Onion question(s)

[Botany]

I know I could look this up but DUers already know everything so her goes.

I am growing onions for the first time this year ..... Walla Walla Whites .....
I got them as sets w/ about 3' green tops and roots ..... I planted them in May
and they have grown great but on most it looks like the leaves are drying off the
onion part of the plant ..... the bulbs aka onions .... are about 1/4 of the size of
a regular store bought onion ...... will the bulbs keep growing w/ out the leaves
and then I will dig them in the fall?

BTW thanx to the DUer who suggested I grow mortgage lifter tomatoes ..... :wow:

[uppityperson]

1. My onions usually end up much smaller than store ones also.

Eastern WA (where Walla Walla is) has hotter dryer climate than where I am. They water, where I don't have to so much, but I have fog and not as much heat.

I finally decided that was what I got here. If I left mine in, they either sat there or eventually sent up a flower.

The smallest I have replanted and ended up with flowering onions also. That is, after the tops dry and I pick them, have replanted the little guys and voila! Onion flowers.

I don't think they will grow more once the leaves die back.

[morningglory]

2. I grow a garden in spite of crappy dirt, and killer heat.

don't like to use pesticides nor fertilize. Compost, wiggler worms, and bunny poop are the amendments I use, in addition to newspaper, flattened boxes, and junk mail. To me, a small onion is still an onion, and I am grateful for it.

[WhiteTara]

3. when the tops die back, it's time to harvest

when you pull them from the earth, shake them off, let them sit for a day (if you don't have rain or fog), then either braid them or let them completely dry out and then, bag them in net bags for later.

Happy harvesting!

[Denninmi]

4. Won't work with Walla wallas.

Or most other very "sweet" onions. The chemicals in onions that make them very strong/pungent are also what helps to prevent rotting.

Walla Wallas and other sweet onions generally only last about 4 weeks after harvest before they either grow or rot. To keep them longer than that you either need to dry, freeze, pickle.

I order a whole case of onion plants every year from Texas, which is between 3000 and 3500 plants. The sweet kinds like Walla Walla and Ailsa Craig are great but never keep. The best keepers are the really, really hot little flat Italian cippolini onions, which last generally a whole year for me.

[Kolesar]

5. So, would it make sense to leave some in the soil and start eating the rest?

I would expect that when the really damp cold weather starts, then it would be time to pull out all of the remaining onions and plan to eat them soon.

[Kolesar]

6. delete

[Kolesar]

7. I grew red "storage" onions successfully this year--I consider 4 inch onions to be a success

I started very early, growing starter plants under fluorescent lamps from seeds in tiny trays. I had read that onions are hard to grow. The only "sure" thing is to grow onions that you will eat as "green onions".