Onions & garlic
Onions (short-day)
Short-day only; seed at Columbus Day, plants Jan to Feb.
- Outside
- Seed at Columbus Day; plants Jan to Feb
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Weekly in dry spells; dry off before the lift
- Harvest
- Late spring, tops tipping over
Care
- Water
- Shallow-rooted, so water once the top few inches dry, a deep soak about weekly in dry spells. Steady moisture through spring is what swells the bulbs; ease off as the tops yellow so they finish tight in the ground before the late-spring lift.
- Sow
- Seed goes direct at Columbus Day, early to mid October, the county's traditional date, and the stand thins to about 6 inches as it thickens. January into February, set out onion plants or sets instead. Short-day varieties only for Bell County; long-day types will not bulb here.
- Feed
- Compost worked into the bed before planting carries the winter; one light side-dress as spring growth starts, then nothing, the same program the garlic row runs.
- Ready
- The seedlings stand temperatures well below freezing, so the October sowing grows all winter in ground that never freezes solid. Harvest lands in late spring as the heat arrives, when the tops yellow and tip over; cure the bulbs somewhere dry, airy and shaded before storage.
- Trouble
- Thick stands left unthinned grow slim bulbs, so cut to about 6 inches apart while the shoots are still pencil-size. Winter-burned leaf tips: cosmetic in ground that never freezes. Tops flopping early in a wet spring: lift and use those bulbs first, they will not store.
In a bag?
- No
- Bulb onions are not in the Texas container guide's lists, which the 15 gallon cap makes permanent, and winter ground that never freezes solid does the growing for free. The pico onion is a bed crop here, like the garlic beside it.
The pico de gallo non-negotiable, grown the Central Texas way: short-day onions seeded at Columbus Day that winter over and bulb as the heat arrives.
Growing
The state sheet organizes its Texas onion list by day length, and the short-day group, the 11 to 12 hour onions, is the Central Texas group; long-day varieties belong to the north country and do not bulb here. The county pins the seed date at Columbus Day, and January-February is for setting out plants or sets. The sheet calls onions a cool-season crop that stands temperatures well below freezing, so the October seed grows through the winter and harvests in late spring as the heat arrives. Thin the stand to about 6 inches and let the bulbs size up.
Varieties
The state sheet's short-day Texas list is long: TX 1015Y, Early Grano 502, Granex, Mercedes and Sweet Sunrise among the yellows; TX Early White, Cirrus and Crystal Wax among the whites; Red Bone, Rio Santiago and Red Burgundy among the reds. A short-day name is the right plant here; a long-day packet is the wrong one.
In the kitchen
The base of nearly every cooked salsa, onion and garlic hitting the oil first, and the raw half of pico de gallo beside the tomato, chile and cilantro. The late-spring bulbs store through the summer kitchen; a few of the thinnings get eaten as scallions along the way.