How To Grow Onions?

There are many different varieties of onions which includes white, red, and brown-skinned onions. Onions need a long time to be able to mature fully. I can get sizable bulbs by sowing seeds under cover early in the year. But, there is an  easier method and I can do it by raising plants from sets that are planted in spring or fall. The time to sow is spring, summer, fall, and later part of winter. It takes twenty-two-to twenty-four weeks to be ready to be harvest. The best place to grow onions is in beds. In a nine feet bed I will plant thirty-sixty plants.

1. Sowing Under Cover

If I want larger bulbs, I will need to sow seeds under cover from mid-winter to early spring. I will need to put seed compost in the seed tray, level it out, and water well. Make a hole 1/2 inch  deep and sow two seeds in each hole. I do not have to worry about keeping the seed with additional heat, but they need to be kept moist. Germination will require a week or two.

2. Sowing Outside

The seeds need to be sow in spring for summer crops, or in late summer for the Japanese varieties. Dig through the soil to get all of the weeds out, and rake it firm. Make a drill that is 3/4 inch deep. Water the area down good, and sow thinly along it. Cover, with water in, and once the seedlings have come up,  thin them out so they will be one every two - four inches apart.

3. Planting Sets

Onion sets are very small onion bulbs which are planted in either spring or fall. Each one bulk up in size to a bigger bulb. I plant the sets in the fall which are  the winter-hardy varieties they will mature to produce much larger bulbs than those planted in the spring. Put the sets into prepared soil, two to four inches apart, putting the tip of the set at soil level.

4. Routine Care

Onions need to be kept weeded regularly between each bulbs. I want good-sized bulbs I will need to keep the soil evenly moist. The fall sowings and plantings will benefit from an application of high-nitrogen fertilizer in late winter.

5. Harvesting

It is time to harvest onions when they reach full size, which is when the stems have collapsed and bent over. Harvest the onions on a dry day, by gently lifting them partly out of the soil using a pitch fork. Put them on the ground and leave them  for a week or so to dry out, or you can dry them indoors on racks of it if it it wet outside.

6. How To Dry To Bulbs

To dry my bulbs, I will need to lay the onions out on a wire rack to dry and always keep them off of the ground  so the air can circulate around the bulbs. Leave them in a light, dry place such as a greenhouse or a windowsill. When the outer skins rustle, I can either braid my bulbs and hang them up, or I can put them in net bags to store until I will need them.