Before we get into how you grow red onions, we would like to highlight some interesting tidbits about them.
Red onions are sometimes referred to as purple onions due to the purplish-red skin and white flesh with red tinges. They are usually medium to large and have a delicious sweet flavour. You can either eat it raw, grill or lightly fry the onions.
Even though both red and white onions provide 10% of your daily intake of vitamin C, the former has higher antioxidant properties. While white onions are higher in fibre, the red ones present us with higher levels of anthocyanins and flavonols.
What makes red onions so desirable is that they are very healthy to eat. These brim with complex sugars to ensure your metabolism levels are healthy. It contains folate, which is part of the vitamin B family.
According to Wikipedia, red onion skin is commonly used as a dye. The onion possesses a sharp flavour and does a great job of making one cry when peeling them.
Are you ready to find out how to tap into all the useful benefits of red onions by learning the easiest way to grow them?
What You Need to Know When Growing Red Onions
Harvesting red onions from your garden is a dream come true for many of us. They are very easy to grow, require hardly attention and can be grown in pots.
Like any tried and tested recipe, you need to have the right ingredients or tools in place before you take a leap of faith and plant your first seed or onion bulb.
What you need to be successful in your red onion growing attempt is:
- Onion sets
- String
- Compost
- Hard rake
- Fertilizer
- Watering can
- Trowel
The Important of Preparing Your Soil and Growing Red Onion in the Right Climate
As a general rule, onions require a specific type of soil and climate to grow properly. You may know that onions thrive in bright sunlight. The more sun they get the better growth you’ll experience.
They love sunlight, so you'll need to ensure that you plant them in a spot that gets a lot of sunlight throughout the day. They grow in just about any kind of soil except dense clay. You can also add fertilizer to give them a nutrient boost for larger growth.
How to Get Your Soil Ready
- You can start by loosening the soil using a hard rake. Be sure to remove any rocks and pull out those nasty weeds while you’re busy loosening the soil.
- The next step is to mix in your compost to give your red onions a head start.
How to Grow Onions Using Sets
- Part of being successful in anything, including how to grow red onions, is to sift through the bad and the good and getting rid of the smaller onion sets and going with larger sets as they grow better.
- Ensure you follow a straight line by lining a string from one end of your grow patch to the other end. Space these lines about 25 centimetres apart.
- Use your trowel to make holes, measuring 3 centimetres deep every 10 centimetres or so.
- Place an onion set in every hole and ensure the green shoot points upwards. Fill up the holes and soak the onions so it may set the soil.
- The same procedure can be applied when you make use of seeds as opposed to onion sets.
Keep on Nurturing Your Red Onions While They Are Growing
Oftentimes it is all too easy to forget about your onions once you planted them. Do not neglect to look after them and check in now and again. They need your help to promote proper growth.
Be patient though and wait until you notice some green shoots appearing in about a week or two. Once the onion germinated, the chances are pretty good that you will notice the stalks making their way through the soil.
Remember too that onions need a lot of water. You should set a reminder for yourself to water your red onions in the morning as you do not want to leave the roots wet overnight. Be sure to soak them with water once a week. As they have shallow roots, onions tend to dry out much faster than other vegetables.
Some final thoughts to ensure you experience a healthy harvest is to week the onion patch weekly by hand or using a hoe.
