Growing Onions

Do you know when to plant onions? Here in Texas, January is the time for planting onions. More specifically, planting onion sets.

What is an onion set? It is a bundle of onion seedlings that are ready for planting. You could grow onions from seed in flats. Then, you would have to carefully pull them from the flats and transplant them. OR, you could purchase an onion set that cost about $2.00 and save a ton of time.

Either way, onions are about the easiest thing to grow in a garden.

You can grow onions in a prepared bed, raised bed, or even in a pot. The real secret to successful onion growing is soil preparation. What I do before planting my onion sets is to amend the soil with a manure compost. That’s it. Just mix it into the bed and level the surface.

The next step to a successful onion harvest is choosing the right sized onion transplant from the set. My rule of thumb is to plant transplants that are no larger than the size of a pencil.

If you plant a larger transplant, like the one next to the pencil, you risk the onion bolting before it is ready. However, don’t toss these large transplants. Instead, plant them really close together and harvest for green onions. They can be picked throughout the growing season.

Which size is the best one to plant. You want the transplant to be a decent size, but not too big. And definitely, not too small. My advice ~ plant onion transplants no larger than a pencil.

Planting is simple. Plant root-side down in about 1″ of soil. I use a small bamboo stick (about the size of a pencil) to poke a hole. Then, I set my onion in the hole and tamp it down ~ but not too hard.

Then, I don’t over water or under water. I let the water drain well between waterings. This keeps the onions from rotting in the soil. I keep up this type of watering and give the onions a little organic fertilizer once a month. That’s it.

In a few weeks, my onions will look like this.