Trimming Onions for Bigger Bulbs. A Myth?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- This video concludes an experiment on whether or not one can cut the tops off onions and encourage a larger bulb. I explore that concept with my personal results included.
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Thanks for showing this! Someone told me to chop the tops on my onions and I am so glad I didn’t after seeing this.
I cut my onion tops 2 seasons ago per another youtube channel and I had very small onions last year I left them alone and the onions were enormous and I had an excellent harvest over 30 pounds of onions never trimming again
Sounds great! That's what I'm doing now. No more cutting.
If it's actually snapped and dying/dead (ready for disease that can revisit for years if tilled in) I get it out right below the break. Leave all the healthy green leaf you possibly can. Bent is not broken.
I trimmed my onions for the first two years and boy they were small. This year however, I just let them be and they're big! That's what I get for listening to some garden youtubers MIGar.... lol
It's such a myth, yet their are people still telling people to do it. So sad..
I grow green onions as well. I trimmed one leaf from the 4 or 5 leaves that were there on the plant and the small part of that trimmed leaf that remained on the plant eventually died off. The other leaves that were still there were unchanged. When a recipe calls for green onions I unearth the entire plant cut down to the white but leaving some white still on the plant. Then I stick that plant back in the soil and eventually it will grow again. That's how I do it. Seems to work just fine.
I do. I take the clippings, dry them and grind them into a powder. Great hint of onion flavor for soups.
The problem we have when cutting vs bending is each stem is like a straw and when cut the stem fills and holds rain water and rots the bulbs.
Old timers would bend 1/2 of them over mid way which keeps the skins of the onion tight and no standing water gets in, but the photosynthesis continues to feed the bulb.
Also each stem is a layer within the onion and each layer needs to continue to grow in order to gain bulb size.
Just my two cents worth.
Makes sense, but the purpose of the trial was to remove the weight of the top leaves to keep it from toppling over, kinking the neck, and ending the grow. Or, simply, extend the grow and increase bulb size. If you bend the tops over, the weight for toppling is still there whether by catching wind or sheer weight of leaf growth. I think I've learned to let them go naturally or, if desired, support the tops with a stake.
@@C3Voyage
Makes sense as well.
Which catches more wind, half a sail or a full sail?
The old timers called it topping the onions... Back then when local onion farmers grew onions for a local Canning Factory near here the last few week's before harvest is when the topping of the onions was done to extend the growing season a bit longer.
Those days are long gone today as are our local family owned factories and with those old timers a lot of wisdom was lost...
So I guess today the best way is, whatever works best for each person.
Thanks for the information and video.
I pull up.the whole onion....I dice the green tops and freeze them. I add them to soups, chilli, eggs, etc. VERY tasty, especially in the winter time! Good video! Thanks!
Nice, use the whole plant! It's all good stuff.
That answers my question. I was trying to find out if the greens from this type of onion are edible.
When the onions are about 9 inches in new growth cut to half, then let them grow out to about 12 inches, cut in half...and at 15 cut in half the final time. It also makes a difference if your onions are grown from seeds or set onions. My set onions want to grow alot of green quickly, then set flowers and dont grow a big bulb. Set onions are programmed to set seed...not a bulb....because of their harvest/growth cycle. My biggest onions have come from trimming seed onions throughout their growth. Also...if your soil is over composted the onions produce more green than bulbs (true with all bulb vegs...turnips esp) My onion beds are very lightly fertilized and a mix of sand and peat moss with top soil.
All makes sense to me.
My sets are new and have like 3-4 tops about 8" long and very slender. Is this good time for the first trim?
I've read that if you top them, only do the top 6" that way it doesn't stunt the onion and there is still enough green to live.
Yeah, this one seems to garner lots of different opinions. Maybe one day, I'll do some more trials.
Great information,much appreciated,I planted my onions about 4 weeks ago and some stalks are laying on the soil,what should I do???
