Planting Onions, Seed To Harvest - The Definitive Guide

onions much loved and somewhat misunderstood layers and layers of pungent goodness that form the basis of nearly every dish i make onions are one of the most straightforward low maintenance no-nonsense crops that you can grow and yet they still give some gardeners trouble when it comes to getting reliable bulbs that is until today let's look at the entire process of growing the best onions possible guaranteeing you that beautiful onion bounty [Music] the needs of the onion plant are few but necessary and well defined onions are a full sun crop growing best in a nutrient-rich well-drained slightly acidic soil for spacing four to six inches between the bulbs works best but widen those rows to eight to twelve inches apart to allow for airflow and while all of those things are necessary the single biggest factor governing your onion's success is timing well timing and variety you see onions are separated into three different categories long day short day and intermediate let me explain what that means all onions sprout and grow up the same way it's the way that they react to the daylight hours that differentiates them long day onions begin their bulb formation when the day length reaches 14 to 16 hours short day onions on the other hand begin bulb formation when the day lengths are 10 to 12 hours and as you can guess the intermediates are somewhere in between so how does this work and how does this affect our planting remember an onion bulb is just a modified set of leaves the length of daylight hours triggers the onion plant to send the bulk of its energy to bulb formation so wherever you live in the world is gonna dictate which kind of onions you can grow in southern canada and the northern u.s you'll be growing the long day onions the further you get from the equator the bigger the discrepancy between the day and night length the longest day where i live is on the summer solstice the first day of summer and it's over 16 hours long therefore i'm always going to be growing the long day varieties further south say lower than 32 degrees of latitude you'll be growing the short day onions and then as you creep between the two imaginary lines of north-south that's where the intermediate varieties come into play okay hopefully that makes sense to you and if you're ever in doubt simply look up online the varieties that grow best in your area there's gonna be a bunch to choose from trust me and if you still have questions regarding the day length aspect of growing onions hit me up in the comments i'm always around fortunately the actual planting of onions is much more straightforward there's three ways to do it and one is much better than the other two by far the most common way to plant onions is from sets onion sets are small individual immature onions that have had their life cycles interrupted once replanted they continue to grow eventually forming balls for harvest a relatively short time later convenient no doubt and probably the easiest and fastest way to grow onions but it's also expensive and coupled with that expense is that you get the least choice of varieties to grow and on top of that just by the nature in which they're grown they'll often not produce the biggest or best quality bulbs in the end onion sets are planted quite high as you don't want the growing bulbs buried plant them in the early spring when all danger of frost is passed another way to grow onions is to direct seed them onion seeds sprout fast but you still want to get them in the ground as soon as your last spring frost is done you want them to already be at a decent size when the long days of summer hit to trigger that bulb formation plant the seeds half an inch deep in rows 12 to 18 inches apart space the seeds about an inch apart at planting thinning to four to six inches apart a couple weeks after sprouting keep moist but not over watered and hope for a good summer as you're in it for the long haul whenever you're direct seeding the third way and how i like to grow my onions is to start the seeds early indoors and then transfer them as well started plants outdoors in the early spring you get the best of both worlds infinite choice of varieties inexpensive and a massive head start ensuring success i start my onion seeds early indoors usually in february about eight to ten weeks before that last spring frost date and it's really easy because you don't need to space them or give them much care plant them like you normally would half inch deep in some quality potting mix optimal germination temperature is between 68 and 78 degrees fahrenheit and at that range they'll sprout in about a week keep the light levels intense but short no more than eight hours a day this is key because we don't want those young onions triggered into bulb formation that early this would be a disaster and it would likely doom the crop no matter how big your young onions get i'd like to wait until about a month after the last frost to plant them outside so for me that's usually around mid-april pre-started onion plants are so easy to work with you can gently pull them apart revealing individual plants that look like mini green onions planting