Onions were reasonably successful in 2020. After drying we were able to store about 6 lbs of onions from 11 gal container. They were smaller than what I generally see at the grocery store but that’s not a bad thing. Many I find there are just way too big. Never the less, I will try spreading them into a checkerboard pattern in 2021 to see if that increases size and overall yield.
Since we are at 38.2° N latitude it’s recommended we use long day varieties here. This applies to anywhere north of 32° latitude in case you’re wondering what you should be growing.
Unfortunately (maybe) I bought onion sets before reading and viewing a number of resources that say you should always grow from seed. So in 2022 I’ll give that a try. But, the sets I got were a specific variety (Stuttgarter) which is a long day yellow onion so I’m a bit ahead of the game over what some say you get at the big box stores.
While all seem to agree on the seed vs. sets question, I have found that there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on the web about onions. Some say crowd them. Others give them 4″ each. Some say good nitrogen fertilizer is essential. Others say this causes too much green and not enough bulb. Based on this I think there’s going to be a good bit of experimenting going on over the years. But that’s really part of the fun anyway, isn’t it?
Helpful Tips
- 5 Tips How to Grow Onions – Self Sufficient Me
- How to grow Large Onions – MIgardener
| Type | Plant Date | Harvest Date | Yield |
| Stuttgarter (sets) | 3/20/2021 | ||
| Sweet (plants) | 3/19/2021 |