annafaie
Cool Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:40 am
Location: Richardson, TX

How long can I leave my onions in the ground?

I've got great looking yet small onions gorwing in my garden. I planted them in early Feb. The green tops have fallen over (weeks ago for most) but the onions are still pretty little....maybe slightly bigger than golf balls. Will they get bigger if I leave them in the ground longer?

Thanks for your help!

momof4rugratz
Senior Member
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 9:49 am
Location: Clinton Utah

Mine wher in ground beg of April and no change in mine some tops have fallen off so I have to search for the onion LoL no clue when to pick them. I am waiting till July 4th for Potato salad and see :)

Ole Dummy
Full Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:25 pm
Location: Decatur Alabama

I pull mine up when the tops fall over and turn brown. Then I carry them to the barn and hang them on a wire and let them dry.

User avatar
rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Once the tops have fallen over and starting to turn brown, the onion will not grow any more--the green part is what feeds it. They can be "stored" in the ground for awhile and stay ok, but they won't get any bigger. I have trouble growing big onions too. They just quit after awhile. I don't know if it's a reaction to the weather or what.

momof4rugratz
Senior Member
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 9:49 am
Location: Clinton Utah

my weather doesn't know if it want be 70 or 90 am afrain I have small onions

annafaie
Cool Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:40 am
Location: Richardson, TX

So, my tops are fallen but still green so I will leave them in the ground a bit longer...until they turn brown.

Thanks so much for the great info!

momof4rugratz
Senior Member
Posts: 120
Joined: Tue May 12, 2009 9:49 am
Location: Clinton Utah

Few my tops are green but a few are gone :(

Pypersmom
Full Member
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:53 pm
Location: Brandon, Mississippi

This may be a dumb question... but do you have to dry onions before you can eat them? I've read where a few of them are hanging them to dry?

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Dry papery skin is not conducive to rots and such, so drying makes sense for longevity of storage. If you are going to eat it right away, not an issue...

HG

User avatar
jal_ut
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7447
Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

Onions may be eaten at any stage in their development.

When they are done growing the tops fall over and soon turn brown and dry. This is the time to pull them and dry them for storage. They need to be dried only to store well. If you want to eat them fresh, just pull clean and enjoy.

If you want you can store onions in the refrigerator for a time. Walla Walla and other onions that do not store well as dried onions are prime canidates. Clean them and use a freezer ziploc bag to store them in. The freezer bags are strong enough to hold the odor so it doesn't go through the fridg.

I like little green onions from the time they are as big as my pinky finger.

veggieparadise
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2011 8:41 am
Location: South Dakota

I pulled all the onions that grew last year, but I didn't till my garden this year and 10 onions came up that were still in the ground from last year, even though we had a lot of sub-zero temps last winter. I pulled one out and although the outside of it was mushy, the inside part was edible. Amazing how tough onions really are.

garden5
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 3062
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2009 5:40 pm
Location: ohio

You said they are small like golf balls. What types did you plant?

There are short and long day onions and you plant short-day if you live in the south and long-day if you live in the north (I'm being general here).

I know some years ago I planted short day and the biggest one was only the size of a golf ball. That may be the reason why yours are smaller.

Don't worry, though, they'll still taste great :D.

User avatar
SPierce
Greener Thumb
Posts: 732
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:57 am
Location: Massachusetts

My onion tops haven't turned brown, but 3 days after the greens popped up out of the ground, all the tops fell over ! :?

So, I'm leaving them in the ground in hopes that the onions will grow bigger.. cause right now most of them are too small to eat. I figured I would give them at least until the end of august and see how they do. I planted late march.



Return to “Vegetable Gardening Forum”