is super easy let's rewind about three months to when i first set up this bed to be planted [Music] when i garden whenever possible i try to observe no till no dig practices one of the best ways to do this is to plant a vigorous cover crop when the beds are not in use say over a dormant winter here i have a series of eight foot beds along an east basin fence i planted them with fall rye over seven months ago last october to plant my onions or really any crop i simply just need to cut the grass right down before its seeding stage with the fall rye all cut back i do one more optional step and that's to lay down a barrier of recycled craft paper [Music] this will give me one more layer of protection against weeds it's optional but highly recommended [Music] ugh because it's literally always windy when i do this i have to wet down the paper to hold it in place [Music] the beauty of this method of gardening is that it's virtually identical for any direct seeded crop or transplanted bed [Music] with the paper firmly in place i apply a skim coat of organic potting mix at the exact depth that i want to plant my onions [Music] i rake it nice and level and then give it a good soaking planting the onion starts now will be a piece of cake all right on to the planting your baby onions are quite easy to plant up simply make a hole or depression in your better container and place the onion plant at a depth of where the roots end and the bulb begins fill back in and you're done being top heavy you may have an urge to plant the onions deeper resist that urge remember the onion bulb is not a root if your baby onion plants are too top heavy and don't worry that's completely normal simply cut them back to about six inches to relieve some of that weight and as always space your onions around six inches apart continue to water moderately through the late spring early summer and make sure to keep the area weed free onions simply hate competition and you'll want to eliminate anything that affects the bulb size at the time of planting i amend my soils with a nice thick layer of compost and by doing this it allows me to skip any additional fertilizing throughout the year but if you have poor soil or you feel like the onions need a boost do so early before the bulb formation begins simply use a balanced npk blend rather than a high nitrogen choice onions really aren't that picky just make sure to stop fertilizing once the bulbs start to form onions do have pretty shallow root systems so in times of extreme heat or drought make sure the soil stays good and moist because this is going to allow those bulbs to continue to develop and continue to grow of course mulch will always help in fact always mulch it's never a question as with all crops a nice thick mulch layer is going to mitigate most water loss it's going to keep that top layer of soil nice and cool and it's going to get rid of most of your weeds all plants benefit from a mulch and onions are no different onions are great because they can be harvested at any time if you need an onion that night for dinner simply dig one up even if it's a bit small it'll still be just as delicious the window of time when onions can be harvested is quite large which is nice compared to some all at once crops however if growing for storage the onion bulb must be fully grown to maximize longevity onions are fully mature when the main stalk starts to fail turn yellow or brown and flop over we can to some degree also manually speed up this process if we feel that the bulbs are big enough already we do this by simply bending the tops over 90 degrees about 48 to 72 hours before we intend to harvest after harvest much like garlic the onions need to be fully dried and fully cured for maximum longevity many growers will simply leave them in place on top of the soil to dry out in the sun for a few days i prefer to collect them all and place them in a shed or garage for about one to two weeks as they cure the roots dry and shrivel up and the tops wither away and seal off the onion top this is when you know the onions are ready for long-term storage and you can place them in a cool dark dry location for up to five months onions have a fascinating growth strategy that injects a bit of mystery into how you actually get proper bulbs that is until you've done it successfully and you know the steps to get there once you get that first onion crop under your belt it'll be smooth sailing and these guys will become part of your annual haul hey thanks so much for watching guys i appreciate the support more than you know and if you're getting value from these videos please like and share them to spread the word and help your fellow gardener to grow better

Channel: The Ripe Tomato Farms

Views: 162,646

Keywords: how to grow onions, growing onions, the ripe tomato farms, the ripe tomato farms onion, how to plant onions, planting onions, how to harvest onions, harvesting onions, when to harvest onions, when to plant onions, planting onion bulbs, planting onion sets, planting onions from seeds, gardening, gardening tips, permaculture, homesteading

Id: ht9NOqX5YJw

Length: 12min 24sec (744 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 20 2021