T wrote:
....
Do you wash off the dirt, which can be prodigious, or
just wipe them?

i try to stop watering them a week before lifting.

most of the dirt can come off with a little bit of
shaking what is left is mostly on the roots so i leave
that alone to dry and then cut it off later when the
bulb has cured. i cut it a bit away from the bulb so
i don't bruise the bulb with the cutters. at this time
i also remove the one outer layer of tunic which might
have some dirt on it so that it is now cleaned up and
so it won't drop dirt where i store them.

this is for both onions and garlic at the point where
they've been cured/dried.


On the seeds, do you just cut the heads off when the seeds
start to harden?

if i don't want the seeds to spread around i'll cut
the tops off and dry them fully in box tops so i can
harvest and give away the seeds.


How do you store the seeds?

cool dry location. they are not good for long
otherwise. i haven't tried freezing them yet nor do
i plan on it.

And when do you plant the seeds?

they should be viable immediately. so if you want
to start some for the next season you can plant them
outside where you want them right before your next
fall rains happen. some should start up and then the
cold will stop them and the small bulbs will be in
place and ready to go for the following spring.

if you want to have starts ready for the following
spring you can do them inside. i've not done that
here. i just plant a long row or two of seeds in
the early spring and thin them as needed. the larger
bulbs that form are eaten. the smaller bulbs i left
to grow and flower.

this year i have only one kind of onion flowering
now as the patch i'd had planted with onions before
i finally got cleared so now there is only the bunching
onions which have yellow flowers. my chives are done
and Mom cuts those back hard to keep them from spreading
seeds around.

the large sweet onions we plant are done from starts
that the greenhouse does. we put them in hard clay
this year so i'm not sure they'll do all that great.

the garlic i grow here is acclimated to the clay
enough that no matter where i grow it it seems to do
ok. the wetter summers and clay can make a challenge
for harvesting, if the ground is wet i'll just wash
the bulbs off when lifted since they are already
wet. then i dry them well to get ready for storage.
garlic doesn't get exposed to the sun when curing.
onions can take a bit more light and heat to cure so
i'm not as careful with them.


songbird

Terry Coombs wrote:

....re onion seeds...
Â* When is a good time to harvest those seeds ? I have several bunching
onions in bloom right now , and I'm considering starting from seed for
next year .

for regular onions i cut the heads off and put
them in cardboard box tops or flats to finish drying
in only one layer so they won't get fungi and i also
turn them once in a while to make sure they're getting
evenly dried out. i know it is time when i see the
first seeds start to show (when the seed pods start
to crack open and you see the black seeds in them).

this is the first time i've got bunching onions
to grow here and i'm not sure the seed heads are
the same for these as regular onions yet. they're
still flowering and covered with bees.

chives i have grown before and those are a bit
different than regular onions in that the seeds
seem pretty quick to fall.

for the bunching onions the only reason i have them
growing now is that a friend mailed me some of his
plants. i am never planning on growing any from seeds
because these plants will divide easily and keep
growing even after eating some of them i expect to
have plenty of divisions to do a whole line of them
for the next round.

the seeds from the bunching onions i'll give away
at the seed swap - that's the only reason i'm
harvesting them and drying them out when they're
ready. i'll know in a week or two if they are more
like chives or regular onions or what.

so far i'm pretty impressed by how well they've
grown and the deer, rabbits, etc. have been leaving
them alone.

when i've tried to grow bunching onions from seeds
in the past i've not had very good luck, but i always
direct sow seeds in the garden and they could have
been too old of seeds anyways.

i've had reasonably good enough luck with the fresh
onion seeds i've harvested myself here. i threw away
several ounces of seeds last year because i could not
use it all and nobody wanted it. by throwing away i
mean feeding to the worms as i don't throw much away
here if i can help it. all organic matter is welcome.

songbird

On 6/21/19 4:45 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
Do you wash off the dirt, which can be prodigious, or
just wipe them?

i try to stop watering them a week before lifting.

most of the dirt can come off with a little bit of
shaking what is left is mostly on the roots so i leave
that alone to dry and then cut it off later when the
bulb has cured. i cut it a bit away from the bulb so
i don't bruise the bulb with the cutters. at this time
i also remove the one outer layer of tunic which might
have some dirt on it so that it is now cleaned up and
so it won't drop dirt where i store them.

this is for both onions and garlic at the point where
they've been cured/dried.


On the seeds, do you just cut the heads off when the seeds
start to harden?

if i don't want the seeds to spread around i'll cut
the tops off and dry them fully in box tops so i can
harvest and give away the seeds.


How do you store the seeds?

cool dry location. they are not good for long
otherwise. i haven't tried freezing them yet nor do
i plan on it.

And when do you plant the seeds?

they should be viable immediately. so if you want
to start some for the next season you can plant them
outside where you want them right before your next
fall rains happen. some should start up and then the
cold will stop them and the small bulbs will be in
place and ready to go for the following spring.

if you want to have starts ready for the following
spring you can do them inside. i've not done that
here. i just plant a long row or two of seeds in
the early spring and thin them as needed. the larger
bulbs that form are eaten. the smaller bulbs i left
to grow and flower.

this year i have only one kind of onion flowering
now as the patch i'd had planted with onions before
i finally got cleared so now there is only the bunching
onions which have yellow flowers. my chives are done
and Mom cuts those back hard to keep them from spreading
seeds around.

the large sweet onions we plant are done from starts
that the greenhouse does. we put them in hard clay
this year so i'm not sure they'll do all that great.

the garlic i grow here is acclimated to the clay
enough that no matter where i grow it it seems to do
ok. the wetter summers and clay can make a challenge
for harvesting, if the ground is wet i'll just wash
the bulbs off when lifted since they are already
wet. then i dry them well to get ready for storage.
garlic doesn't get exposed to the sun when curing.
onions can take a bit more light and heat to cure so
i'm not as careful with them.


songbird


Thank you!