Onion is a wonderfully versatile vegetable that can be used in many dishes.
You can grow your own onions in a matter of months for use in your kitchen.
While the time the onions take to grow depends on the type of onion you are growing, we will show you how to care for them, and what to look for when they are ready to harvest, while you wait for them to grow.
How to Plant Onions
Onions are a cool-season crop that can be planted from seed in the ground weeks before the last frost date.
You can actually start onion seeds just as soon as you can till the ground.
They do need full sun, at least 12 hours of sun a day, to develop the bulb.
If they do not get 12 hours of sun exposure the bulb will not grow very large at all, or even at all, and your onion harvest will be disappointing.
Take time to test the pH of the soil, when planting onions.
For Onions – You want the pH to be between 6.0 and 7.0. There are products you can purchase to increase or decrease the soil acidity levels.
Once you have good soil to plant the onions, with the right pH, you want to make small holes to plant the seed in, spaced 6″ apart at a depth of 1″.
Put the seed in the hole, backfill with dirt, and give them a good drink of water.
You can also plant from bulbs.
If you choose to plant bulbs, just make sure to only bury them enough for the bulb to be covered. You want to plant them at a depth that the tip of the onion is above soil level.
Type of Onion
The process for planting onions is uniform across the board, but how long onions take to grow will really depend on the type of onion.
Of these, let us look at the seven most popular onion types.
Yellow, White, Sweet, and Red Onions
These standard-shaped onions need quite a long time to grow.
For yellow onions, it can take anywhere from 100 days to 175 days to mature and get ready for eating.
Because onions take so long to mature be sure to try starting them indoors earlier in the season and then transplant them to the garden once it is warm enough!
Shallots
Shallots are a smaller variety of onion, and they can be harvested sooner too.
If you want to harvest green shallots, you can harvest them in 30 to 60 days.
If you want to wait for shallots to mature, you can harvest them in 90 to 120 days.
Green Onions
Green onions have a very rapid growth rate. You will be able to harvest them in about a couple of months.
The cool thing about the green onions is that the stalks will regrow.
So whether you cut the stalks from the garden or bought green onions that have the roots attached to it from a grocery store, you can keep cutting more green onion as they grow.
The green onions in the garden need to be watered constantly, while the grocery store green onions need to be placed in a shallow dish of water, covering the roots with water, with the heads of the green onions above the water.
You can get about four or five harvests from one stalk of green onion before they stop producing more edible stalks.
Leeks
Leeks have a growth period of 120 to 150 days.
This type of onion should be started inside before the spring, and transplanted outside after the last frost.
How to Harvest Onions
How can you tell when your onions are ready to harvest if they’re underground?
Stop – do not dig them up to check progress – just take a guess.
When the foliage above the soil has started to turn yellow, stop watering the soil.
This allows the onion to start drying out while the onion finishes maturing so it’s not susceptible to rot.
When you notice the leaves start to bend towards the ground, that is the onion drying out. This is good and expected.
When you start to notice that half your onion patch has bent down leafs, that is when you need to bend down the other half!
Mark your calendar for two weeks after you bend them down.
Two weeks after you bend down half of your onion patch, it’s time to harvest the onions – but don’t pull on the leaves!
Instead – loosen the soil around the onion and simply lift from the bulb. At this point, you can cut off from the leaves and roots and place onions in a dry area for a couple weeks.
When the outer layer of the onion is dry and crispy the onion are ready for storage until they are consume.
Storing Onions
When stored correctly, onions can last for several months.
Store onions in a cool and dry place.
Some of the best places to store onions are the pantry, cellar, basement, and garage as long as the area is free from moisture.
If you hang the onions in a mesh bag, similar to the one you would get from a grocery store, the onions will receive good airflow and the moisture will not ruin your hard work.
Store onions away from potatoes!
Potatoes release a gas that makes the onion rot. The gas is not harmful to humans but, it will rot the onion and ruin the whole crop.
Final Thoughts
Now that we know how short of a growing period onions have, it’s time to gear up for planting.
Find a location that gets full sun, has the right pH and reasonable hose distance, and you’ll be ready to plant some seeds or bulbs!
And don’t forget – you can store them in a cool, dry place for many months after harvest! Enjoy!