Well, I see where I screwed up. I pruned mine before it rained and the weight of the water collecting in the tubulars caused all of my onions to crimp. Make sure it doesn’t rain for a few days before you prune.
I’m so glad I came across this. I have 500 onions and they started falling over. We have moved to a new location and this year my greens are falling over like yours. I thought it was some sort of diseases in the new soil. So, I pruned them all back pretty heavy like you did. I figured I was hurting them, but wanted to do what I could to save them because I know bending means bad news. I’m relieved to know I did the right thing! Praise The Most High!
LOL! I was actually pruning my onions to encourage bigger bulbs! I was sneaking out there to snip the outer greens for cooking during the growing season, and I thought I was hurting the bulb development. Good to know that I don't have to sneak anymore!
Okay NOW YOU CAN MAKE A SALAD AND THE ONIONS WILL GREEN UP AGAIN AND YES YOU CAN KEEP REPEATING THE PROCESS TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND IF YOU PLANT A LOT YOU CAN USE SOME OOF THE ONIONS IN ALL YOUR COOKING ENJOY!!!!!
The tops are also great as green onion substitutes. I cut mine into thin slices and freeze them on cookie sheets. Once frozen I pop 'em into a big freezer bag. Instant garnish for miso, any Asian dish, soups, rice dishes, anything really ,o.k. maybe not ice cream, but whatever floats yer boat eh? Great resource, don't miss out! 🧅🥗
We planted around 500 onions! I do a lot of canning with onions every year. I did this to my onions in 2 of my 8 beds. They did close up but it took about a week. You also shouldn't do this if it's going to storm or rain that week. Your onions will get water inside the leaves. A few of mine didn't do well after I had done just what you are doing. Make sure you are feeding your onions every few weeks and watering them everyday whenever it is extremely hot out. Or water them every other day because onions need a lot of water to grow! I grew softball size onions this year for the very first time and I started mine from onion starts not sets! I also ordered a pack of Walla Walla onion seeds from you and they are still growing. I also did four different kinds of soils in my garden beds. Six are raised beds and and the others are in my garden. The beds in my garden are in the ground and the onions did much much better there.
This is the best video on onions I have ever seen. Thank you, I did not know that you could prune onions. I can’t wait to try it as I just planted for this spring.
I'll attest to dehydrating the tops! I just snipped them like chives and dried them on a cloth-lined rack. Great in soups or you can rehydrate and use in stir-fry. Blessings! 💜
I will definitely try this next year. Most of my onions are harvested this year. I'm going to add this note to my gardening notebook so that I remember it for next year. Thanks. Luke!
Awesome tip! Makes so much sense. I’m a pretty new gardener, 3-4 years, but going on 2nd year growing onions. I have been devouring gardening content but never heard this and I love it. Thanks!!
Good tip. I just fertilized my onions last week, think it’s time for some love. Bone meal on top, light pruning and water. Don’t have much more time, the days are shrinking and so bulbs are growing.. so it’s water, warmth and fingers crossed for some decent onions.
Thank you so much for this helpful tip! I did not know to prune my onions. I have many of them in my garden with very long leaves. I know what I'll be doing this week. Thanks Luke!
I've been following this method for a few years now, but here are some things I have learned. One, cutting that leaf can make the onion more prone to disease, and sometimes snails can hide in the open space. Second, a commenter on UA-cam said that if onion leaves are falling over (in less windy conditions) it is because they are underwatered. This is the first year I have been testing that theory, in addition to pinching folded leaves as well. Overall there are less folded leaves with constant watering AND less disease, and they're not done quite yet but they are looking bigger than normal.
Had no idea about this. Lost about half my onions now. I started with 72 red, 65 white, 40 yellow. Next year will be different. As always thanks for the info
That is totally Awesome sir! I don't grow as many as you do but this will help with the ones I do grow. Thanks for this very simplistic maintenance tip. I've definitely had this exact issue many times in the past where I get 5 to 7 totally awesome onions and about the same amount that don't come to fruition. Again, thank you!
grew onions for the first time this year, and yes they were quite small. will try this tip next year for sure. dry those tops with herbs and dried tomatopells, grind up and use as seasoning
Definitely going to try this next year. I just. harvested the rest of my onions yesterday. Looks like this is another video that I'm going to have to save on a playlist!
