How to Grow Onions

Here is all you need to know to grow delicious, home grown onions. The ease of growing onions will have you planting them year after year.

Planting

Onion sets may be planted in early spring as soon as the soil is workable. A frost after planting will not harm the sets. Before planting divide the onion sets into two sizes. Use the largest set for green table onions and the smaller sets for dry cooking onions. Sounds odd, but it’s correct!

Green Table Onions

Choose the larger sets, the size of a nickel or larger, and plant in a row with the roots down, ½ inch apart and 2 to 3 inches deep. Deep planting produces more white edible stems. In just 4 to 5 weeks you will be serving delicious green table onions at your table. Continue to plant sets weekly for a continuous supply throughout the summer.

Dry Cooking Onions

Choose the smallest sets, the size of a nickel or smaller, and plant in a row, with the roots down 2 to 3 inches apart, and only deep enough to just cover the top of the sets with dirt. Keep the rows of sets about 12 inches apart.

Harvesting Green Tables Onions

Pull the onions when the tops are about 12 inches high and remove the outer skin. The green tops can be used in soups and salads. If the green table onions become too large they will have a stronger flavor…these onions may be used for cooking.

Dry Cooking Onions

Dry cooking onions are ready to be harvested when the tops of the plants begin to fall over. This will occur later in the summer (July or August). Once the tops have dried and fallen, pull the onions and allow them to dry in the shade for a few days before placing them in storage.

Storing Dry Cooking Onions

Only the dry cooking onions can be stored throughout the winter. Once the onions are thoroughly dried, tie the tops together with string and hang in a cool dry place. You may prefer to cut off the tops, leaving about 1 to 1 ½ inches of stem, and place the onions in a mesh bag. Hang the bag in a cool dry place. Always keep the onions from freezing.