Should I harvest my onions?

[dubele]

I planted some onions in early April and a few of them have flowers growing out of the top of the tips....Does this mean I should pull them??

Thanks,
Doug

[jal_ut]

No. cut the flower off and let the bulb grow. The onion leaves will lay down when they are done growing. That is the time to pull them if you are going for dry bulbs. You can harvest and eat the onions at any time. For dry bulbs wait until the tops all tip over.

[dubele]

Thanks jal_ut.....I will cut them. Typically, how long will they stay in the ground?...I would like them as big as possible....sounds like you are saying I can keep them in for as long as I like. Right now, the biggest one is around 1 3/4" in diameter...I would hope to get 4". Also, the wind has blown some of the onions leaves down.....will they survive? Having a heck of a time with wind here is southeast Pa.

Thanks,
Doug

[jal_ut]

Early April is when I plant my onions too. They will grow until about mid August. The tops will usually fall over about then. If not, I will smash them down. They need to start drying up a bit before harvest. I pull the onions about September 1 and spread them out in a shed and let them dry for a couple of weeks before bagging them. The tops should be completely dry and I will cut them off.

[jal_ut]

Oh, about the downed leaves, I suspect that the plant will send up more leaves. Each layer of the onion has its own leaf. As long as the plant is actively growing it will keep sending up new leaves. I would just let them go and see what they do.

You are going to run into someone who will tell you to smash the leaves down so the plant will make a bulb. That is a fairy tale and don't buy that. The plant makes a bulb when the day length is right and good healthy undamaged leaves will produce better bulbs than smashed ones. The only reason I will smash the leaves down is to get them drying out before harvest. I like to get them out of the ground before frost because frost usually means wet humid weather and not good for drying onions. By the time I smash the leaves, the onions are very large.

Onions are heavy feeders. Give them a shot of nitrogen now to boost your yield.

[dubele]

Thanks again. So, I will wait and see what happens...I'm concerned because I have lost some....looks like a few are rotting...some have fallen over and haven't come back up.

Where do you get nitrogen and in what form is it?

thanks again,
Doug

[dubele]

One more thing...should I cut off the downed leaves? If so, how far down?

[jal_ut]

Do not cut the downed leaves.
You can buy some bagged fertilizer that is something like 16-8-8, or put some compost on the area. If you go the bagged route, be careful to not over do it and kill them with kindness. There should be some aplication rate info on the package.

I am sure there are some organic gardeners on this forum who will shudder that I said "bagged fertilizer". May I humbly suggest to those, please don't make a big fuss here. There is an "Organic" forum.

Each gardener needs to decide what style of gardener to be, and what products are acceptable. In the meantime, the plants won't care if the nitrogen came out of a bag or compost, but they will notice a lack of nitrogen.

[DoubleDogFarm]

I am sure there are some organic gardeners on this forum who will shudder that I said "bagged fertilizer". May I humbly suggest to those, plaese don't make a big fuss here. There is an "Organic" forum.

Come on Jim, You must know you can get something like 6-4-4 or 10-1-2 Organic in a bag. I use Hendrikuz Organics. You are right plants don't care if it's organic or traditional.

[jal_ut]

Gimme a break. I don't buy anything in a bag. Well, peanuts maybe.

[garden5]

Like Jal said, don's smash the leaves. Usually what they say is to wait until about 3/4 of the tops have fallen over (after the bulb is very well formed) and then take a hoe and knock over the remaining ones. This is done about two weeks or so before a harvest.