How to grow onion plants in the home garden

Onions are one of the easiest vegetables to grow at home.  They are highly productive and do not require much care or fertiliser.   In addition to this they do not take up much space in the home garden so making them a very popular vegetable to grow at home.  Pest problems are also minimal for onions.   Onions prefer a well drained soil in a full sun position.  Onion will grow in some areas of the subtropics during winter,  but are commonly grown in temperate and cool temperate regions in winter,  when few other vegetables are growing.   Planting time is normally done in Autumn.  You can stage your planting so to produce onions throughout the cooler season.  There are also varieties which are early, mid season and late producers.   There are a great number of varieties but the most popular are the odor-less varieties.   Onions can also be kept out of the fridge and will store for may months in a dry position in the house.

How to prepare the garden bed for onion plants

Onions can grow in all sorts of soil types.  However the best is a well drained organically rich soil.  Pick a spot that is in full sun all day.   The great thing about onions is that they do not require a lot of water to produce.   Prepare your garden bed by mixing through organic matter or cow, sheep and to a lesser extent chicken manure.   Remove all weeds and dig over your soil to a fine till.  You are then ready to plant.   Onions are planted in rows,  mark out your row with a labelled stake to let you know what variety they are.   A couple of rows planted out during the season will produce enough for a small family.   Once your onions are planted use a NPK general purpose garden fertiliser a couple of times during the season. 

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How to grow onion plants from seed

Onion plants are easy to grow from seed.   There are two many ways.  1.  The direct seeding method is most popular, with seed being sown directly into the beds.  Once your bed has been prepared,  use a wooden stake to dig a shallow furrow along a row.   Sprinkle your seed along the furrow and cover over.  A planting depth of around 5mm is all that is required.  Thin out areas where onions are crowded.  2. The second method is to plant your seed in punnets.   This is a cost effective way to make sure your seed is not wasted.  Use a good seed raising potting mix.  Fill up your punnets and then sprinkle seed over the surface.  Use a light sprinkle of potting mix over the surface and water well.  Place your punnets in a warm sunny spot.  Seeds will pop up around two weeks after planting.  Thin out the weak looking seedlings and then plant out onions once they have reached around 10cm tall.   Plant your seedlings on the surface of the garden bed.   Pre-grown seedlings in punnets can also be purchased from a plant nursery.

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How to fertiliser your onion plants in the garden

Onions do not require a great deal of fertiliser.    However the addition of animal manures such as cow, sheep and chicken manure when preparing the bed will assist in strong growth.    A short time after planting your onions use some general purpose NPK granular fertiliser.   If your onions are not developing well you may have to provide a little extra fertiliser during the growing season.    Onions also respond well to liquid fertilisers this needs to be done every two weeks.    The use of a good seaweed based liquid fertiliser with NPK will assist in good growth.    

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