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When to harvest onions

10 years ago

I'm growing onions for the bulb, when should I harvest them? I'm assuming that since they are related to garlic, that I should harvest the onions within the next month?

The tops of my onion plants are looking great -- succulent and still green.

any help would be appreciated.

Kevin

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Comments (2)

landscraper82
10 years ago
It really depends on what type of onions you are growing. Long day, short day, or day neutral types will all bulb up at different times. Poke around with your finger and feel for the bulb, and that will give yo a good idea of when they will be ready.
Mark
10 years ago
Kevin,
Like Landscraper says, it does depend on quite a few things.
For storage onions, generally if you see a full sized onion at the base they are getting close. Next, check the neck of the plant just above the onion bulb. When the onions are finishing up this part gets soft and the tops start to flop over. If it's still firm, you have some time yet. When it does soften, stop watering and plan on harvesting within a few weeks.

If you do a google search on "when to harvest onions" you'll get a ton more info and some pictures too.
Related Discussions
When to harvest onions?
Q
Comments (1)
You harvest onions when the tops fall over. That means they're all done growing. The tops will still be a little green when this happens, but there have been times when I haven't gotten around to harvesting them until the tops were completely dried up, and they were fine, but then again I live in a dry climate, so they probably just cured out in the ground. I've never had luck with onion sets though. If they don't work for you either, next year you may want to try onion plants instead of sets. They'll look like bunches of green onions.
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when to harvest onions
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Comments (2)
If they are putting on flower heads, they are not going to bulb properly. Pull and use as green onions. For mature onions, the tops will fall over and dry, at which time the stem will virtually dissapear. That is harvest time. The stiff seed stalk on a flowering onion will never dissapate and will terminate in a the cneter of the onion. They will them rot from the center out.
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Should white onions bloom?
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Comments (3)
I'd cut it off and then either pull the onion now and use it or let it size up and remove the central stalk (which may get hard) and use that onion first. What's happening is that the onion thinks it's on it's second season of growth and it's making a seed head rather than a bulb that stores energy. This happens more with sets just due to the way that they are produced and the recent heat didn't trigger it. Since onions are day length sensitive, the long day varieties that you're growing in PA will wait until they get around 14 - 16 hours of sun a day and then start to make bulbs and I'd guess that's starting in the next week or so. What you'll see next is that the onions will probably start expanding up and out of the ground so that you'll see at least the shoulders as they continue to grow. In around 3-4 weeks, the necks of the onions will start to get soft and the tops will fall over. This is the sign that they are done growing and you can harvest them at that time ... I'd guess middle to end of July for you. Once harvested, remember to hang them somewhere for a few weeks in order for them to cure and let the necks dry down so that you get the best storage out of them.
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When Should I Harvest Onions?
Q
Comments (1)
Hi Peter, I harvest when the tops are down AND the necks are soft & mushy, even though the tops are green. Like you I reason that green tops are feeding the bulbs, but I read somewhere that when the necks are real soft the process stops. I too would like to hear more on this from the experts. Tom
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