Normally,up north, we pulled up the onions after the tops turned brown. That was usually in late August or early September. Down here I imagine that when the tops die off, the onions are ready to harvest.

From UF:
" Bulb onions take 4- 5 months to mature. Crops planted in November - December will be ready around April. The crop is ready to be harvested as the tops begin to fall over. Onions should then be lifted and left to cure for several days in a cool dry location before removing the tops. Curing will help increase the storage life of your crop, although don't expect prolonged storage."

I have March/April in my spreadsheet for harvest. I was wondering because the tops still look nice and green.

Also, is the bulb under ground big, or is what is sticking out of the ground an indication of size?

I don't know about Central Florida; but in S. Florida and S. Texas our onions did not create nice big lovely bulbs. I'm treating onion sets and bulbs like green onions; going out and pulling a few when I want some green onions or scallions. The green tops are mighty tasty!

This year I am trialing potato/multiplier onion. The best producers look like they may be creating some nice sized bulbs.

~dianne

Julia

The onions that I planted last year, I used some of them like green onions, some other bulb up, you can see when this is happening and some others did not.

This year I planted at different times and will be harvesting again as green onions and when they bulb up and before they get flowers, some will be left to air out and use them later.

Silvia

If the tops die down then it is time to pull. If the main stalk thickens and starts to run for seed you can snap off the young seed-head to prevent it from sapping the bulb.

pnbrown. I have no idea what you said! What do you mean starts to run for seed?

I thought I planted these right. I thought I remembered reading to put them in the ground where the bulb barely shows. I didn't completely cover them. I did pull a couple and they are small bulbs, kind of shallot size. I'll use them since we use onions in everything, but I was hoping for those HUGE sweet onions

'run for seed' - blooming and getting ready to seed

Sounds like you planted them just fine; we just don't get HUGE onions here. If you are getting shallot size then I think you deserve a 'good job' :)

Sylvia of course is the plant whisperer and all rules do not apply to her!

~dianne

I must be doing something wrong.... I get big onions, or maybe it's because I grow them in the screen-greenhouse. Many were baseball size last year. I didn't know size was a problem with onions in Florida. I plant the same onions over and over again by being careful how I cut out the root base and then plant that part again. I angle cut the root base so it comes to a point inside the onion. When cut correctly it will look like a little teepee on top of the root base. This gives the root base a great head start at growing a new onion. I harvest an onion only when needed using this method.

Lou

i have several green onions I bought at the grocery a while back that I stuck the root tip in the ground and they turned back into more onions! I constantly pick the greens off and they grow back. I've even pulled a couple, used them, then again stuck the roots back in the ground and more onions again! Don't know how many times I can continue to do that, but it's been better than any BOGOF deal at the grocery!

Lou, please give me more details. We use a lot of the sweet onions. I usually buy several bags of the 3# at Aldi's cuz we like onions. But I was hoping to grow my own. So what is the secret. I've got a very small greenhouse, I think the smallest that Harbor Freight has. I haven't used it yet because I don't know what to do with it!

Jwahlton,
I saw your little greenhouse, but I think you would do better to plant them outside in the ground during the summer months. Greenhouses get too hot in summertime. Prepare a small spot to start with (preferably a sunny but cool spot in your yard) Dig & amend the dirt six inches to a foot wide and around 3 or 4 feet long to start. Onions like good rich soil. Prepare the root part of the onions you are using for meals in the manner I indicated in my earlier post. Stagger plant the onion bases around 4 to 6 inches apart and water when you plant. Onions like to be watered sparingly (once a week when established) and will rot if the ground stays soggy. Plant the onion bases as you get them from your meal preparation, don't wait for all at once planting. The root bases from your store onions will grow another onion again just fine. Just remember, start a small onion garden, try different methods, and ask questions. We are all here to help.

Lou

how deep into the onion do you cut your teepee, Lou? Photo?

I have no problem getting big bulbs either, from the Granex family onion sets.

Usually the onion sets are available from November or December and bulb to maturity at about 120 days. Don't bury them too deep, the bulb should be above ground level. Once it really starts getting hot some of the tops will die off and the others will set bloom. We pull some all along, and pull the remaining onions just before the rainy season starts as they will rot once the surface soil begins to stay damp.

I didn't grow any this year and boy have I suffered the wrath of Cathy...she looks forward to using these almost year around, much better than the ones from the store.

Tom

Water sparingly? I water mine daily and feed them lightly with 10-10-10 every 3 weeks. My biggest last year that I weighed was 1 lb 6 ounces and I had about thirty of those with the rest tapering off from there.

This year I goofed and bought way too many so I had to plant them too close together. I knew they would turn out smaller but I had no other place to plant them at the time. I have just 5 in a seperate planter that are better spaced and I expect to get about 3 that are 1 lb+ from there.

Another tip for green onion lovers; Last fall I had 7 left over from the spring that had started to rot, dry out or sprout. I planted them whole about an inch deep and they all gave me 6-10 green onions, like bunching onions. Leave them in long enough and they will form small bulbs before starting a seed stalk. The seed stalk is edible too.

Thanks Lou and Tom. Tom, you're the one I remember saying that the bulb shoud be above ground, which is what I did. I planted these in Nov/Dec and waas thinking it was about time to harvest, so I was hoping for large bulbs! I guess I'll try again next year. It's too hot to do in the summer, right?

Lou,yes a photo please. I'm not understanding the teepe thing!

You confuse the issue, I was NOT talking about growing onion sets. I was trying to indicate how a person can reclaim the base portion of an onion and grow more onions from that base thereby saving money on buying sets and having a constant rotating crop of onions for the table. I plant in a heavily rich soil so I water sparingly else it will get mucky and rot the onion. It really depends on your soil drainage.

Planting onion sets are a totally nuther story. They all get planted at once and are not a rotating crop as I was indicating. My method eliminates pulling them up all at once for storage.

Seems Brob1969 is doing the exact same method I was trying to indicate.

Too many chefs, I give up!
Lou

I've done that before by sticking store onions into the ground. I look for onions that have roots for planting. I need to do that again!