ONION GROWING

Onions have a long growing season. They grow on a wide variety of soils, with the
exception of heavy clay soil. For bulbing onions, it is best to sow so that the first few
months of growing time are in the cool season.

BEST TIME OF YEAR TO SOW: MARCH - otherwise sowings between February to

May are acceptable. For spring onions, all year.

PROPAGATION Sow either directly in the soil or in seed beds or seed trays. For
the direct method, you have to very carefully prepare the soil, raking the top 5 cm to
a very fine tilth; no clods may be left behind. Sow the seeds densely in the rows,
cover with 10 to 15 mm soil. Keep seeds moist, but not “muddy” wet. Germination
takes approx 14 days after sowing, they should be about pencil thick.

Transplant young seedlings when they are about 7-8 weeks. Take care to only have
the roots & about the 2mm of the plant under the soil. If planted out too shallow,
they won’t stand up, too deep, and bulbing will be retarded.

Final spacing: 7 to 10 cm in the rows, Rows about 35 to 40 cm apart.

SOIL PREPARATION

Sow seeds in a friable medium. The soil should have been well improved from a
preceding crop with liberal dressings of compost and/or manure. Avoid fresh
manure immediately before sowing or planting. A balanced seedling organic
fertilizer can be applied to the growing seedlings.
Optimum soil pH is between 5.5 to 7

CULTIVATION

Control weeds throughout growth. Plants must never lack water until the ripening
stage has been reached. When bulbing well advanced, watering should be
gradually reduced to encourage the bulbs to firm up and dry. Once mature, some
plants might dry off naturally, these are the best keepers. The tops of others need to
be bent backwards and forwards a few times and laid over to encourage the plants
to dry.
STORAGE

Before storing your onions, examine them to be sure that they are dry, have no bruises and
have not begun to sprout. If this has happened with any of your onions, use those in recipes
right away, or chop them up and freeze the onion chunks.

Lay out your onions in a well ventilated cool room, let no onion touch the next onion. After 3
weeks, carefully examine them, use or freeze any onion that looks like it has any sign of decay.
Keep the others in mesh veggie bags; keep them in a cool ventilated room, about 6 degrees C.

My method is to hang them in the carport while the tops are still green and bendable. This
keeps for about 4 months.