My onion bulbs are only about 6 weeks old and i have them in pots, their tops are very thick and sturdy but some of them have started to fall over im guessing because of the weight of their greens? They still have a couple months before they should be ready to harvest, should i add more soil or compost to help hold them up or should i just let them be? This is my first yr growing onions so i would appreciate all the help and tips i can get! Thanks everyone for your time 😊
I have grown them before without this happening, but one of my beds, the greens are larger and falling over. Help? anyone?
Same... my long day onions are tall and fall... so I pinch a couple inches from the top. Been doing this for a couple of months now. Should I leave them alone and see if they bulb? ty
I subscribed. I finally learned proper spacing for larger onions. Do you ever mulch or mound soil around the exposed burl tops? Mine sometimes get weather or sunburn, but I don't want them to get mushy on top. Thank you this is great, my sets are very young (1-3 5" tops) so would it help now? I made a bed for them, beets, and I separated garlic chive bunches and cilantro between the rows.
I have, but getting a dependable mulch that doesn't have a chemical or weed seed in it can be risky. I'm mulching all my containers this year with parboiled riced hulls.
Cutting onion tops no matter what stage of growth the onion plant is in will not produce larger onions. If your growing seedlings indoors under artificial light, they might and probably will need trimmed, but this is only done to keep them from touching the light source. It will not harm the young plants. It is my understanding that cutting the tops after transplant can have negative effects on bulb size. Lazy dog farm has some great videos on onion growing everyone looking to grow onions should watch.
The UK boys have onions down pat. Been following a couple of them for a while now. This was a trial and I consider it a fail.
@C3Voyage You grow nice onions. I'm still trying to figure them out. I can grow them fine just not large ones. I grow the right kind for my zone,give them fertilizer when they need it, and give them plenty of sun and they just won't grow large for me. This is the first year I've grown them from seed. They are out in the garden now and looking great, but we shall see. Lol
Hi Brent. I routinely give mine a trim during the growing cycle. Nothing severe. I'm not sure how much it helps bulb size, but it doesn't seem to hurt. The trimmings are tasty as a bonus!
It sure hurt here so I know not to do it the way I did here! : O)
What i do is just trim the tops that are bent over or starting to brown during early growth. It seems to help as far as i can see..
The main reason to trim the leaves, is prevent fall over, not bulb size. Second, you did it to late in its growth. Do this within 1/3 the beginning stages, when its in the vegetative stage not fruiting..
Makes sense.
Hi, many good answers on this one. What I`ve been doing is: snip off one outer frond from each bulb at one time, close to but not too close to the bulb, preserving and encouraging the inner ones to grow on. They`re the ones that bend first anyway. They are a good addition to mash taters and are full of nutrition. Frankly, in this scenario you showed, the onions were planted too closely and depending upon your watering and the soil structure, you are going to have some die back of greens anyhow. I have found that, in cultivating shallowly between the rows and bringing the soil up around the young bulbs, not only aerates the soil, but helps the little guys better support their tops. Chopping off everything undoubtedly injured the onions and forced them into a survival mode, calling on reserve stored food from the bulb, putting a shock into them.
Lots of thoughts on it and little testing evidence. If I had more onion passion, I'd try different trials, but onions are a good bit low on the totem pole for me. Had a great crop a couple years back growing normally without any cutting. Great to read your thoughts. Much appreciated.
I found out something interesting this year. I stuck a store bought yellow onion in a pot with compost in it that was sprouting. As the summer went on, I used the greens for garnish. The cool thing was, when the onion stopped producing greens, it occurred to me that it had produced three bulblets, just like tulips do! I am doing the same thing with other onions over the winter and see if I can produce my own onion sets for setting out in spring.
So cool!
thats right, i like your method
@@1fanger Interesting ! I took an onion that was bought in a store . It was as big as a sot ball ( about 3/4 of a pound ) , I set it above a bowl of water ,trying to encourage root growth . It did some ,so planted it my garden . It now only has one stem growing out of the middle with a flower . I am hoping to harvest the seeds and start some of these in my raised bed ,just to see how well they do in my location .
I trimmed my onions last year, and the onions were small when harvesting.
This year, I didn't trim, and my bulbs are bigger.
I would appreciate it if someone could explain when the bulbs start protruding above the soil and should cover the bulbs with soil before harvesting.
