| How to grow onions
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How to grow onions
Elizabethan herbalists used onions to treat maladies ranging from head colds to baldness. Today, most people simply eat them, raw or cooked, in about a thousand different ways. Onions are warm-season veggies and, however you plan to use them, you can grow them anywhere. Now you think that how to grow onions
Soil type
If you think that how to grow onions, make sure the pH is about 6.5 to 8.5 and that the soil is well drained, firm and not freshly manured. The onions can either be started off indoors as seedlings, but since there is almost no cost difference and it saves much energy and time, the onions are commonly started off with an onion set. These are small onion bulbs which are sold specifically just for planting.
Planting the Onion Set for how to grow onions
In late March or early April, you can start to plant your onion bulbs. To ensure you have straight rows you can pull a string across the gardening bed, and push the bulbs into the earth just along the string. The bulbs should be about 10 cm apart, and the tips of the bulb should be showing. The rows should be about 30 cm apart. Make sure you watch the freshly planted onions because birds like to peck them out of the soil.
For that case keep a few extra bulbs and plant those when you notice that some bulbs have gone missing. If you find that the birds are too large a problem to fix with a few bulbs, it will be helpful to protect the onions with bird netting. If you find that frost pushes up you onion bulbs, push them back down to help them grow better. The frost will not harm the onion since it likes cool moist temperatures. Make sure you water the bulbs right after planting.
Steps for how to grow onions
Onions are ready to harvest a week after their tops have started to fall over and are yellowed.
Use a fork to lift the onions out of the ground. Take care not to damage the skins as this invites decay organisms in to attack the onion flesh.
Onions should be harvested on a sunny day, cleaned of any soil still attached to them and then placed on top of the soil where they will dry out with the help of the sun and wind.. Leave the onions out for a few days (until the tops dry out).
Remove the tops with a sharp knife about 2cm above the onion top so that decay organisms do not have direct access to the onion bulb.
Discard any onions that show signs of decay or damage as these can affect healthy onions if they are stored since this is important in learning how to grow onions.
If you want to store the onions over winter then you can cure them by hanging them in a well aired place (such as from the roof of a summer house veranda). Mesh bags or strings can be used to group and hang the onions and they should hang for about 3-4 weeks.
Spring onions can be harvested when they are about 30-40cm in height and will store for up to a week in the fridge. To prepare spring onions simply remove the outer set of leaves and wash. This completes the session how to grow onion
How to grow onions >
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