I mostly grow onions for the green tops. They are my favourite parts. I will try these tips for the actual onions. I wasn’t sure how to tell when they were ready before your video. Thank you. 😊
Thankyou so much for this information., I planted onion seeds in a "high bed" in my growing shed here in NW Switzerland (mild winters, hot summers up to ca 95°) in March and they turned out as tiddly little things, max 1" diameter. I will definitely try your tip next year.
Wry informative. This was my first year growing onions. The only thing I didn’t get was, did you prune the neck? It was difficult to tell what the neck was. I think I know by using my head but I just would like to be sure. I’ll google it as well.
This worked well last year for me. This year I didn't have as much time. I did however plant them a little closer together. The plants seemed to do a good job of supporting each other and the size was decent. Except for the ones on the edge that didn't have as much support and fell over sooner.
There is some controversy about pruning onions, some people say don't. I don't prune as heavily as you but I do prune when I plant and later I prune bent blades. I usually cut after the bend though to keep the blade closed.
Can I ask, did you start from seed or set? And when did you start them? I bought set and they just ended up flowering and I’ve never grown one single successful onion. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Or, for those of us that don't have a fancy machine, lol, chop them up and freeze them. They work great in soups, stews, casseroles etc! Thanks for the tip, I did indeed learn something new so I will indeed pass it on to others! Thanks Luke!
For garlic, I plant cloves 2" deep in Feb., clip the shapes off around May-June when they come up, then harvest the garlic bulbs in July when the tops tip over & dry. Not like the onions.
Something I learned as a young lad, a good use for the green onion top is that they also taste good with a cold biscuit. Might not be to the taste of everyone, but to each his own.
I trimmed mine the 2nd week of July and part of me wished I only Did half my bed :( most of them fell over and didn’t do well. I do water every morning here. A few have survived, but not enough to store for the winter. However, the trimming did work well when they had sprouted on my trays and they are bigger then I have ever grown. About 1 1/2 2” so every year I grow more knowledgeable. Praying they grow better next year.
Thank you so much for that reminder about cutting the onion tops. Last night l went out in the garden and started cutting them and received a basket full. I am going to make green onion powder with them.😀
JUST FOUND YOU VERY INTERESTING¬¬¬¬ WILL BE CUTTING MINE BACK AT THE RIGHT STAGE CAN YOU DO THIS TO GARLIC???GOT SOME OVER WINTERING GOING TO GO OUT AND CUT THESE BACKMANY THANKS FOR TIPS MH
I will say we love your videos, and on this one I have a question. I have watched maybe 10 other videos where they say exactly the opposite, and not to top, so I am confused. Just finished planting 13 bundles of 75-100 onions per bundle from Dixondale farms. Last year was a disaster, a very early and unusual thunderstorm hit, with the most hail I have ever seen. Over 75% of the onions were bent and done, so we ate lots of little onions all year. Thanks
Wow those are some great ideas there. I just came back from my garden but I'll go again tomorrow morning and do exactly that ( I have a community garden plot about a mile from my home).
Very useful! I don't like onions, but I do grow garlic, which is closely related, so I'm guessing this is relevant to them, too! (Green garlic, a.k.a. garlic leaves, is just as tasty as the bulbs, by the way.)
I cropped my onions earlier this summer. The tops came back amazingly and my onions have grown too. I was wondering if I could trim the tops again with a couple months more left in growing season. Now I know. Thank you!
Instead of pitching those tops or composting them, I save them and make green onion salt. Just put them in a blender or. Inks with sea salt or kosher salt. The spread it thinly on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven at 175 then turn off. Place pan on top shelf and leave oven light on and leave 24 ish hours. It will be a thin brick. Back into the blender and then voila! Onion salt and yummy!
@@irenevanos6996I prob have it written down at home somewhere (at work) but I think it is like 1cup salt to two cups onion tops. I do the same thing with herbs and make yummy herb salts too. You can add more or less to taste. After they have sat in the oven (keep on top shelf and light on after you turn off the oven) for 24 hrs, break it up and put in your food processor or ninja again. If it is damp then put it back into the oven and bring it back up to 175 and turn off again. You can adjust the salt to taste before you put it back into the oven the second time. I also do not use iodized table salt. I use coarse kosher salt, sea salt, Himalayan salt or redmonds salt. Hope you love it!
