Eckert’s Gardening Tips:
Growing Onions

Onions can be grown from seed, plants or sets for use as both green onions and dry bulbs (traditional cooking onions). Most gardeners prefer onion sets and onion plants.

Planting

Onions grown for green or dry onions can be planted in March and April when the temperatures are around 50 degrees F and they can tolerate light frosts. Be sure the plants will receive 6 or more hours of sunlight. Separate the large sets from the small sets. Use the large sets as green onions and plant them 1” deep and close enough to touch. Onion sets for dry onions should be 3-5” apart. Both types should be 1.5-2” beneath the soil. A well drained, fertile soil is ideal.

Culture

A light layer of mulch can help control weeds and conserve moisture. Be sure to give the plants adequate moisture for optimum results. Control additional weeds around the onions with light hoeing. To produce the white stems for green onions, mound soil around the foliage as it grows. Do not "hill" onions growing for drying. This encourages rot. If the onion flowers, it will not be good for drying. Cut the foliage and use as green onions.

Harvesting

Green onions should be harvested in approximately 30 days when grown from plants or sets. Dry full-sized onions from sets or plants are ready for harvest in approximately 100 or more days. Onions are ripe when 25-50% of the foliage has fallen over and the bulbs are starting to form a papery skin. This is usually in August and September. Lift the bulbs with a garden fork and spread them in the sun for 2-4 weeks. Turn them as they dry for best results. Green onions can be harvested when the foliage reaches 6-10 inches. Storage for dry onions should be around 32-40 degrees for best results. Onions stored above these temperatures will not last as long. Braid the foliage and hang the onions or store them in a mesh bag.