Onions, Leek, Chives, Shallots

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A vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The common onion’s close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, chive, and Chinese onion.

Introduction

Description

You can grow spring onions from seeds, bulbs, from other onion, and in the yard, a small pot, or even in water. It is most frequently a biennial or a perennial plant, but usually treated as an annual and harvested in it’s first season.

Optimal Time/Temperature for Germination:

There are 3 different categories of onions: short-day, long-day, and day-neutral. These categories are based on what plant hardiness and growing zone you live in. If you choose the wrong type of onion for your area, you may not get a very successful crop. If You live in Zone 7 and warmer, choose short-day onions, such as Red Burgundy, Red Creole, and Vidalia. If you live in Zone 6 and colder, choose long-day onions, such as: Alisa Craig, Copra, and White Sweet Spanish. (14-16 hours). You can grow day-neutral onions, such as Cabernet and Candy, in any growing zone (12-14 hours). If by seed, start indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost date. It will allow them to germinate into healthy seedlings before you transplant them outside. A container should be about 4 inches (10.2 cm) deep, and have some drainage holes. Fill with dampened seed starter mix And sprinkle the seeds over it. Mist them lightly with water, and then cover them with a 1/8 inch (0.3 cm) thick layer of seed mix. Gently pat the soil with your hand when you are done. Cover the seeds with a humidity dome, or cover the seeds in starting mix and plastic. Keep them someplace warm, about 70 to 75°F (21 to 24°C). If it is too cold where you live, place the containers on a heat mat. Expect to see the seedlings emerge after 7 to 10 days. Take off the humidity dome or plastic cover and move the seeds to a cooler spot. Keep the soil moist, and remember to fertilize it. The best type of fertilizer is diluted fish emulsion or compost tea.

Optimal Soil Conditions:

Start hardening them 4 weeks before the last frost date. During this time, slowly introduce the seedlings to the outside. Start by placing them outside in a sheltered spot for several hours, then bringing them back inside for the rest of the day. Increase outdoor exposure little by little every day until you are able to leave them outside overnight. Wait until the seedlings are at least 4 inches (10.2 cm) tall. This will ensure that the young plants are strong enough to tolerate the outdoor environment. Transplanting the seedlings outside right away will send the seedlings into shock and could possibly kill them. Spread a 1½ inch (3.8 cm) thick layer of 5-10-5 fertilizer over the soil. Mix the fertilizer into the soil to a depth of about 8 inches (20.3 cm). Make sure that the soil is soft, and free of clots. If you can, try adding some organic material into the soil, such as rotted manure or compost intended for gardening.

Seed Planting Depth, Spacing and Procedure:

Pace the seedlings 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm) apart. Use a fork to loosen a hole in the dirt, place the seedling into the hole, and then push the dirt back. Once you have transplanted the seedlings, give them enough water to dampen the soil.

Best Companion Plants and Plants that Hinder:

Cabbage, carrots, chard, lettuce, peppers and tomatoes are friends with onions Chamomile will improve growth and flavor.

Growing Instructions

Crop Maintenance

Moisture Requirements & Solutions:

Onions need a lot of water. In fact, they need about an inch (2.5 cm) a week. If you aren’t getting rain, you will need to water the onions regularly. If you’re not sure when to water them, check the soil to see if it’s moist. While the plants are leafing, it needs to always be moist. However, once a week should be sufficient as long as they get a good soaking. Once the bulbs start getting larger (when the plant part stops growing), the bulbs need to be kept much drier.

Weeding Needs & Solutions:

You can add a layer of mulch around the plants. The mulch will suppress weeds coming up. It can be things like bark pieces, grass clippings, or straw, as well as inorganic materials such as stones, plastic, or brick chips. you can also just use grass clippings from your yard. Organic materials also improve the soil over time. Mulch helps the soil retain water, as well. However, you’ll need to remove the mulch once the bulbs start to enlarge. You should see them start pushing up the soil a bit. The bulbs need to be drier, and mulch retains too much moisture.

Feeding Needs/Optimal Natural Fertilizers:

The leaves are not the only part of the onion that will stick out of the soil; the bulbs will too. If the bulbs are not developing out of the ground, you may want to brush some of the soil away from them, so that only the roots and the bottom part of the bulb are in the soil. This will help the bulbs dry faster. Consider adding some nitrogen to the water to keep the onions healthy. You only need to do this until mid-July, however.

Pests, Diseases & Solutions:

Generally, onions repel spider mites but a species that likes them is the two-spotted spider mite (red mite). Plant cilantro around your onions to fend them off. Treat infection with Neem oil.

When to Harvest/Number of days to maturity:

Onions take 100-175 days to be ready for harvest. Begin harvesting when the bulbs are 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 cm) in diameter. Bend the plants to the ground to avoid top rotting of the bulbs (pink neck). Give the bulbs 5 to 6 days to dry and turn brown. Trim the leaves down to 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) but if planning to rope braid to dry, leave longer.

How to Harvest:

Pull the bulbs out of the ground. Once the outer layer of the onion bulb’s skin has dried, it’s ready to harvest. Place the bulbs in a container, such as a box, bag, or wheel barrow to store the onions you have harvested. Make sure the container is warm, dry, dark, and well ventilated.

Optimal Storage temperature and conditions:

Spread the bulbs out on a screen to provide ample circulation. Let them cure in a shed or garage. A porch that doesn’t get a lot of sunlight will also work. If you cure the onions in direct sunlight, the skins will soften and invite bacteria. If you cure them someplace damp and humid, they may start to rot. If you are not braiding your onions together and hanging them up, you will need to store them properly in a bag or box. You can store them however you want, as long as they are kept cool and dry. Good air circulation is a must. Here’s a few popular ways to store onions. Store the onions in an onion bag, and hang the bag up. Store the onions in a shallow box. Use newspaper to keep the bulbs separate. Store the onions in nylon stockings. Tie a knot in the stocking between each bulb. Hang the stocking up. When you want to get an onion, simply cut below or above a knot.

Optimal Preserving Procedures:

Seed Saving:

Watch for flowers and then seed heads to form during the late summer of the second season. Most of the flowers will be dry, and the seeds will begin to fall out on their own. Many seeds will fall out on their own. For the rest, place them in a bag, pound the whole bag against a hard surface. If you have many seeds, you may be able to use the wind to separate them from stems and other matter. Use a large bowl and toss them in the air, or pour them from one container to another in a light breeze. The wind should sift the lighter stems away and leave the heavier seeds to fall. There’s no harm in having a little bit of stem or seed head in your seeds unless you are sprouting them. If you plant it along with the seeds, it will just decompose. Label the seeds with the year you saved them, or plant them immediately in a mild climate. To prolong the seeds viability, put them in a paper envelope to absorb the moisture and keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. For onions you will eat, you will harvest the same year that you plant. If you want seeds, you will have to wait a second year. If you want both seeds and onions to harvest, plant extra plants for two years running.

Harvest and Storage

Notes

The most reliable way is plant onion sets (these are tiny onion bulbs). Plant these on the surface of prepared soil no more than about 5 mm deep (just deep enough to get the roots into the soil). Keep an eye on them until they are established, as they tend to shove themselves out of the ground as they put down roots. Birds can also be nuisance pulling them up in their search for insects and grubs. Green onions can be ready in 20 to 30 days after planting.

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