Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

  

Per person – 1 bunch (75 plants), double for winter storage

Primary vitamin source: vitamin C

 

Grow onions in a well-drained, moist area – crumbly, moderately acid, sandy soil with plenty of nutrients in its top layer. Plant as soon as soil can be worked – about 20-40 days before last frost. Plant plants 1 inch deep – no deeper. Space 4 inches apart. Should you want to harvest some of the onions during the growing season as green onions, you may plant as close as 2 inches apart. Pull every other onion during the season, leaving some to mature into larger onions. Water the transplants immediately after planting. Onion growth and yield can be greatly enhanced by banding a fertilizer rich in phosphorous (10-20-10) 2-3” below transplants at planting time.

 

Three weeks after planting the onions will need additional Nitrogen. Apply 1 cup per 20 feet of row (21-0-0). Repeat this process every 2 to 3 weeks. Stop fertilizing within 3 weeks of harvest when the necks begin to feel soft. Because of the shallow root system, onions require frequent furrow irrigation. Water 1 inch per week. Avoid overhead irrigation. If the foliage has an unhealthy, yellowish tint the plants are being over-irrigated. Onions demand lots of cultivation and are very intolerant of weeds. If you want to grow very large onions, you will have to move some of the dirt away from the bulb. The onion should look as if it is hardly in the ground at all, with only the bottom third or so underground. Cover ground with wood ashes to prevent onion maggots.

 

Pull for green onions during the season. For storage onions, break over the tops with a rake in August/September. Leave in the ground for another week. Pull them on a dry day and spread on screens to cure for three to seven days. Cut the tops leaving a one inch stub and spread in a single layer to continue drying in a dry, shady place for two to three weeks. The point of drying is to kill the root system at the bottom of each bulb. When the roots are thoroughly dry, you can easily break them off with a wipe of your hand. 

 

Yield is 1 ½ bushels (roughly 80 pounds) per 100-foot row. For a 100-foot row, count on using ½ ounce of seed, 2 pounds of sets, or 600 seedlings.

 

The longer you dry the onions, the better they store. Onions will keep on the counter for up to a month. Put dried onions gently in mesh bags, slatted crates or cartons with holes punched in the sides. If you can, hang your onion bags from the ceiling of the root cellar. It is a little warmer there than on the floor. Leave room for plenty of air circulation. Store onions in a cool and dry area – 32 to 50 degrees, 60 to 70 percent humidity.