What to feed Onions

[Brandon558]

Originally Posted by Worth1

How far apart are they?
If they are in hard ground the wont bulb as well and need to be planted to where the bulbs form on the top of the soil.
It may be that you are growing long daylight cultivars instead of short daylight cultivars.

Onions in the south do better started from seed in the fall and grown out in the spring.

They need lots of nitrogen to develop leaves as each leaf is a new onion layer for the bulb.
Onions wont tell you when they need water as they dont wilt.

Soil should be on the alkali side above 7 and use no sulfur this way they will be sweet not hot.

Mine this year were so sweet you could eat them like an apple.

Worth

Great info above...thanks.

As far as space between the onions most are about 4"......some are bulbing fairly well while others have hardly bulbed at all.

Do you want to keep adding compost or soil as the bulb grows out of the ground or let them grow on top?

Also....the ones that are not growing well, should i just pull them and give the others that are doing okay the space? Or will it make a difference at this point?


Thanks

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Brandon558

Great info above...thanks.

As far as space between the onions most are about 4"......some are bulbing fairly well while others have hardly bulbed at all.

Do you want to keep adding compost or soil as the bulb grows out of the ground or let them grow on top?

Also....the ones that are not growing well, should i just pull them and give the others that are doing okay the space? Or will it make a difference at this point?


Thanks

Just let them grow out of the ground.
I wouldn't do anything with the runts but eat them as you need them.
4 inches is a little close but ok for big onions.
Here is a field of onions growing out of the ground and their spacing.

Even with the whole bulb out of the ground the roots will hold them up.

I haven't perfected any of this yet.

Worth

[Brandon558]

Good deal....thanks again for the info.

[kath]

Brandon, some people actually use a hose to take some of the soil away from the bulbs to give them an easier time of growing- don't know if there's any merit in that. I just let mine alone as our soil isn't compact here anyway. Worth is right about them sitting on top of the ground and being just fine. Definitely don't ADD soil, though.

Oh, and I also have better luck with spacing between 6-8" than with 4".

[ErieDeare]

Has any one heard of cutting the tops off half way and let them grow again and cut them half away again, this will give the bulb energy to grow lager instead of all the energy going to the tops?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by ErieDeare

Has any one heard of cutting the tops off half way and let them grow again and cut them half away again, this will give the bulb energy to grow lager instead of all the energy going to the tops?

I say hog wash.
The tops are what make the bulbs get big without tops you have no bulbs.
Each leaf is another layer of onion.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it even if I'm wrong.

Worth

[ErieDeare]

Why not try it and find out if you are Right or Wrong?
Not asking you to do all of them like that just a few, you will never know if you don't try.
Learning is part of Life.

[KarenO]

The "tops" of onions are the leaves which produce the sugars stored in the bulbs. Removing leaves while the onions are growing will make the bulbs smaller, not larger but if a flower stalk appears that should be removed to prevent the plant from diverting energy to the production of seed. I space my onions 4 inches at planting and then as soon as they are usable size I start picking every second one as I need them to leave more room for the others. Onions are not difficult to grow but as others have said it is important to choose the correct varieties for your day length. Keep evenly moist and they are heavy feeders. I supplement my already good garden soil with composted manure and a granular organic fertilizer made from blood and bone meal. I get bigger onions from seedlings and there is more variety but have also used sets and they work as well. I love to grow shallots, Dutch and French as they are so easy to grow, far easier than onions, Are wonderful for cooking and expensive to buy. I find they keep longer in storage than onions too. Give them a try, a gourmet treat and easy to grow. Multipliers (aka Dutch shallots) can be picked young and used as scallions as well so they are dual purpose and very quick to produce. I much prefer them to green onions as they grow so fast.
Karen

[RebelRidin]

Feed people onions. Cats don't like them.

[ErieDeare]

I hope that you did not misunderstand me when I said cut off the tops. What I meant is cut the tops half there length not all the way down and you do tis twice and only twice and you let them grow the rest of the season.

Does this make sense that the energy will go to the bulb instead of the tops?
You brought up a very good issue on blood meal and being heavy feeders, I am very glad you have brought that up. I am getting away from chemical fertilizers and this makes my second year of using Organic Fertilizers.

Although Blood Meal is high priced it goes a long ways.

[KarenO]

The leaves produce the energy that is stored in the bulb. Reducing the leaves reduces the size of the bulb. I say Leave the leaves alone and feed and water the plants well.
K

[Rockporter]

I cut the tops on my onions the first time I planted them. I did it at least twice, if not three times, and my onions were really small. I cut the tops because I was told by the gardener who gave me the onion starts to do it. I can say without a doubt not to cut those tops unless you get a flower on them. Mine this year are doing very well and I won't be cutting the tops unless I absolutely have too.

[Brandon558]

Once again.....great info you all...thanks.

I feel like I can grow onions now after all of this. I did not know about cutting the flower/seedlings on top either..I will do that this evening.

I also like the water hose idea in order to help remove the soil from the onions.

[NewWestGardener]

I believe it is necessary to keep the developing bulbs somewhat shallow. With garlic, we always push away the top soil and expose the tops of the bulbs when they are starting to swell. Learned that from our Russian friends on a farm.

[loudog]

ErieDeare- Go visit the Dixondale Farms website, They have great info on how to raise onions. They have a newsletter called the onion patch and has great info on soil prep to harvesting- they cover the whole gambit- even recipes. I have great success with their onion plants, pics of my onions have been in their last 3 catalogs. I grow the onions on hilled rows with 2 rows to a hill, that way you can side dress both rows at once down the middle. Dixondale has a printable onion growing guide on the website. proper selection of the daylength of the onion for your area is critical, going by your name I think long day onions would be the best to grow. I started my onions 9 days late this year because of weather but are doing great, my red candy apple onions (intermediate day length) are ready now, my long day onions-walla walla, red river, copra, and ringmaster are all bulbing now and will be ready in about 2-3 weeks.When you put in your plants always water so they get a good start, never cut your tops, like Worth said, the tops are what makes the onion bulbs large, the carbohydrates of the leaves (each leaf is a ring of the bulb) feed the bulb to make it big. I use bone meal and composted chicken manure and blood meal. On Dixondale website click on the Copra onion and pics of my Copra onions from last year are pictured. Good luck!! Louie