Onions

Gardening

GROWING BIG ONION BULBS

How to achieve bigger bulbs - from That 1870's Homestead

( 1 ) Grow from Starts, not Sets.

It would seem that Sets are the bag of small onions, and are long day onions only.

Also, it seems that the Starts are the bunch of small bulbs with the stems still attached. Starts can be either long or short

day onions, and for South Texas, we need the short day onions

( 2 ) Top off the green stems of the onions by cutting off the greens, leaving only about 6 inches of the green on the bulb. This forces the the energy into the growth of the bulb instead of into the growth of the stems. The green stems can be dehydrated to

make my own onion powder. Topping off should be done only once, at about 12 weeks.

( 3 ) Spoon the dirt away from the top of the bulb, exposing the upper part of the bulb. Onions don't like to compete for space, and spooning them allows them the freedom to grow bigger. Be sure to spoon every 7 to 10 days.

( 4 ) Onions are heavy feeders - they need nitrogen feed every 2 to 3 weeks.

I have never been able to achieve big bulbs, and so I topped off and spooned earlier this week. I hope it helps !