Onions always have an important role in various cuisines. The aroma and taste that they give are so incomparable.
It’s the chefs’ favorite ingredient that you always have to have in your kitchen. You can just simply add raw onions to your salad, mix them with your soups, toss to your burger, and more. Moreover, onions also give you some health benefits like boosting the immune system and controlling the cholesterol level.
Well, of course, you can always buy some of them in the grocery store, but growing them also sounds really fun. This edible plantation is so possible to grow in a home garden, with the right technique and maintenance (which kinda takes some patience), you can have a lot of fresh onions that you can directly take out of your beloved garden.
It’s believed that the onions that grow in your own garden taste and smell different from the ones which are sold in stores. It’s because they are maintained properly with extra care which makes the delicious onions as your rewards.
You can plant, grow, and harvest onions all by yourself without any needs to hire an expert gardener. It’s so worth adding to your DIY project list this summer to make your garden feel more enjoyable.
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Below, we share a simple guide on how to grow onions in your garden and how to store onions from the garden that you can follow easily.
How to Grow Onions in the Garden
There are commonly 3 types of growing onions that you can keep in mind which are from seeds, sets, and transplants. You can pick one or more options based on your needs. The rule of thumb is that onions set typically grow faster and seeds are good for you who love in a mild region.
Prepare the Site
First, you have to locate the sites where you would like to grow the onions. Remember, the site that you pick really determine whether they can grow properly or not.
- Pick an area that has abundant sunlight exposure, make sure it’s not shaded by other plants.
- The soil should be loose and well-drained which means you have to amend the area if you have the one with clayey and rocky soil.
- In early spring, add compost to the soil of the area before you plant the onions.
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Plant the Onions
Of course, each growing option needs different planting techniques. You have to make sure that you plant them correctly.
- Planting from Seeds – Start planting the seeds indoors about 6 weeks before you place them in your garden. The temperature that the seeds need to grow properly is around 50 degrees F.
- Planting from Sets – Bury the sets only 1 inch in the soil. The space between each set should be 2 & 6 inches away from each other.
- Planting from Transplants – The space plants should be around 5 inches apart in rows around 18 inches apart.
Take Care of the Onions
After planting, you have to take care of the onions in order to grow them properly.
- To keep the moisture, you can place straw mulch between the rows of the pants.
- Add nitrogen fertilizer every week to improve the growth of the onions.
- Onions need at least 1 inch of the water weekly.
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How to Harvest Onions from the Garden
When you are sure that the onions are mature enough, you can start harvesting them. You have to know how to harvest and store onions properly, so you can enjoy using them as the ingredients for your cuisines.
- The best time to harvest the onions is at the end of the summer since they may spoil when the cool season comes.
- Generally, onions are ready to dig (don’t pull) when you spot some flower stalks.
- The foliage of the onions will turn yellow and start falling over when they are mature enough.
- Leave the bulbs to lay on the ground before you take them.
- Remove the soil by shaking and brushing the onions.
- Cure the onions in a dry place. make sure that the air circulates properly.
How to Store Onions from the Garden
Storing the onions also needs some technique, you have to store the onions from garden properly so they can stay longer after you harvest them. Here’s how to store onions from the garden to guide you:
- Before storing, let the skins of the onions dry and their necks begin to shrivel. Spread the onions on some kind of screen and do not pile them.
- Keep the temperature around 40 degrees to 50 degrees Fahrenheit to keep the onions longer.
- Always store onions individually, don’t store them with the other fruits and vegetables since they can reduce the smell and taste of the onions.
- Use a pantyhose as the braided bag to store the onions. Simply cut the legs of the clean pantyhose off, place an onion in the foot of the pantyhose, then tie a knot for each onion. Keep adding the onions until the foot is full. and hang the braided bags in a dry cool place with the recommended temperature.
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So those are the steps that you can follow to grow, harvest, and store the onions. The tutorial is so easy to follow so you can have a garden full of tasty onions all by yourself without any help from a pro.
Growing onions is always a good option to keep in mind when you want to turn your garden into a kitchen’s supplier. The plants are considered easy to grow, especially when you do the job with the proper technique. Once you successfully grow onions in your garden, you can cook delicious meals in a more healthy and safer way.
Well, have a nice try on planting, growing, and harvesting your very own onions!
