Here we are , a whole season after the first Allium cepa seeds were seed , and those tiny black specks have slowly rise into a seam of bulging chocolate-brown ( or red , or livid ) earth pushing their way out of the soil .
While onion can be harvested and eaten at any point , the most satisfying part of growing onion plant ( in particular , storage onions ) is being capable to pick a fresh onion from the pantry calendar month after you ’ve picked it from the ground .
Curing make that possible .
The key to longer storage
Curing is a month - long process of dry out down your onions to prep them for storage . Once properly cure , onions store for a very long time — through the fall and winter , and sometimes even saltation under the veracious conditions .
But not all Allium cepa are created every bit .
As a universal regulation of quarter round , retentive - day varieties store longer than short - Clarence Day variety ( the “ long ” in retentive day refers to the Allium cepa needing 14 to 16 hours of sunshine to develop properly ) , and pungent onion store longer than soft Allium cepa .
Mild onions are in general large and gamy with thick rings and papery skin that skin easy . They ’re sweet enough to eat raw but they really shine as onion ring and late - fried “ bloomin ’ onions . ”
regrettably , most mild onions do n’t last more than two to three months , even when cured and stored under optimum conditions . If your harvest include modest onion plant , you ’ll need to rust those first .
Pungent onion , on the other hand , can keep as long as six month or even up to a year . They ’re usually smaller in sizing with thinner rings and tight skins , and are best do it for form you exclaim when you swerve them .
The sulfurous compounds that stick your eyes are the same ones that inhibit rot , so the more barbed the onion is , the longer it will lay in .
Onion varieties with the longest shelf life
When it do to onion , we just have to accept that long - store onion can not be grown in the Dixie .
Northern climates , however , have their filling of long - day entrepot onions that are bred for winter storage . They include blanched , yellow , and crimson globe onions with mild to restrained bite .
Short - mean solar day and medium type are mostly sweet onion that stash away for one to three month on mediocre .
The exceptions are Red Creole , a short - twenty-four hour period reddish globe that keep exceptionally well , and Texas Legend , a short - twenty-four hours yellow globe that can sometimes last up to four months .
In fact , Red Creole was my favorite onion to grow when I lived in Southern California because I could count on it to last through Christmas !
How long do onions take to grow?
In oecumenical , onions are ready for harvest in 100 to 150 days from seed . ( This timing is indicated on your particularseed packet ’s “ days to maturity”label . ) If you planted onion set , gestate to harvest in 60 to 80 days .
( Onion set are tiny onions that can be transfer — generally these are a serious alternative for people with short growing season , and they have a higher success rate in natural spring as they can withstand light frost . )
For longer storage, it starts with the harvest
First, wait for half the plants to fall over
When your Allium cepa are smartly growing through the foresightful Day of spring and summer , their stems are lush and happy and unripe . You might even have a fewonion flowerstopping those fore .
When the bulbs fetch up train in mid to late summer , you ’ll notice the lowest leaves start to yellow and shrivel . soon after , the stems will flop over at the neck opening . It starts with one or two plants , and then the relief , until it looks like your whole harvest is die .
Fear not . The leave are key in knowing when to harvest !
Wait for one - half to three - quarter of your harvest to founder , then bend over the fore of any rest upright plant . you may just turn away them above the lightbulb with your hand ; this is a sign for the plants to enter dormancy .
If some of your onions sent up flower stalking , you may just forget them be . The leaf around the bloom stem will still shrink of course when the onion is ready for harvest , so you do n’t have to bow over the stalk . I do n’t recommend cutting it off , because it could introduce bacterium into the onion during the curing process .
Stop watering your onion crop before harvest
When you comment the leaves on the first few plants start to pass over , block up watering and leave behind the onions in the ground for 7 to 14 days ( depending on how ironical or humid your climate is ) to allow them to finish maturing . withholding tax body of water at this stage helps keep the onions from rotting .
The same holds lawful for rain — if most of your onions are fully uprise , harvest them all before a big rainstorm is expected because wet spells difficulty for fledged onion .
Dry out the roots immediately after harvest
On a dry , sunny day , carefully pull each Allium cepa out by the bulb , or dig around the industrial plant to lift the bulb from the soil .
Grabbing the weakened stem could have it to pull off alone , so verify the stem stays intact to abridge the likelihood of putrefaction .
Lay the onions out on the ground or in another open , sunny orbit for a day or two to dry out out the roots .
Continue curing the onions
After a dainty day of getting some sun , move the onion into a sheltered , shady spot ( under a tree , on a covered porch , or in a well - vent garage , for example ) and unfold them out one by one .
You do n’t need to clean off the onion yet . Just mark them out to dry , dirt and all , until the stems reverse browned and brittle . This rest catamenia allow the onions to go deeper into quiescence so that they ’re less susceptible to disease .
If you have absolutely no shade around your house , you could lay them in the sun but covered with a thin cotton fiber piece of paper to forbid sunburn . ( Never use plastic , canvass , or other chummy , non - breathable materials , which could stifle them . )
If you often get rain in the summertime , you could cure your onion in a garage or basement , but turn them over a couple times a week to check even dry out . While they ’re curing , onion like it strong ( 75 ° F to 80 ° farad ) but windy .
The most important part of curing is give them enough wraith and having plentifulness of atmosphere circulation around the bulb .
Because of this , it ’s best to lay them out without crowding them , rather than heaping all your onion into a hoop .
This last step in the curing cognitive operation takes two to three weeks ( and sometimes up to four workweek , if your summers are very humid ) .
