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madonnaswimmer
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How to Know When Onion Ready for Harvesting?

How do you know when onions are ready to harvest? (Yellow onion)

I remember hearing something about when the tops fall over, but some of mine flopped over after about a month, and have been growing bigger since. I just noticed that in this heat, most of mine flopped over this week.

So, what's the rule? I planted them from bulb in early May, maybe?

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jal_ut
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They may continue to grow after flopping over, however when the stem dries up, they are done.

Onions are edible at any stage of their growth. I plant them in April and use them right along starting about a month later.

If you are after a good dry storage onion let them stay in the ground till the stems get quite dry, then pull them and let them dry some more. Cut the tops off when the stem is good and dry.

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jal_ut
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I planted them from bulb in early May, maybe?
Onions do better if planted in April. Next year plant some as soon as you can get on your ground and see a difference.

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madonnaswimmer
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jal_ut wrote:Onions do better if planted in April. Next year plant some as soon as you can get on your ground and see a difference.
Yeah, I know. We had a very cold spring this year (snow on the ground thru April) and then BAM! Summer! By the time we got to renting the rototiller (I work weekends sometimes), it was May.

Thanks for the great advice.

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madonnaswimmer
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Also... will it be helpful to the plant if I stake the tops that have fallen over? Or will they grow just fine on the ground?

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jal_ut
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I just let them be. I have no idea what you would find if you staked them up.

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These 2 were ready because the wife said go pick a couple onions I want chili!

Image

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madonnaswimmer
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So... today I went out to the garden to pick all of the onions that fell over and tips turned brown... and I realized most of them are pretty small... maybe 1-2"?

These were "jumbo yellow onions" I grew from bulb.

Did I maybe not plant them deep enough? (I planted the bulbs about half-deep). I fertilized the soil once monthly. Watered daily.

Ideas or tips to get bigger onions next year?

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jal_ut
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Onions are cool weather plants. Plant as early in the spring as you can get on your ground. Here that means early April most years. You can plant seed, sets, or small plants. Locally we can get little bundles of small plants that are about 1/8 inch wide at the bulb end, and plant them. They make very nice large onions.

Oh, yes, do fertilize your onion patch well. It takes good fertile soil to get the big ones. Mine just gets water once a week. It will depend on your soil and watering setup, but water as needed.

I grew some from sets (dry bulbs), some from small plants and some from seed this season.

Nice scallions from seed.

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madonnaswimmer
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How deep do you plant your sets? If I planted them too shallow, could that also contribute to the small size?

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jal_ut
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Sets I just barely cover. You don't even need to cover them. The only problem I have is they tend to move around if I don't cover them a little. Once the roots get dug in they do not need to be deep. The bulbs mostly form above ground.



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