When to Harvest Onions

[DennisArrow]

Planted my onion bulbs back in late Feb. NOW they are huge green onions with a few producing larger bulbs. The greens are getting to be 2.5 to 3 feet and perhaps an inch diameter down at the gound. A very few have withered tops at the ground level and when I pull these there are bulbs perhaps 2 inches in diameter.

The question is:
Do I just continue to let them grow and they WILL bulb out, or do I start harvesting HUGE green onions for the table. Would love to be able to get a bunch of bulbs for storage; but hate to let the green onions get to HUGE.........thanks.......Dennis

 

[bp fick]

I believe you might have short day onions, while I plant long day. But, in any case, green table onions are typically a different variety than larger slicing onions. The large onion dries off nicely, the tops fold over and these globes can be dried in the sun, and stored. The length of the storage life depends entirely on variety and conditions of storage.

Allowing green table onions to over-mature will not produce large, dry, slicing onions, unless that variety is a dual purpose type. Most people prefer their green table onions to be 1" or less in bulb diameter.

 

[Car Doc]

Planted my onion bulbs back in late Feb. NOW they are huge green onions with a few producing larger bulbs. The greens are getting to be 2.5 to 3 feet and perhaps an inch diameter down at the gound. A very few have withered tops at the ground level and when I pull these there are bulbs perhaps 2 inches in diameter.

The question is:
Do I just continue to let them grow and they WILL bulb out, or do I start harvesting HUGE green onions for the table. Would love to be able to get a bunch of bulbs for storage; but hate to let the green onions get to HUGE.........thanks.......Dennis

I am no onion expert but have learned the hard way that bulbs or sets produce green onions only and live plants produce the large dry onions ask when you buy them what type they are so take that with salt as I say I am no expert just a small time gardener. hth


Steve