I think using very clean sharp shears would help with trimming, but I think I would trim all of the by lifting all the leaves of each onion and trimming. Love your top on what to do with the trimmed leaves! No waste!
Ooh I'm going to do this tomorrow!! My onions are behind. They are planted behind peas and are in slight shade and I was worried my onions would not bulb. They are just starting to right now. I think this tip will save my onion crop this season! Awesome ☺️
The neck of all my onions fell over early. I believed that they wouldn’t grow much bigger and picked the majority of them. Well those I left in ground continued to grow bigger despite the neck being soft and bent
Was following your tips on onions including pruning then we got 8 plus inches of rain in twelve hours and all my tops were knocked over. Pulled them and put fall gardening stuff in that bed.
Would it be possible for your seed store to get TPS potatoes. I would love to just have a nice selection of potatoes to grow and not have to worry about trying to find seed potatoes and maybe them rotting before i can plant. A reliable area for TPS would be nice, i dont trust ebay seeds
Well, I see where I screwed up. I pruned mine before it rained and the weight of the water collecting in the tubulars caused all of my onions to crimp. Make sure it doesn’t rain for a few days before you prune.
I’m so glad I came across this. I have 500 onions and they started falling over. We have moved to a new location and this year my greens are falling over like yours. I thought it was some sort of diseases in the new soil. So, I pruned them all back pretty heavy like you did. I figured I was hurting them, but wanted to do what I could to save them because I know bending means bad news. I’m relieved to know I did the right thing! Praise The Most High!
LOL! I was actually pruning my onions to encourage bigger bulbs! I was sneaking out there to snip the outer greens for cooking during the growing season, and I thought I was hurting the bulb development. Good to know that I don't have to sneak anymore!
Me too. We were inadvertently helping the bulb the entire time lol
Same here!😂
Okay NOW YOU CAN MAKE A SALAD AND THE ONIONS WILL GREEN UP AGAIN AND YES YOU CAN KEEP REPEATING THE PROCESS TIME AND TIME AGAIN AND IF YOU PLANT A LOT YOU CAN USE SOME OOF THE ONIONS IN ALL YOUR COOKING ENJOY!!!!!
The tops are also great as green onion substitutes. I cut mine into thin slices and freeze them on cookie sheets. Once frozen I pop 'em into a big freezer bag. Instant garnish for miso, any Asian dish, soups, rice dishes, anything really ,o.k. maybe not ice cream, but whatever floats yer boat eh?
Great resource, don't miss out!
🧅🥗
We planted around 500 onions! I do a lot of canning with onions every year. I did this to my onions in 2 of my 8 beds. They did close up but it took about a week. You also shouldn't do this if it's going to storm or rain that week. Your onions will get water inside the leaves. A few of mine didn't do well after I had done just what you are doing. Make sure you are feeding your onions every few weeks and watering them everyday whenever it is extremely hot out. Or water them every other day because onions need a lot of water to grow! I grew softball size onions this year for the very first time and I started mine from onion starts not sets! I also ordered a pack of Walla Walla onion seeds from you and they are still growing. I also did four different kinds of soils in my garden beds. Six are raised beds and and the others are in my garden. The beds in my garden are in the ground and the onions did much much better there.
What do you feed your onions?
When you say extremely hot what temperature are you talking about?
@@marlenepopos12 Don't ever let the soil dry out
My friend did that last year, but kept the tops, dehydrated them, and they are great in soups, dressings, etc., love this!
Thank you!
This is the best video on onions I have ever seen. Thank you, I did not know that you could prune onions. I can’t wait to try it as I just planted for this spring.
I'll attest to dehydrating the tops! I just snipped them like chives and dried them on a cloth-lined rack. Great in soups or you can rehydrate and use in stir-fry.
Blessings! 💜
I chop mine up and freeze them. I have bags of them and use them in soups.
