Last edited on 1 Nov 2026. View history

Onion

Allium cepa WD
Also known as bulb onion (EN) common onion (EN)

.

85
plantings
20
harvests
15
seed packets
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Growing onions

Annual

living and reproducing in a single year or less

Median lifespan

34 weeks

First harvest expected

36 weeks after planting

Last harvest expected

46 weeks after planting

Height

1cm

Spread

15cm

Grown for

bulb harvested 14 times

How members grow onions

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Harvested for

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Varieties of onion

Image of pearl drop onion

pearl drop onion

Image of perennial shallot

perennial shallot

Image of Potato Onion

Potato Onion

Allium cepa
Image of Pukekohe long keeper onion

Pukekohe long keeper onion

Allium cepa
Image of red onion

red onion

Allium cepa
Image of California red onion

California red onion

Allium cepa
Image of red Burgundy Onion

red Burgundy Onion

Image of shallot

shallot

Allium cepa var. aggregatum
Image of spring onion

spring onion

Allium
Image of Welsh onion

Welsh onion

Allium fistulosum
Image of Welsh bunching onion

Welsh bunching onion

Allium fistulosum
Image of white onion

white onion

Image of yellow onion

yellow onion

Photos

Onion crops

Onion plantings

IMG_20171202_184240
IMG_20171202_184240
by shiny
red onion
red onion
by shiny
by maco
Bed 11
Bed 11
by Midfields

Onion harvests

IMG_20180630_142812_970
IMG_20180630_142812_970
by shiny
IMG_20180102_182933
IMG_20180102_182933
by shiny
IMG_20180106_193740
IMG_20180106_193740
by shiny
IMG_20190101_092251
IMG_20190101_092251
by shiny
Onions drying
Onions drying
by shiny

Onion seeds

2020-03-10_09-58-48
2020-03-10_09-58-48
by shiny
More photos

Video

Where onions grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about onions

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How to save seeds

by shiny,

Beans, peas and corn: remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store.

Pumpkins and melons: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before …

beans peas corn corn pumpkin pumpkins melon melons lettuce lettuces celery celery parsnip parsnips carrot carrots leek leeks onions radicchio radicchio cucumbers tomatoes zucchini zucchini capsicum capsica
Read more
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Planting outdoors & fruit trees

by maco,

Today I transplanted the cabbage and onion seedlings outside and planted seeds for: arugula, garlic (well, cloves, not seeds–forced in the fridge), mesclun salad mix, kale, cauliflower, and …

cabbage cabbages onions arugula arugula garlic kale kale cauliflower cauliflowers beet beets apple apples peach peaches almond almonds plum plums
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Coming together

by shawnacscott,

This weekend I had two full days to really focus on the yard, and I made the most of it. With the intermittent help of several others over the course of the weekend, I got both easement planter boxes filled with compost and soil, cleaned up and weeded the alley, got the stump pulled from the coni…

lettuce lettuces arugula arugula mustard sunflower sunflowers dill onions beet beets tomatoes fenugreek bell pepper bell peppers okra okra artichoke artichokes mint mint lavender spinach spinach basils thyme thyme parsley zucchini zucchini peas calendulas
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A photo related to this post

Seeds started!

by maco,

Today I started seeds for the backyard beds

Seed starting

The onion…

onions
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A photo related to this post

Getting ready for spring!

by maco,

I've got seeds either on-hand or ordered for just about everything I'm starting from seed this year. I've been working out what I want to plant, and this is the plan I've come up with for the 72 square feet of my backyard raised beds:

![garden plan](http://mackenzie.morgan.name/tmp/garden_plan.p…

arugula arugula basils beet beets cabbage cabbages cauliflower cauliflowers cucumbers eggplant eggplants garlic kale kale lettuce lettuces onions oregano parsley Hungarian wax pepper Hungarian wax peppers bell pepper bell peppers zucchini zucchini yellow summer squash yellow summer squash butternut squash butternut squash sweet potato sweet potatoes tomatoes super sweet 100 tomato super sweet 100 tomatoes chamomiles
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A photo related to this post

This year (2014)

by Mad_Martha,

This year wasn't a particularly good year in my garden. Due to my ill health through spring and summer, the only things that got planted were the potatoes, onions and elephant garlic, all of which were planted either late last year or ea…

potato potatoes onions elephant garlic elephant garlic
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Image of onion

Who's planted onions

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Onion harvests

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Find onion seeds

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Allium cepa L.

Family / Taxonomy Liliopsida
Liliidae
Asparagales
Alliaceae
Optimal temperature 12 - 25 °C
Absolute temperature 4 - 30 °C
Optimal rainfall 350 - 600 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 300 - 2800 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 6.0 - 7.0
Absolute soil pH 4.3 - 8.3
Crop cycle 85 - 175 days
Max altitude 2000 m
Life form herb
Life span biennial
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium, organic
Optimal soil fertility moderate
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)
Optimal light clear skies

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

Learn more about onions

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