Spanish Onions

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:48 am

I'm not an experienced gardener and this year Spanish onions are a first for me.

Online has different answers for when they should be ready. 6-8 weeks or plant in spring and harvest in fall. Ummm that's a big difference! 6/8 weeks would make them ready end of July.
Can I pull one and see where I'm at and replant? But I suspect that won't be a good idea.

Help?

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 12:26 pm

Pull one, see where you're at and eat it. Don't replant :)

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 1:45 pm

Ok. I'm just not sure why the above ground green part keeps laying down. Can I trim those?

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:29 pm

I would hill them up a bit instead. Maybe someone else has a better idea. Just because you planted onions that have the potential to grown into nice big Spanish onion, doesn't mean they will. On a dry year you may only get small cooking onion size ones.

Post by **WLLady** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:12 pm

I plant in spring harvest in fall once the tops are yellowing.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Fri Jul 08, 2016 9:52 pm

When onions are mature, if the neck isn't too thick the neck softens and the top flops over. You should be able to see the bulb. Dig the onion up and lay it on dry ground but do not remove the tops until it has dried down. As the tops dry they will add size to the onion. You should only cut them off if they look diseased,( hopefully not,) or once they have dried down.
Spanish onions are iffy, sometimes they are just as hot as the regular cooking onions. It depends on the soil and growing conditions.

clawton · Post by **clawton** » Sat Jul 09, 2016 8:02 am

i usually go for 30 percent of the plants have fallen over then step on the remaining tops to make them fall over this begins the curring process then pull 10 days - 2 weeks depending on weather pull earlier if heavy rains are forcasted, if no rain in forecast after pulled leave them lying on the ground for a week or so then i hang them up to fininish the dryying process

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Sat Jul 09, 2016 8:18 am

Just leave them laying in the ground? Above dirt? I'm at least 50-60% fallen over.

Hang in the cold cellar? Or in sunlight? Wash them and hang or leave as is?

Thanks everyone!

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Sat Jul 09, 2016 11:10 am

Don't wash, you can pull them and braid them if you like and hang them outside in a breezy sheltered spot to cure. Some sun is OK .

: braid.jpg (11.46 KiB) Viewed 4772 times

I should mention, if your onions are mild, they will not keep for very long, so if you don't have too many onions, cure them for a couple of weeks and then stick them in the fridge.

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Sat Jul 09, 2016 4:06 pm

Well I pulled one. Still looks like a bulb basically, except a wee bit bigger. Fall harvest. Clearly.