👍
Great tip now I'll be able to make better soup but however the top is where the seeds are
@@asimhusain8087 you won't get seeds until it flowers. That stalk is more woody than the rest. I may try leaving 1 or 2 for seed next year.
I will definitely try this next year. Most of my onions are harvested this year. I'm going to add this note to my gardening notebook so that I remember it for next year. Thanks. Luke!
Need to follow your example of keeping a garden notebook!
@@utubemouse Best thing you can do!
I keep a notebook, too. Best thing I started for keeping information.
I take the leafs chop them up and use in baked potatoes instead of green onions.
Awesome tip! Makes so much sense. I’m a pretty new gardener, 3-4 years, but going on 2nd year growing onions. I have been devouring gardening content but never heard this and I love it. Thanks!!
This is brilliant! My tops never stand up. This will absolutely help. Thanks Luke!
Good tip. I just fertilized my onions last week, think it’s time for some love. Bone meal on top, light pruning and water. Don’t have much more time, the days are shrinking and so bulbs are growing.. so it’s water, warmth and fingers crossed for some decent onions.
Then I would dehydrate and powder those green stalks. Great for all kinds of uses. My favorite being green onion dip.
Thank you, thank you! I know now why my Walla Wallas stopped growing and what to do next year. Love ya, Luke!
Thank you so much for this helpful tip! I did not know to prune my onions. I have many of them in my garden with very long leaves. I know what I'll be doing this week. Thanks Luke!
I've been following this method for a few years now, but here are some things I have learned. One, cutting that leaf can make the onion more prone to disease, and sometimes snails can hide in the open space. Second, a commenter on UA-cam said that if onion leaves are falling over (in less windy conditions) it is because they are underwatered. This is the first year I have been testing that theory, in addition to pinching folded leaves as well. Overall there are less folded leaves with constant watering AND less disease, and they're not done quite yet but they are looking bigger than normal.
Take your clippings, course dice them and dry. Makes a great addition to soups. If you powder them, add to mashed potatoes while cooking. Yumm.
Thanks Luke! I've always been afraid to cut the tops off my onions. I'll be fixing them now!
Always great videos & tons of information!
Same. Off to find my pruners! ✂️
Thank you, Luke, for sharing your advice on growing bigger onions.😊
Had no idea about this. Lost about half my onions now. I started with 72 red, 65 white, 40 yellow. Next year will be different. As always thanks for the info
Oh wow, I never get tired of your great tips, will try this on my next batch of onions
Am wanting to plant onions for the first time in the spring. Will keep you helpful tips in mind!
All i can say is AWSOME TIP !!!!!!
HOLY COW! Thank you So much for the tip on what to do with the onion tops. SO genius to dehydrate them.
I always trim back my onions……..great tip! Thx 🇨🇦
Love watching your videos …so educational
That is totally Awesome sir! I don't grow as many as you do but this will help with the ones I do grow. Thanks for this very simplistic maintenance tip. I've definitely had this exact issue many times in the past where I get 5 to 7 totally awesome onions and about the same amount that don't come to fruition. Again, thank you!
Love the tip! I have saved some onion seeds for the first time. Hopeing to have an epic harevst. This tip will help with that. Grow Bigger!!
What a beautiful garden! Thank you for the advice!
I just topped my onions on Monday 😊 Hoping for big bulbs to come. Eastern Colorado 5b
grew onions for the first time this year, and yes they were quite small. will try this tip next year for sure. dry those tops with herbs and dried tomatopells, grind up and use as seasoning
I learned a lot from this video. Thank you for teaching us all this!!!
Hello from France. Thank you for this tip. I didn't know I could prune my onions. Have a good day
Definitely going to try this next year. I just. harvested the rest of my onions yesterday. Looks like this is another video that I'm going to have to save on a playlist!
Thank you for this!! And best wishes from a Colorado gardner.
I mostly grow onions for the green tops. They are my favourite parts. I will try these tips for the actual onions. I wasn’t sure how to tell when they were ready before your video. Thank you. 😊
Luke we dry ours out and grind them and make onion powder love it
Great tip! I did not know I could do this, but I will from now on. :)
Thank U 4 the Super, tip. Happy Gardening.