Thanks,
Bulbs should only be planted shallowly, with their tips barely below soil level. The bulbs will then naturally grow above soil level, and there is no need that I'm aware of for covering them with soil at any time.
@@rad1sh480 Thanks for your response.
Basic pruning. Never take more than 40% of any foliage off from any plant or you will kill it. You should only prune excessively tall leaves and leaves that are crimped while standing from onions. Looks like video guy took 80% or more off from his onions and killed them.
Anyway. If you have onions that are getting very tall in a windy area, or where the leaves are just too heavy in general, it is a good idea to cut off a few inches of leaves to help reduce weight and decrease the likely hood of the plants getting knocked over, crimped, and "finishing". In ideal conditions, you can just let them do the natural thing and harvest when the leaves are laying on the ground.
In your assessment, what % was row 3 and what % was row 5 in my trial. If you look at the results in the video, the ones cut back the most, row 3, did better than the less cut ones, row 5 in that more regrowth took place. My take was neither did any good to get the bulb bigger. I'd like to refer you to the comments, opinions, and expertise of others here. The consensus appears to be that trimming doesn't do any good after transplanting. I haven't seen a video or other evidence otherwise either or I'd copy it.
@@C3Voyage You killed the onion plants by taking too much of the leaves off. Dead plants don't grow. Simple as that.
I cut mine but they were a lot smaller...they weren't above ground like yours...I actually cut mine 2 times this year and made an onion top and garlic chive oil :)
Your onions looked ready when you trimmed them, perhaps try a few next time when they're still young?
I grow about two hundred onions every year and I never top them. How can I direct energy down into the bulb if I cut off the part of the plant that produces the energy?
Agreed! But, you know some folks claim stuff and I felt I'd rule it out for myself. :O) If you read the comments, you'll see where some still say there's a way, but I didn't do it right. Whether or not I did or didn't, I know enough not to do it again.
Also, great content! With a million garden myths for every growing zone and a youtube channel dedicated to every one, you answering a question by performing and showing honest results instead of reading onion facts from Wikipedia and showing nothing makes this my favorite gardening advice channel out of the trillion on here! What state or zone are you in?
Thank you Ethan. You touched on something that is a sore spot for me. There's no original content anymore. Your inexperienced gardener is trying to make money off of TH-cam by regurgitating bs content or even good content they haven't validated. I also don't care for incomplete videos. For example ones that show you how to do something, but don't show the results of what they did. But, I also realize that most on here aren't in it to learn. They're in it for some weird kind of social thing trending towards following personalities instead of good content. So, it is what it is I guess. I live in Arkansas. Texas native, but retired here from the Air Force.
@@C3Voyage So true, it's just another version of people taking pictures of their plates of food.
You waited to late to cut the tops down I cut mine down before the bulb gets large
Hey, sounds good to me.
When you cut then.. are the cuts edible can they be used in cooking?
Absolutely, I freeze whatever I don't use fresh
Yes, you can also dehydrate and make green onion powder.
Can make pesto with them as well. Toasted walnuts, Parmesan cheese, evoo and S&P with the tops. I usually cut the tops much sooner and cut them leaving a longer leaf on top, not as short as either of your rows.
Yes I use mine for salads and other things. I use them as if they were green onions and they make tasty dip for tostitoes and such.
Yepper.
My granny never cut anything on her onions and grew fist size onions. She even dried them with tops attached so she could braid them. Thanks
Yes, good onions do well on their own, eh? Most of mine got baseball to softball size, but some claim they can get much bigger by doing this. I don't agree 'cause I've never seen it.
