# Is there a secret to growing onions



## J.W Younger (Jun 6, 2020)

I'm wanting onions the size of your fist or bigger but mine planted from bulbs don't look like they're ever gonna make it.


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## siouxindian (Jun 6, 2020)

gotta love onions. someone will be along shortly to help us both out .i got some growing but we need onion growing advise.


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## lone wolf (Jun 6, 2020)

J.W Younger said:


> I'm wanting onions the size of your fist or bigger but mine planted from bulbs don't look like they're ever gonna make it.


Will fertilizer work magic on Onions?


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## Plowmaster (Jun 6, 2020)

J.W Younger said:


> I'm wanting onions the size of your fist or bigger but mine planted from bulbs don't look like they're ever gonna make it.


I have never had much luck growing them... A friend of mine grows huge ones... Plants. Then when rooted removes dirt so they are essentially growing on top of ground... going to try it this year... He also claims that the sweeter you want them the more water you give them.


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## Brownthumb (Jun 6, 2020)

I used to grow the little ones also. I’m trying ones from seed v/s bulbs this yr.


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## MacAttack (Jun 6, 2020)

I've also never had luck growing onions, i just assumed the dirt here is not soft / sandy enough for them. I can get the plants to grow but they just didn't yield anything worth keeping.


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## J.W Younger (Jun 6, 2020)

MacAttack said:


> I've also never had luck growing onions, i just assumed the dirt here is not soft / sandy enough for them. I can get the plants to grow but they just didn't yield anything worth keeping.


I have a small but really good location for growing some veggies but not others, I'm finding out...now I need to find out why.


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## lone wolf (Jun 6, 2020)

J.W Younger said:


> I'm wanting onions the size of your fist or bigger but mine planted from bulbs don't look like they're ever gonna make it.











Tips for Growing Large Onions in the Garden


Tips for growing large onions when backyard vegetable gardening. Learn which onion varieties are best when you want to plant and grow large onions in your garden.



www.vegetable-gardening-online.com


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## MacAttack (Jun 7, 2020)

lone wolf said:


> Tips for Growing Large Onions in the Garden
> 
> 
> Tips for growing large onions when backyard vegetable gardening. Learn which onion varieties are best when you want to plant and grow large onions in your garden.
> ...



That article pretty much confirms what i suspected, i need some sandy / loamy soil to grow onions. I already had 18 yards of topsoil added to my garden this year, planning on adding more next year.


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## chucker (Jun 7, 2020)

onion growth is similar to tree ring growth. to achieve larger onion growth, you need to crop the green tops of the onion bulb as it grows! with each green top of the onion tall enough to start to bend and break with height and dies remove it(8") and another growth ring will restart again. fertilizer is a plus along with plenty of water but not flooded. i use vidalia whites, in a sandy loam composted "bovine"menure soil which has produced softball sized globe(10oz. average) planted/set from stored bulbs around 200 bulbs in my small garden...


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## Ryan'smilling (Jun 7, 2020)

We have heavy clay soil and grow very nice onions. Had a storage onion that weighed over 1.3# last year. They are the first thing we start from seed in the spring, probably the second week of February. We trim the tops 2-3 times before planting and also the roots at planting time. Onions are triggered to mature based on hours of daylight, so you need onions suited to your latitude. We plant them out as soon as we can work the soil. They also are very poor at competing with weeds, so you need to keep them weeded really well.


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## Ryan'smilling (Jun 7, 2020)

I believe these are Pontiac storage onions.


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## MacAttack (Jun 7, 2020)

I need to step-up my onion game it looks like! 
Interesting about trimming the tops to make them grow big.
Does anyone know what kind of onions grow well in NY?


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## J.W Younger (Jun 7, 2020)

MacAttack said:


> I need to step-up my onion game it looks like!
> Interesting about trimming the tops to make them grow big.
> Does anyone know what kind of onions grow well in NY?


I didn't know to trim them either and mine are way past due.
Boy my taters are kicking some serious ass though.


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## Ryan'smilling (Jun 7, 2020)

Fwiw, we only trim them before planting, never after. We go for a start that's 5-6" long above the roots and an inch or a little more of roots.


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## MacAttack (Jun 7, 2020)

J.W Younger said:


> I didn't know to trim them either and mine are way past due.
> Boy my taters are kicking some serious ass though.


I planted a bunch of seed potatoes myself this year. We've had such a lousy spring we only got our garden planted a few weeks ago.


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## lone wolf (Jun 7, 2020)

MacAttack said:


> I planted a bunch of seed potatoes myself this year. We've had such a lousy spring we only got our garden planted a few weeks ago.


Mine went in yesterday.


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## J.W Younger (Jun 7, 2020)

MacAttack said:


> I planted a bunch of seed potatoes myself this year. We've had such a lousy spring we only got our garden planted a few weeks ago.


I tell ya, I eat a lot of taters and had for weeks been cutting eyes and putting them out in the mounds about once a week and had just about given up when they all started popping up about the same time.
Right now most of em have pink or purple flowers on em.


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## chucker (Jun 7, 2020)

J.W Younger said:


> I tell ya, I eat a lot of taters and had for weeks been cutting eyes and putting them out in the mounds about once a week and had just about given up when they all started popping up about the same time.
> Right now most of em have pink or purple flowers on em.


? by cutting eyes, do you mean planting potato peelings with eyes? if so how do you find which is better whole seed taters or peelings with eyes and the bounty after planting/harvesting?????? I have heard of using eyed peelings but never tried it!?


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