How to Grow Onion (Pyaz) Bulbs From Seed: Dates by City (Video)

Transcript

Bulb onions take five to six months, does that sound long?

Bulb onions take five to six months, does that sound long?

Grow Onion Bulbs

Stay tuned for the one tip that makes storing home-grown onions a breeze.

Start from seed

First, grab a shallow nursery tray and fill it with a fine, damp seed mix. Sow the onion seeds thinly in straight lines, about a centimeter deep, then pat the soil lightly. Expect sprouts in a week or two, especially if the weather stays cool. Keep the mix moist but never soggy.

Sets or seed?

Now, what should you start with? Sets are tiny dry bulbs you can buy, and they sprout fast, but they tend to bolt early, sending up a flower stalk. Seed is cheaper and gives you more varieties, yet it loses vigor quickly if it’s old. Fresh seed each season is the key to a lively tray.

When to plant

The timing matters because onion bulbs grow when days lengthen and warm up. On the coast, like Karachi or Hyderabad, plant in mid-September to October, then move seedlings in November to December. In the Punjab plains, aim for late October to early November, with the final push in late December to January. Sub-humid areas follow a similar October-November window.

Sow & lift

After the seedlings reach pencil thickness, about fifteen centimeters tall, trim the tops by a third to keep them compact. Then, gently lift the young plants, keeping the roots intact, and transplant them into their final spot, spacing each bulb about ten centimeters, or four inches, apart. This gives the onion room to swell into a proper bulb.

Pot & soil

For containers, a wide trough or a forty-liter grow bag works best; a round twelve-inch pot only holds six or seven bulbs, so they stay tiny. Mix two parts soil, one part compost, and one part sand for a loose, airy medium that lets the onions expand. Remember, loose soil is the secret to a good bulb.

Growth time

From sowing the seed to a fully formed bulb, expect about five to six months on the calendar. That’s why you plant in the cooler months and harvest when the tops flop over in spring. The longer the daylight, the larger the onion will become.

The one tip to store

When about half the shoots have toppled, stop watering completely for two weeks. Then lift the bulbs gently with a fork, being careful not to bruise them. Lay them out in a single layer, dry, airy, shaded spot for ten to fourteen days until the necks turn papery. Finally, trim the tops to two or three centimeters before storing.

Like, subscribe and comment

If this helped, a like and a subscribe really help. Drop your question in the comments.

Read the full guide

The full guide is on thecareonline.com. General information only, so check with your doctor for your own case.