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Multiple onion harvests

11 years ago

My DH loves onions, especially the pungent cooking onions. I can only store about 2 months/40 - 50 pounds, so I need to harvest several times a year. We live at Latitude 42.66 (gotta love google!) in zone 6. I have a small unheated greenhouse, and am exploring Coleman style tunnels.

So far I have tried sets, Home Depot. Harvested about ten pounds of smallish onions in July. Tasty but that's not even 2 weeks worth around my kitchen, especially when he gets into Sunday omelets.

This year I am targeting copra, for storage, and the 'makes excellent french onion soup' line from Territorial. Any suggestions on how to get multiple harvests? Other varieties? Culture? Suppliers?

Comments (5)

planatus
11 years ago
This fall, consider growing "Japanese" overwintering onions, which are started from seed in early fall. They stand through winter (preferably under cover) and bulb in late May. Mine stored until Oct. Varieties include Top Keeper, Bridger, Desert Sunrise and a few others.

I also grow a lot of bulb onions from seed, and have really been impressed with the storage performance of cippolinis, which store almost as long as shallots.
Mark
11 years ago
I agree with planatus about the overwintering onions for a second harvest, but those will only come in a few months earlier than spring planted ones. It really doesn't address the main issue of why you can't store onions longer?

My onions harvest mid-august (but can be eaten fresh a month sooner) and keep easily till the end of February. They keep like this in a cool, dark, dry place. Some people use a empty closet away from a heat source, or a basement room with a dehumidifier......

QBush, if you're growing your own onions, and they will only keep for 2 months, something is wrong with your curing process or storage system. It would be much easier to figure these things out as it's really only possible to grow onions in certain months of the year.

As far as varieties, 'Copra' and as Planatus mentioned, cippolini, are your best bets for long term storage.

-Mark
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As was said above, you can lift onions at any time, but for storage you should wait until the necks are soft or later. Re bolting, onions form a bulb in their first year, and then bolt to seed in their second year. If your transplants are exposed to a cold snap, it may trick them into "thinking" they are in their second year and then bolt. Back in 2008 had about half of my onions bolt and wrote to my supplier Dixondale Farm. Here is their reply: Onions and other commercially cultivated alliums are biennial plants, which means that it usually takes them two growing seasons to go from seed to seed. The first season is when we take it from a seed to a transplant. When you plant the plant, it begins its second season. Given a certain set of environmental conditions, onions can be tricked into believing they have gone through two growing cycles during their first year. Instead of finishing with a well-cured bulb, ready for the market, a seed stalk can develop prematurely, causing onions to be unmarketable. While it is impossible to control the weather, planting at the correct time for the variety in question is the most important factor to limit premature bolting. Over-fertilizing can also contribute to bolting - if onions are too vigorous, too early in their development, bolting can result. Onions bolt as a reaction to cold weather stress. Temperatures under 45F may cause the onion to bolt when the plant has five or more leaves. Some onions are more or less susceptible to bolting than others and the process is not completely understood. Unfortunately once the onion does bolt, the quality of the onion bulb deteriorates rapidly and it should be harvested and eaten as quickly as possible.
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Great read. It makes me so sad when people pull their onions early and then ask why they are so small
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jonfrum
11 years ago
I'd plant some eat-now, and some storage onions. Even in varieties that are supposed to be non-storage, I've seen comments on seed-sellers' web sites where people say they hold up much longer than advertised. So have a crop for summer eating, and a second crop that's just for storage. They should last well into the winter - six to nine months is reasonable. Check this video:

Here is a link that might be useful: U of Maine Extension Service - storing onions
qbush
Original Author
11 years ago
Madrondeb
My problem with storing onions is shortage of space. I have managed to hide a small bag of onions, and as of Feb thy are fine. My husband will go through 5 or six onions in a meal, so I am aiming for 100 pounds this year.

Our water table is to high to use the crawl space as storage, so I am reading up on root cellar alternatives. Aiming for alternate onion harvest:: leeks, shallots, multipliers will just keep things interesting in the kitchen.

Planatus: Thanks for the info on Japanese. I started Bridger last fall in the GH so I am watching them with interest. And DH loves cippollini, so thanks for the storage tip!
Mark
11 years ago
That makes sense, they do take up some space.
He goes through 5-6 onions a meal, huh? I think you should buy lots of stock in some very large onion producer! And maybe a mouthwash company too.........lol

-Mark

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