Hello everyone, I just joined this forum, and I have some questions about growing onions. I planted onion seeds in a pot indoors back in April. The seeds sprouted, and after a few weeks it looked like a bunch of grass growing. The stalks were very thin, but reached about 3-4 inches tall. I then planted them outside in the garden at the end of May. At this time, all the green stalks have gone - the stalks fell over and died. However, I can see the top of one onion above the soil. I estimate the onion below the surface to be about the size of a marble. My question is: Is it common for the stalks to die? Should I continue to water these onions? Could they be still growing below the surface? If they are not dead, will the stalks grow back at some point? Thanks for your help :-D Tony
TonyZ: welcome to the Stew from Wisconsin. I would say that your onions are done for the year. Usually when the tops flop over and turn brown they are done growing. We have never grown onions from seed. We get the set onions and plant those and usually get a really good onion crop. Sorry for the bad news.
Hi tony, i do agree with tooty, if the tops flopped so did the crop, this early in the season. Sorry. Give it a try again next year.
Yes like everyone said its time to get them out of the ground. They might surprise you and be bigger than you think. I also use the sets (plants) rather than seed. It cuts down waiting time and usually you get a better harvest. Also you need a good loose soil to plant them in . If your garden is a clay base soil you might need to add some sand or compost to loosen it up. Then the onions will do better. Some people wait till the onions grow about a month then remove the soil from the top half of the bulb to allow for growth. And don`t plant them deep, most commercial growers only have the roots in the ground.
TonyZ: Something else that is good to put on onions is blood meal. You apply it every two weeks until the bulb starts to form. We just dig a small trench between our rows of onion sets and sprinkle a good amount in it and work it in alittle. Not sure about the amount as we have been doing it for several years.
