by Connie Oswald Stofko
A gardener asked me awhile back to do a story on how to grow onions that are big– like the ones you can get in the grocery store.
I know nothing about growing onions, so I talked to Jen Weber, retail manager at Mike Weber Greenhouses, 42 French Rd., West Seneca.
It’s all in the spacing, Weber said. If you want to grow big onions, plant them far apart.
You can start with small onion plants called transplants. At Mike Weber’s, these come in six-packs.
First, trim back the green part– That keeps the onions sweet. In the photo of the onions in the six-pack, the plants had been trimmed four days before, but they needed trimming again.
Multiple plants are contained in one cell of the six-pack. After trimming the plants, pull the individual plants apart. Plant each one in its own spot.
If you want giant onions, plant them eight inches apart, or four inches from center, she said. That means you want eight inches of space around a plant.
Check out our previous post on tips on planting vegetables in containers.
Get your vegetables planted by the end of June.
Good tip, Paula.
Paula, thanks for sharing!
I learned a wonderful secret from a man selling plants at the Springville auction years ago and want to pass it on – Take the plants out of the cell and swish tht roots in water. This washes off all the dirt and they will almost fall apart, you don’t break the roots and they transplant much better. Don’t forget to water well after planting.