Onion Plant Planting Guide

ONION PLANT PLANTING GUIDE- (Allium)

Lond Day Varieties- Copra, Candy, Yellow Spanish, Walla Walla, Redwing

SOIL: Onions prefer fertile and loose soil that is well drained with lots of organic matter. Before planting turn in good amounts of compost or manure.

PLANTING: Transplant plants to the garden 4 weeks before the last expected frost. For the best yield per square foot set plants 1” Deep about 3 to 4“ apart in staggered rows 8-10” apart. If plants have long stems trim back by about a third.

GROWING: Onions should be grown in full sun and don’t compete well with weeds and are easily damaged by many weeding tools. Pull any weeds growing an inch or so from plant by hand. Onions don’t need a lot of water but they need it all the time. Watering is most crucial the first week or so after planting while the roots are developing. Water as needed daily.

HARVESTING: All onions can be harvested and used as needed throughout the season. Pull up onions that need thinning to use and just pinch back the tops if you want bulbs to mature or the plant to continue to produce leaves. Bulb onions for storage are ready to harvest when the top falls over. Gently pull onions from the ground, clean off dirt and leave them to cure in the sun for at least a week. If you don’t get a week of sunny weather move them to a dry well-ventilated place to finish curing. Remove any dirt, clip the tops, trim the roots and store in onion bags in a cool, dry place.