How to grow onion

Growing onion for the first time

Difficulty: Easy · Sun: full sun · Ready in: about 120 days

1. Choose the spot

Pick a sunny spot (6+ hours of sun). It does best in loam, silt soil with a pH of 6.0–7.5. Avoid clay and peat soil, or improve it with compost.

2. Sow or plant

Sow outdoors in Mar, Apr. Start indoors or under cover in Jan, Feb. Space plants about 10 cm apart.

3. Look after it

• Water roughly every 7 days, more in hot or dry weather. Water the soil, not the leaves.
• No regular feeding needed in good soil — a mulch of compost is enough.
• Keep weeds down, and add a daily note and photo to your BeAgric grow diary so you can spot problems early.

4. Watch for problems

Common problems: Onion white rot, Downy mildew. Take a photo with Check a plant if leaves look spotted, yellow or wilted.

5. Organic tip

Weed carefully — onions hate competition. Stop watering once bulbs swell.

6. Harvest

Expect your first harvest about 120 days after planting. Record it in Harvests and list any spare on the marketplace.