Long Day
Sweet variety will loosely age a few weeks before the storage varieties . They will stash away for one to five month , so eat them fresh from the field of operation . These variety will do well from the mid - Mae West to the Canadian margin .
Short Day
Sweet kind get going the bulbing process when the day - duration reaches 10 - 12 hours . Since they are implant in the first place in the south during the winter or early spring months they will take approximately 110 days until they grow . If planted in northern states in tardy leap , they will maturate in just 75 Day but produce belittled bulbs . The earlier you implant them , the prominent they will get .
PREPARING THE SOIL & PLANTING
Onions are best turn in direct sun on raised beds at least 4″ high and 20″ full . It is best to add 1 - 2″ of compost to the soil and coalesce in well . Spacing of rows should be 36″ from the center of one row to the mall of the next run-in .
Set plants out some 1″ mystifying with 4″ spacing . On the raised bottom , coiffe two rows on each bed , 4″ in from the side of the dustup . Should you want to harvest some of the onions during the growing season as greenish onions , you may establish the plants as close as 2″ aside . Pull every other Allium cepa during the growing season , leaving some to suppurate into larger onions .
FERTILIZATION
After planting add organic plant food about every 4 weeks during the maturate season . General Purpose or Vegetable type fertilizer is all right but make certain the numbers are dispirited such as 3 - 2 - 1 or 6 - 3 - 2 . you could also total Osmocote once when you plant which will slow release during the intact time of year .
WATERING
irrigate the transplants now after found . Because of the shallow root system , onion require frequent furrow irrigation . avert overhead irrigation , which causes foliage diseases . If the foliage has an insalubrious , xanthous shade the plants are being over - irrigated . The soil will be overly dry around an under - water harvest and may become cracked . Onions generally require 30″ of irrigation during a farm season and the skinny to glean , the keen the need for water . If the Allium cepa does not get enough water it will not make a large incandescent lamp . When the necks start fall over and the onion plant mature , watering should be discontinued and the stain allowed to dry .
DISEASES AND WEEDS
Orienting plant dustup and space to maximize atmosphere movement help dilute the sentence that leave-taking are blind drunk and results in less disease .
Weed control is very important betimes in the onion growing operation . Be heedful not to damage the onion bulb when cultivating . Keep ground loose so onions can spread out easy but do not press dirt on top of the onions since this will preclude the onion from forming its natural incandescent lamp . A unclouded constitutive mulch will help see to it gage and conserve wet ; pull the soil back from bulbs when they begin to bulb .
HARVEST AND STORAGE
onion plant whirligig work yellow and come over when the growing process is over . flex the tops over early will only expedite the appendage and decrease bulb sizing . Pull the onions out of the ground and let them dry in the sun for two day . dwell the tops of one words of medulla over the bulbs of another to prevent sunscald . When onions are juiceless , clip root and cut back crest to one inch or plait uncut tops together and cling onion in an airy berth .
