How to Grow Onions [Read and Learn]

Onions were grown centuries ago and each person has their own technique depending on where they live.

• Direct on the ground or in seedbed? Earth
• When to plant? Spring, Summer and Winter
• How long is it harvested from the plantation? 4 months
• Recommended volume to plant in pots: 3 Lts
• Minimum depth of the flowerpot: 20 cm
• Distance between one plant and another in the garden: 15 cm
• Distance between plantation lines in the garden. 40 cm

-Type of Land:

          Onions need good and rich soil to develop. They prefer sandy loam soils, peat and silt and reject clay and sandy soils.

Onions like the abundance of potassium and phosphorus but not the excess of nitrogen. It is advisable to put a good surface layer of ripe compost on the ground where we are going to plant, either in the garden or in the flowerpots. The indicated pH of the soil for planting onions is 6.

-Germination

There are several ways to plant onions:

• Planting at the end of Summer:

Seeds should be sown well spaced from one another, ideally in shallow furrows. A few spaced seeds are thrown in the pots. Then cover with 1.5 cm of compost and then tighten the ground well. If the winter is very rough it is advisable to cover the onions with tunnels to protect them from the cold, if you have them in pots, we recommend covering them. When spring arrives it should be clarified (thinning plants) with a distance between one and another of 15 cm. The plants removed can be consumed as a salad.

• Winter Sowing:

In places with very intense winters, it is advisable to plant in seedbeds inside the house. The idea is to have the small onions ready to be transplanted in the spring. This transplant should be done as soon as the soil is dry in the orchard or in the different pots on your terrace or balcony.

• Planting in Spring:

Planting in this period is only recommended when you have a cool and humid summer and you do not have how to store the onions. In this season it is sown in the same way as in summer, but it is rinsed at 10 cm between them, when the plant has reached approximately 10 cm.

• Bulbs

If you prefer to plant bulbs instead of seeds, the best time to do it is in the spring. Holes are made every 15 cm along a line. One bulb is inserted into each hole and then the surrounding soil is tightened so that it is very firm.

-Sun exposure

Onions prefer to be in full sun, especially at the time they form the bulbs.

-Irrigation - Water

Onions need little irrigation during their life cycle. The stage in which more water is needed is when they are growing (vegetative stage, before forming the bulb). When they begin to form bulbs the amount of water they need decreases.

It is advisable to stop watering the onions about 20 days before harvesting them.

-Harvest:

When the vertices of the onion leaves begin to turn yellow, it is time to twist and break their necks, leaving them right there in contact with the earth. This act begins the ripening of the onion. At the same time you have to lift the bulbs of the onions, preferably with a fork, taking great care not to damage their skin, unearthing them not at all. This act will begin the drying of the bulb. A few days later they are completely dug up and left to dry in the sun on the ground for 2 weeks. It is very important that they remain dry.

Once the onions are well dried, they can be tied with string or placed in layers in a cool, airy place. The most important thing is that they are not exposed to frost, but it is good that they are in a cold place at the time of storage.

 -Basic Tips

• It is very important to keep the onions free of weeds or weeds, as they can suffocate the plant.
• It is beneficial for the onion to be padded, especially for its final stage.
• If the onion should bloom, the floral stem should be cut off. This is done to prevent premature flowering and benefit the formation of the bulbs.
• Onions are very sensitive to sudden changes in humidity, a sudden change can cause the bulb to crack.

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