Planting Onions

13 years ago

So I got sucked in yesterday at the local greenhouse - I went looking for horseradish root and ended up leaving with some along with about 8 different types of onion & shallot sets!

I normally don't plant my onions until I do the rest of the garden in mid-late May but was thinking since the weather is starting to warm and the soil is "workable" I could probably start them soon.

Anyway, I've heard a few different methods (or additives) to use when planting onions to keep the onions maggots at bay.

This is what I've heard/read:
i - put down a layer of fresh(unused) coffee grounds and sprinkle with granular sugar before planting
ii - put down a layor of used coffee grounds before planting OR sprinkle over onions after planting
and
iii - put down a layer of DE before planting.

Last year I planted white, yellow and red onions - I found that the yellow had the most damage and the red almost none - coincidence?? (the red also stored the best)

Anybody try any of these? Any other suggestions?

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Comments (2)

nutsaboutflowers
13 years ago
Just for fun, search this forum for "harvesting onions".

You'll find pictures of Don's amazing display of onions.

I'm sure he'll reply to this post soon, and tell you all you need to know and more :)
don555
13 years ago
Seems I missed this post earlier...

If when you say "sets", you mean small bulbs that can either be grown for "green onions" in 4-6 weeks, or as "bulb onions" if you leave them to mature until the tops die in late summer... in my experience those will ripen much earlier for you than onions started as seed indoors in February and hardened off and transplanted to the garden in May as actively growing plants. But the "sets" or bulbs will also produce much smaller onions than onions grown from seed started in February or early March.

As for the onion maggot treatment, I don't think I can be of much help there as I use chemical treatments, not organic. Usually around mid to late June, I make up a solution of something like malathion and used that as a soil drench to kill any onion maggots. Since the directions say don't harvest for 2 weeks after treatment, whereas I won't actually harvest for 10 or so weeks after treatment, I don't worry about using a chemical treatment.
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