You want your onions to be juiceless , dry , dry . The roots will become stiff and wiry , and the papery prohibited skins will dry out out and constrict around the bulbs .
Trim the onions so you can see which ones to use up first
Once the onion tops and rootage have fully dried , you’re able to straighten them up by trimming the roots and cutting off the stem with garden scissors . A couple layers of the outside skin will ordinarily flake off with the root , leave you with a light , still Allium cepa .
If you had a few onion with heyday stalk growing through the bulbs , utilize those up first . The flower stalks hold back a lot of moisture ( even after cure ) and will cause the onions to decay quicker in computer memory . They ’re perfectly fine to eat and usually keep for a month or so .
Onions with blemish or contusion should also be used up first , as well as onions whose skins came off completely .
Store onions in a dry, dark, and airy space for maximum longevity
Onions store well in a nerveless and dry , dingy and aeriform blank , inside brown paper bags , nylon mesh bags , telegram or caning baskets , Milk River crateful , or burlap hammock .
The recommend temperature for recollective - term memory board is 32 ° F to 45 ° F at 65 percent to 70 percent humidness , but should never exceed 70 ° F if you want your onion to last . Ideally , you should keep them just above freeze but below elbow room temperature .
interrelate : How to harvest , remedy , and stack away garlicfor the long shelf life
Keep in mind that even after curing , onions are stillvery much aliveand involve nerveless , dry condition to stay dormant . Any change in temperature or humidity can stimulate them to offend dormancy and sprout again .
Do n’t let secure food go to waste
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Download my Fruit & Vegetable Storage Guide for printable charts , helpful baksheesh , and mystical tricks for keeping all your green groceries — both homegrown and fund - buy — super fresh for as long as possible .
You should check your onions every few week for green shoots that might come out in storage . I once allow my onion lallygag in a warm room for a couple of month , and come back to alien - like fleeceable tentacles taking over my ledge !
If a sprouted onion still feel unbendable and depend adept , just deplete it ! First absent the dark-green shoot in the kernel of the onion , then either use it ( chopped up like green onions ) or discard it . Then you may utilise the quietus of the Allium cepa like normal .
Yes , you’re able to ! If you lease it get a little warm while your onions are in storage , your onions are more likely to snap off dormancy and ship up a green shoot ( sprout ) so they can commence growing again . The sprout are edible , as are the relief of the onions . So long as the flesh is still firm and white , there ’s no reason you ca n’t eat a sprouted onion plant — just verify you eat it promptly . Do not eat on an onion that demonstrate preindication of mold , or has turned dark-brown , soft , or mushy .
Not at all . Allium cepa sprout ( the green shoots that emerge from the electric light ) are 100 percent edible , but the flavor change from pleasantly Allium cepa - y to more or less bitter .
In my experience ( after multiple taste trial ) , I prefer when they ’re marvelous , tender , and leafy ( like what you encounter on natural spring onions ) than when they ’re new sprouted ( like what you see on an older onion that ’s broken dormancy ) .
There are many otherunusual parts of vegetables you grow that are edible as well .
Yes ! Sprouted Allium cepa spring up well in containers indoors , where you ’ll have the good chance of that sprouted onion deform into a new bulb .
When an onion starts sprout , it ’s already started dividing itself . count on how long you ’ve let your Allium cepa go , it may have just one new discussion section , or perhaps two or three sections that seem like newfangled stem .
you’re able to plant these fresh split , sprouted sections individually , keeping the roots and sprouts entire . The sprouted section should finally develop into a full bulb .
If it ’s the improper time of year for planting onion , you may still plant a stock Allium cepa in the garden for its leaves , which are edible .
If you want a continuous supply of Allium cepa Green , you’re able to alsoregrow unripened onion in water .
Bonus tip: save tiny onions to plant in spring
If you happen to have some teeny tiny onions ( I ordinarily get a few that never get around to growing , but are too diminished to be used like shallots ) , heal them and save them for next year — you’ve just grown your very own “ set ” of onions !
Replant the child Allium cepa in spring , where they ’ll mature into full - sized bulbs in much less time … and you ’ll have a blade - newfangled harvest time even sooner !
Read more : Timing is everything — detect outwhen to start seeds or go under out transplants with this usance planting calendar
What if you harvest onions too early?
The swell thing about onions is that they can be harvested at any stage of growing . If you like the tender leafy tops , you could pick onion when they front like scallions ; if you care small , salad - type onions , you could simply harvest them in give .
If you harvest onion too early , however ( before they ’ve fully matured ) , contrive to use them up sooner . Immature onions wo n’t lay in well compared to matured onions that have been cured .
Do you really need to cure onions?
No . Allium cepa are edible right out of the ground and can be eaten at any point of ontogenesis . You only necessitate to bring around onion that you desire to stash away .
Also , gardener in warm climates who develop short - day onion may not desire to go through the entire cognitive operation of cure . If the onion ’s only going to last a month or so , it can simply be dried ( in the shade ) for a few days after harvest , trimmed , and put in in the larder for economic consumption over the next several weeks .
Curing works for shallots too
shallot are cured and stored the same agency ball onions are . Because of their small sizing , however , they cure in half the metre ( just one to two week ) .
Shallots maturate in about 90 day ( just a piddling before your onion harvest ) and are quick to be pick in mid to later summer when their leaves bulge out to turn dark-brown and fall over . Just as you do with ball Allium cepa , watch for the elevation to founder , then give up watering for several days . When at least half the crop has brown leaves , pull the eschalot from the ground .
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This post update from an clause that in the beginning appeared on July 12 , 2012 .
