By Kym Pokorny
Get onions in the ground in spring and avoid heartbreak when it comes time to harvest big, beautiful bulbs this summer.
Plant as soon as the soil is dry enough to work, said Jim Myers, a plant breeder at Oregon State University. March and April are prime times.
Most onions grown in Oregon are long-day onions. They make top, green growth until a critical day length is reached, which triggers bulbing. That generally begins at about 14 hours of light per day.
If you plant onions in early spring, they’ll grow to fairly large plants by the time daylight reaches 14 hours. Large bulbs result. However, if you wait to plant until the end of April when days are already 14 hours long, bulbing will begin immediately and you’ll have small pearl onions.