slow-draining soil. Use floating row covers after the onion seeds are first planted until harvest.
I have a beautiful lush garden; I plant everything according to the Farmers Almanac - thank you so much! I’m a organic gardener. Last year my onions were rotting early in the season...I thought it was because I used wood ashes to prevent worms. I planted onions sets in a different area this year. Same problem, greens start turning yellow and die...the small onion bulb is rotting. They are definitely not overwatered - I never had this problem before, some of my friends are experiencing the same thing. Are we buying infected onion sets?
Sadly, this sounds like white rot pathogen. It’s probably nothing you did, certainly not knowingly. The cooperative extension tells us that it’s the fungus, Stromatina cepivorum Berk. The pathogen persists as small, dormant structures (sclerotia) in the soil. Sclerotia remain dormant in the absence of a suitable host (garlic, onion, or other Allium crops), and can survive in the soil for over 20 years. There is not much you can do that you’re not going; see here https://extension.umaine.edu/publications/2062e/ for more detail. Sorry it’s not better news.
I did my onion in the fall , now they are in full bloom and very tall and the green tops are hard tuff like,
Question is the top bloom are they seeds, onion bulb , if so how what do I do now ! Thank you all in advance for your advice ! Happy gardening
Diane
Last year I had to replant my onions 3 times because of the worms. Overnight the worms would get ahold of the green part and suck it down their holes, leaving the white part sticking straight up in the air. Do you have any suggestions other than checking onions every morning and replanting as necessary? I thought worms were good for the garden, but man replanting gets old fast when you plant 300 feet of 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
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!!!
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