They are suppose to be cut at a very young age (transplant) to promote extra rings and stronger growth, by cutting late you are allowing moisture and bacteria to form and therefore that was what happened. Good video though x
I definitely agree not to cut. I disagree a little on cutting. I only cut when they are little and before transplanting to keep them manageable. After putting in soil, I don't cut. The foliage fuels the plant. If they're cut, the leaves can't fuel the roots and plant. I've watched the Brits. They show and dont cut. This is really what I've always believed. Please share if you have a link to a comparison grow where some cut. I'm always open to learning and changing.
good to know
Hydroponic Gardening & More with Brent y
Wow! Don't hardly know what to say but you are among those who can grow some really nice onion. This is what I always remind myself: If it's not broken don't fix it. However, so glad you did the experiment. Now we know the result. TFS:-)
Growing only for production is boring to me Jo! I have fun. : O)
How far along in the season were you when you did this? At your 2 week mark to check the hair cuts all the onions looked like they were starting their dying off process…? I have read and tried trimming them earlier on and have had success with them adding more new growth from the middle adding layers to the bulb. Thanks for sharing.
Onions need all their leaves until they're about to bulb so cutting before that would likely hinder the bulbing process due to lack of photosynthesis. If I'm right, once they start bulbing, no more new leaves are added. I removed the leaves to prevent the tops from falling and allowing the already started bulbing process to continue for bigger rings. It didn't seem to work for me. No more trimming for me. Likely next step could be supporting the tops like they do in the UK.
I would like someone to explain, how cutting off the energy production part of the plant is going to make the bulbs bigger.
And, that's the point of this trial for me. I wanted to test what some folks claim. To answer your question, and in my opinion, it doesn't! The thoughts of some, however, are that reducing the weight of the leaves as it nears final growth can prevent the leaves from falling over as quickly because they're not as heavy. Think of a lady with hair down to her waist vs one with a short bob. There is more stress on her neck when there's more weight of the hair. Any amount of leaves on a plant will photosynthesize, even if only a few, but once the leaves topple, the neck kinks, and the onions are done so it's an attempt to relieve the weight a bit longer. A factor I hadn't considered is each leaf is a funnel for water and rot in the onion too. Now, my thoughts are that there's no benefit to doing it, but I hope I explained why I did the trial for you.
@@C3Voyage I agree. It seems to me that once the leaves start falling the plant is near its end anyway.
The idea is similar to pruning a tree... force the energy into the fruit or flesh. NOT sure if it works for onions...
@@C3Voyage thanks for trying. If it was the case the the leaves falling over was the problem then I would think that supporting them somehow should make the onions grow longer in the season and get bigger. A net might work. .
The way I understand it, it’s to keep the leaves from getting too heavy and “breaking the neck” because if that happens the bulb won’t grow anymore. So it’s more to help extend the bulbing time. Whether that actually happens I don’t know. I’m growing onions for the first time and I trimmed them, but I don’t know if it’s helping or not.
It's a no go, but I am thinking something.
The tops that bend over die from the bend. So Try clipping off any bent tops at the bend so no onions have bent tops. If clipped before it withers, the cut off portion could be used as green onions. That might keep them growing longer.
Good idea. I see the UK guys stake their onions for the exhibition shows and whatnot. Essentially just what you said. Maybe we could get more size by staking then. Going to have to try that this year.
I grow onion sets as micogreens [baby greens?] I find they start out as bulbs, but over time the bulb goes away as I am cutting them. I can cut them for about 3 months, but during this time the bulb just vanishes. After the 3 months, they just shrivel and die. I am growing indoors under lights, but that is what I am seeing. So basically the bulbs just go into stress and once they get overly stressed they die. Maybe cutting once would help, but I am not convinced of that.
That's a good idea for onion tops. :O) I've grown onion micros too. They can be clipped for a short time as well, but in hydro you kind of don't want to grow much more than a month anyway.
The greenery of the onion is there to photosynthesise, that is to produce glucose which is then stored in the bulb, much like any other crop, so why chop any away? Doesn’t make any sense.
What you say is dead true, but the point is to see if it causes bigger bulbs as some claim. I do trials like this some times. Hope it makes sense to you now.
In my experience, they should've been trimmed long before then. I do mine 3 weeks after moving outside from the seed trays.
I can certainly see that!
The big onion producers say to let the onion grow. Cutting the tops off hurts its production. I'm no expert, so I will trust the big producers (Dixondale Farms) that have tested everything that's possible to make them bigger for their production. I do not have to experiment.
