Onions are a great addition to the home garden. They're not hard to grow, and these onion growing tips will help you harvest a successful crop. Onions like well-worked and well-drained soil, with plenty of compost dug in. Make sure there is plenty of sun, too. Keep the weeds down, and bigger bulbs will grow.
First, decide what sort of onions to grow. There are many more varieties than the round yellow, red and white onions that are common in grocery stores. There are round flat onions that look like donuts (Borrettana Cipollini is one variety). Torpedo onions, mostly red with an elongated shape, are known to be exceptionally sweet.
One very unusual kind of onions are Egyptian onions, also called "walking onions". They are very hardy perennials -- they come up year after year after they get established. They form several small bulbs underground, and clusters of very small reddish bulblets at the top of each stalk. Both bulbs and bulblets can be eaten. But if the bulblets are left unharvested, the onion stalks will bend down to the ground and take root on their own.
Two other factors in choosing what variety of onions to grow are location and planting time. Onions come in long-day, short-day, and day-neutral varieties. Short-day onions need to be planted in the fall before; long-day onions can be planted early in the spring. The local nursery will have the right kind of onions for your location.
Seeds or sets? Onions come in "sets" -- small bulbs -- that are easier to grow for beginners. But seeds give a bigger crop for a smaller investment. Onions grown from sets tend to bolt easier than those grown from seed. Seeds can be started indoors and transplanted, or sown directly in the ground.
Either way, apply a complete fertilizer about 1 or 2 inches below the transplant or seeds. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep, 2-4 seeds per inch, in rows 12 to 24 inches apart. Plant in a warm location and keep moist.
When transplanting onion seedlings, give the roots and tops a little haircut, to encourage new growth, then plant in a shallow trench 4 to 5 inches apart.
Because of their pungency, onions repel most garden pests, and are helpful in protecting other garden plants, too. Onions are good companions for beets, strawberries, tomatoes, and lettuce. But don't grow onions near beans or peas -- onions can seriously stunt their growth.
When most of the onion stalks are starting to get yellow and fall over, dig the bulbs and lay them on the ground to cure and dry for a few days before storing - Gerald Tommey