Thanks I was just wondering what to do about my onions and this helped immensely.
God bless you.
Thankyou so much for this information., I planted onion seeds in a "high bed" in my growing shed here in NW Switzerland (mild winters, hot summers up to ca 95°) in March and they turned out as tiddly little things, max 1" diameter. I will definitely try your tip next year.
Thanks, this was right on time Luke!!!
Wry informative. This was my first year growing onions. The only thing I didn’t get was, did you prune the neck? It was difficult to tell what the neck was. I think I know by using my head but I just would like to be sure. I’ll google it as well.
This worked well last year for me. This year I didn't have as much time. I did however plant them a little closer together. The plants seemed to do a good job of supporting each other and the size was decent. Except for the ones on the edge that didn't have as much support and fell over sooner.
Thanks for sharing. I will try this.
Thank you so much! I’m trying onions for the first time so this is super helpful!
I found my smallest tops produced the smallest bulbs. My large/strong tops had the biggest bulbs. I didn't trim any. I will for sure do this next year
There is some controversy about pruning onions, some people say don't. I don't prune as heavily as you but I do prune when I plant and later I prune bent blades. I usually cut after the bend though to keep the blade closed.
@@origmainstmama2455 Aww, thank you.😊
Thanks for the information I just started going Onions this year
Thanks for the tip! I have a storm coming in a couple of days so I will anxiously await being able to prune some of mine back!
I will try this starting tomorrow from England
My onions got started late, but been following your methods on them and they are the best I’ve ever grown.
Can I ask, did you start from seed or set? And when did you start them? I bought set and they just ended up flowering and I’ve never grown one single successful onion. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Or, for those of us that don't have a fancy machine, lol, chop them up and freeze them. They work great in soups, stews, casseroles etc! Thanks for the tip, I did indeed learn something new so I will indeed pass it on to others! Thanks Luke!
WILL this work for garlic. I just can't get big bulbs.
Does this work with garlic too?
For garlic, I plant cloves 2" deep in Feb., clip the shapes off around May-June when they come up, then harvest the garlic bulbs in July when the tops tip over & dry. Not like the onions.
Okay... thank you! i was getting nervous about pinching the longer ones, but will carry on..
Something I learned as a young lad, a good use for the green onion top is that they also taste good with a cold biscuit. Might not be to the taste of everyone, but to each his own.
I trimmed mine the 2nd week of July and part of me wished I only
Did half my bed :( most of them fell over and didn’t do well. I do water every morning here. A few have survived, but not enough to store for the winter. However, the trimming did work well when they had sprouted on my trays and they are bigger then I have ever grown. About 1 1/2 2” so every year I grow more knowledgeable. Praying they grow better next year.
I just saw this video. I didn't know about pruning onions! I do now and will follow this practice.
Thank you for this! I had no idea!
I need to see you do a video cooking some of your produce... I'd certainly love to see that! I enjoy planting and cooking my own produce
Luke is this the same for Leeks? If they getted crimped at neck do they stop growing?
Thank you so much for that reminder about cutting the onion tops. Last night l went out in the garden and started cutting them and received a basket full. I am going to make green onion powder with them.😀
Onion pruning is on my to do list for fall gardening in Houston community garden.
Great advice! Another thing that you can do with your green onion tips that you’ve pruned off is to make green onion pesto out of them. Delicious!
Looking forward to making use of this great information Next Year! In the meantime, I am enjoying my harvested “little” onions! 😉😁
Thank you! You answered my question of weather I could prune them.
JUST FOUND YOU VERY INTERESTING¬¬¬¬ WILL BE CUTTING MINE BACK AT THE RIGHT STAGE CAN YOU DO THIS TO GARLIC???GOT SOME OVER WINTERING GOING TO GO OUT AND CUT THESE BACKMANY THANKS FOR TIPS MH
Thanks. I have some onions already bent over. But most still can be pruned. I eat the onion tops.
I’m so glad your channel came up in my feed. I needed this information. 👍🏻
I will say we love your videos, and on this one I have a question. I have watched maybe 10 other videos where they say exactly the opposite, and not to top, so I am confused. Just finished planting 13 bundles of 75-100 onions per bundle from Dixondale farms. Last year was a disaster, a very early and unusual thunderstorm hit, with the most hail I have ever seen. Over 75% of the onions were bent and done, so we ate lots of little onions all year. Thanks
I live in zone 8 when would the best time to start onions from seed?
