What Do Onion Plants Look Like?
If you are new to home gardening, this blog post is for you! If you are like me—wanting to grow your own food and eager to learn—you are in the right place! Welcome to my little corner of the internet. I hope you enjoy reading this blog and learn from it, both from what I have learned and from my mistakes, haha! Let’s enjoy this process together and have fun working in our gardens with our plants.
In this blog post, I will share how I grow onions and include pictures to show how the plant develops. Onion plants are beautiful and typically grow with their bulbs underground, while the green tops stand above the soil.
Home gardens are a wonderful way to grow fresh vegetables and herbs while enjoying the outdoors.
Early Spring
Early spring is usually the best time to start growing your own food. To make use of the warm summer months, it’s helpful to plan ahead in early spring and buy your seeds or onion sets. Of course, you can plan and buy your onion seeds earlier than that!
I have grown onions from seeds, and it takes a LOT of time! If you have the patience, I recommend trying it. It’s a rewarding experience for gardeners, but if you want faster growth and quicker harvests, I’ll share a great trick below. If you’re interested in growing onions from seeds, you’ll need to start very early—probably in February or March. Check the seed packets for specific instructions. Once the young plants emerge, they need a lot of bright light. This gives you a head start for the upcoming season. This way, gardening becomes a year-round activity! There are endless options to explore and learn, whether gardening indoors or outdoors.
Remember, the first year will be a learning experience. It takes time to understand how plants grow and how everything works. What you learn in the first year will help you in subsequent years when you have more experience and know what works and what doesn’t. This knowledge becomes invaluable for future gardening.
Learning from Mistakes
I have made several mistakes year after year, particularly with onions and carrots, and often felt like my soil wasn’t suitable for these vegetables. My husband suggested experimenting with new soil, and that really made a difference. Adding nutrient-dense soil, combined with regular watering (daily), transformed my results. I still struggle with weeding, which could improve my harvests further. Looking back, I’m happy with what I’ve achieved, especially while balancing gardening with caring for young kids.
The following year will always bring more knowledge and experience, helping me grow as a gardener.
Chives
I’ve grown yellow and red onions, as well as chives. Chives are probably one of the easiest plants to grow—haha! They’re hardy, require little attention, and can survive weeks without water. Plus, they spread and return yearly! While I don’t use them as much as I’d like in my cooking, they’re excellent in potato salads and other dishes. Their flowers are stunning and bloom for a few weeks in early summer. However, the flower stems are tougher than regular chives and don’t taste as good, so I use them mainly for decoration. I believe God wants us to enjoy beautiful food for the eyes as well as the palate—don’t you agree?
I recommend planting chives in a spot where they can remain year after year since they are perennial and tend to stay. Of course, you can move them around as needed, but it’s much easier to plant them in a permanent location. Chives can grow quite large, so I keep mine in the corner of my vegetable garden. This makes it convenient to cut them whenever I need them for my kitchen dishes.
It’s a great idea to visualize how your garden will look when everything grows and blooms in late summer. The flower stalks are beautiful, and you’ll want to enjoy their view as they grow. Consider planting them in a spot where you can see them from your kitchen window for added enjoyment!
Green Onions
I have limited experience with green onions, other than trying to grow them from seeds. I found it time-consuming (growing from seeds). Also, when growing plants indoors, the process requires space and patience, especially when it feels like nothing is happening for weeks. If I had more space, I might try again, but for now, I remember it as a bit tedious—haha!
That said, I recommend giving it a try (that is to grow from seeds). The best way to learn is by experimenting and observing. There’s so much to gain from the process that you can’t learn by simply reading or watching others. If possible, involve your kids—it’s rewarding for both you and them!
Before transplanting plants outdoors, be sure to check the soil temperature. Early summer is an ideal time, as this is typically when light frosts have ended, or the last frost date has reliably passed. In order to evaluate the soil, check the soil surface with your hands and feel if it has the right growing conditions for the plant.
Red and Yellow Onions
I usually buy onion sets from the store and prepare the garden beds in May. After the last frost, I start preparing the beds and plant the small bulbs. Onions need well-drained soil and full sun. You can buy seeds or onion sets from a local garden center or online. Since we live in the countryside, ordering online is convenient for us, but we occasionally visit garden centers to shop and enjoy the experience.
Sweet onions are also a good option, which is what I have grown in my garden. They make large bulbs and are a common onions in my area.
How I Grow Onions
- Prepare the Soil: Choose a sunny spot with well-drained, fertile soil. Visualize how water will flow and whether nutrients will be retained. Loose soil is ideal for onion plants.
- Spacing: Measure 10 cm (about 4 inches) between each bulb, accounting for the mature plant’s size.
- Plant the Bulbs: Place them with the tops facing upward; the tips can stick out slightly above the soil.
- Water Regularly: Ensure the soil doesn’t dry out. A general rule of thumb is daily watering unless it rains.
- Weed and Fertilize: Remove weeds and fertilize with grass clippings or other organic materials. Use what you have—grass clippings are fantastic!
- Enjoy the Process: Be proud of your efforts and enjoy the learning journey.
If you plan to sow seeds, winter is an excellent time to start, as I mentioned earlier. Grow light will be essential for helping your plants grow and thrive indoors. However, in my experience, plants never grow quite as well under grow lights as they do with actual sunlight. I also want to mention that I am an organic gardener who loves using organic fertilizers on my plants. This includes grass clippings and other organic waste from our kitchen.
When Is the Best Time to Harvest Onions?
You can harvest onions anytime, but it depends on how big you want your onion to be. I also recall that the size affect the flavor. Harvest smaller onions to allow others to grow bigger. Once the flower stalks fall and the bulbs are full-sized, you can start harvesting. Make sure the plants are well-watered until then.
Large onions are often preferable, but during the summer, you might crave fresh onions. That’s why it’s a great idea to harvest them gradually as they grow bigger and bigger. You can also experiment with planting onions twice during the summer. This way, you can enjoy two harvests: one at the end of the first growing season and another later in the second growing season (during the summer).
Storage Tips
After harvesting, store onions in a cool, dry place—no need for refrigeration! A basket with large holes works well. The onions’ natural “skin” protects them and keeps them fresh for a long time.
Gardening Strengthens Relationships
Growing food is an amazing and satisfying journey, whether you do it alone or with family. I especially love gardening with my husband. Although it’s been more challenging since having kids, we still enjoy working in the garden together—it strengthens our marriage and makes our garden beautiful. Gardening with children is equally rewarding. It’s a hands-on learning experience where you can share knowledge, talk about life, and make lasting memories.
Planning Your Home Garden
Have you planned your next gardening season? Consider what you want to grow, where to plant it, and which foods you use most often. I prefer growing root vegetables like onions, carrots, and potatoes, but I also enjoy experimenting with new plants and herbs. It’s exciting to challenge yourself and watch plants grow into a bountiful harvest!
Bible verses related to gardening
I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
Ecclesiastes 2:5
The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Isaiah 58:11
For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 61:11
They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Isaiah 65:21
Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.
Jeremiah 29:5
For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long; build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their fruit.
Jeremiah 29:28
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, But he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough! A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress. A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, And does not consider that poverty will come upon him.
Proverbs 28:19-22
