Save your tears for cutting onions
The first time I planted onions, it was only because I was given a free bundle of slips while purchasing other plants at a nursery. I had a patch of unused dirt that I figured I could stick each tiny slip and see if it did anything, without doing any research about how to grow onions first.
Well, except when you just get lucky, you generally don’t grow what you don’t know. I planted those slips and waited patiently…for months…and only one or two slips showed any signs of bulbing. It was starting to heat up, and I figured maybe they ought to be doing more than they were. Only then did I do my research and gave myself a well-deserved face palm. I had planted the slips too deep! Onion slips should only go about 1/2” into the ground and then the good part forms ON TOP of the soil, where you can easily see their bulbous action happening (unlike carrots where you just hope something is happening underground). It was a hard-learned lesson that I hope no one else needs to repeat!
Now (January) is a great time here in North Texas to buy some short-day onion slips and stick them just barely into the soil. Space them about 4-6” apart to get a nice big bulb that will force happy tears out of your eyes when you’re cutting them later. And major allium family bonus: onions are super hardy when it comes to freezing temperatures, so don’t worry your pretty head about any frost.
One more thing: have you heard “short day” and “long day” onions and wondered what that means? Think about it like an Alaskan: in summer, the days in Alaska are absurdly long. It’s light by 4am and stays light until midnight. Kids are out playing in the neighborhood at 11:30pm like it’s normal. That’s the kind of climate where you grow “long day” onions - because they get so much more daylight during the onion-growing season in northern latitudes. Down here in Texas, ironically, it’s considered a short day despite the blazing hot temps. If you plant a long-day onion down here in the south, they won’t do their thing properly. Stick with the short day onions and you should be good to go. Got more questions? Call your local garden coach!
Harvested onions drying out before going into storage