I never knew this, thank you!
Wow those are some great ideas there. I just came back from my garden but I'll go again tomorrow morning and do exactly that ( I have a community garden plot about a mile from my home).
Thank you for all this information. It will be well use this summer. I also have heard that you can make onion top pesto and freeze it.
Very useful! I don't like onions, but I do grow garlic, which is closely related, so I'm guessing this is relevant to them, too! (Green garlic, a.k.a. garlic leaves, is just as tasty as the bulbs, by the way.)
I've completely topped my garlic before and it did well. I'll try it with my onions.
I cropped my onions earlier this summer. The tops came back amazingly and my onions have grown too. I was wondering if I could trim the tops again with a couple months more left in growing season. Now I know. Thank you!
I would like to know an answer to your question also?
Instead of pitching those tops or composting them, I save them and make green onion salt. Just put them in a blender or. Inks with sea salt or kosher salt. The spread it thinly on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven at 175 then turn off. Place pan on top shelf and leave oven light on and leave 24 ish hours. It will be a thin brick. Back into the blender and then voila! Onion salt and yummy!
Love this idea. Do you have a rough ratio of salt to onion leaves?
@@irenevanos6996I prob have it written down at home somewhere (at work) but I think it is like 1cup salt to two cups onion tops. I do the same thing with herbs and make yummy herb salts too. You can add more or less to taste. After they have sat in the oven (keep on top shelf and light on after you turn off the oven) for 24 hrs, break it up and put in your food processor or ninja again. If it is damp then put it back into the oven and bring it back up to 175 and turn off again. You can adjust the salt to taste before you put it back into the oven the second time. I also do not use iodized table salt. I use coarse kosher salt, sea salt, Himalayan salt or redmonds salt. Hope you love it!
@sharonjennings1282 fantastic! Thanks for the reply. I needed that bit if extra information on the drying instructions as well. Thanks again!! 😊
Thanks Luke, Thought I knew everything about onions until I watched this. Top Man!
I think using very clean sharp shears would help with trimming, but I think I would trim all of the by lifting all the leaves of each onion and trimming. Love your top on what to do with the trimmed leaves! No waste!
Ooh I'm going to do this tomorrow!! My onions are behind. They are planted behind peas and are in slight shade and I was worried my onions would not bulb. They are just starting to right now. I think this tip will save my onion crop this season! Awesome ☺️
Never knew about the biennial aspect of some vegetables. Gonna search to find out if you have a video covering just that topic
Great video! Straight to the point with useful info
Very helpful video! Thank you.
Thanks a lot for the pruning tip... I had NO idea!
I was just wondering what I could do to get bigger onions. Thanks for the tip!
The neck of all my onions fell over early. I believed that they wouldn’t grow much bigger and picked the majority of them. Well those I left in ground continued to grow bigger despite the neck being soft and bent
Was following your tips on onions including pruning then we got 8 plus inches of rain in twelve hours and all my tops were knocked over. Pulled them and put fall gardening stuff in that bed.
We pulled onions that did that one year, dried them and used them for onion sets the following spring.
Thanks for your super tip
Thank you, I’m going to do that. My onions were so small I gave up on them last year.
Great tip. Thanks. I see you also have a bunch of purslane growing in your beds. Do you do anything with other than pulling and getting rid of them?
He sells purslane seeds. Super nutritious. Great in salads and smoothies.
Thank you for the tip.
Tks for this great onion gardening tip!
Oh John... My most successful former roommate. So proud (jelly) of you.
Great tip! I had no idea!
That’s cute… Mrs MI Gardener!
Thanks, will do that in the morning
Is it better to trim during the day, or night? Does it make a difference? Thank you for great videos!
Would it be possible for your seed store to get TPS potatoes. I would love to just have a nice selection of potatoes to grow and not have to worry about trying to find seed potatoes and maybe them rotting before i can plant. A reliable area for TPS would be nice, i dont trust ebay seeds