Of course you don't have to. I, on the other hand, live for experimentation. If one gets past the novelty of growing only for production, it can be quite fun. And, sometimes, the "experts" can be wrong and those that push past the norms can have revelation and invention. For example, my seedless and parthenocarpic tomatoes. Doesn't exist in the world until I brough it forth. But, in the case of the onion, as I think I intimated, it's was likely hooey. I won't trim onions again and now others have the option to see what I've done and decide for themselves. All I'm saying, by my comment here is, if you have the time and resources, have some fun and maybe it'll lead to something new for you.
Really appreciate your experiment video. I have never been successful with onion seeds, but doing pretty well this year. We have been trimming the "leaves" throughout and then eating the greens below where they crimped. That has been fun. We went on vacation, came back, and alot have fallen over, though not really brown yet. I was considering trimming them in hopes the leaves would stand up again for bulb growth. However, now might not after watching your video. Going to leave them a few days...Interesting. Going to subscribe, and save your video
I chop the tops because I use them.
I don't let them get that tall.
I cut them when the reach about a foot. And cut about 10 inches.
And they grow back.
Unfortunately I get 2 to 3 cuts before the critters get to them. So can't tell you if it improves the bulbs.
I hope to someday harvest the bulbs.
However, the greens are free onions. Because I use the tops and bottoms from the onions I buy.
In case someone doesn't know. When you buy onions from the store. If you cut them at about 3/4 inch from tops and bottoms ( green end and root end) and plant them they grow. And yes I said tops also. Plant them top side up, and they grow roots. Cutting them to close and they will not grow. Also I let them start growing greens before I cut them.
Another thing, is if you just leave them in the bag ( I buy in 3 lbs bags) you can cut them a few times and harvest the greens without doing anything. This includes not watering. Warning about the 3rd time they will not grow anymore and there will be a lot of air in the bulbs. Most the time after this, as in over 90% of the time. Even if you plant them after this they will not grow. I have, very rarely got up to 6 cutting from them. In bag cutting I leave about 2 inches of greens and cut when about 8 inches. So about 6 inches are used. They are pretty strong and thick in flavor like this. Wigth wise they are much bigger then store bought green onion. Each onion will give about 1/4 to 1/3 greens as store green onions bundle.
A lot of good information and versatility in using onions too. :O)
I trimmed mine not as drastic as you like
I was just cutting mine an inch below the leaves that had bent over and like you left some as they where every single one I trimmed went to seed the ones I left Have bulbed beautifully and are now getting pulled as and when we need them my verdict is never again will I trim mine
How did your bulbs get to that size without those big leaves falling? I have small bulbs and the leaves have folded and fallen over already
Maybe planting too late?? Onions are triggered by daylight and environment. Just a guess.
Onions are heavy feeders, it's my first year on onions but they are doing wonderful. I amended my bed heavily with bone and blood meal extra sheep mamure and mineralized phosphate (bat poop) as well as weeding regularly and planted mid may midwestern ontario canada.
Lots of fertilizer when planting helps, I use composted chicken in dirt when i plant my starts
Planting green onions for fun in a pot because of quarantine. Do the parts of the leaves that bend and fall over from the weight survive and does the plant still need them? And does cutting the part off and eating it harm plant growth?
If the leaves bend down and are green, no harm. Happens often. If the neck (all greens) falls over, it's done because leaves can fuel the bulb. It's choked off. Some cutting likely won't hurt, but whatever green you take off removes photosynthesis and growth potential from the plant.
@@C3Voyage I see. Thanks a lot!
I always heard to trim earlier in process and stay on them from the time they have a decent stalk...I think you waited too long. But thanks for showing what happens.
It was fun. :O)
I tried this last year and couldn't really tell the difference but was happy to have all the tops to dehydrate. However, this year i decided to to the same with one row and we ended up with a cool damp spell of weather shortly after and almost every onion I trimmed rotted! I'm not a believer in trimming anymore!
Same here. No more.
We're so wet and humid, a haircut quadruples our loss to disease.
The leaves are hollow.
When it rains after a cutting, they're a giant staw bith olding in enormous amounts of water AND directing said pathogen laden soup directly down into the bulb.
Topping Onions is a giant No-Go here.
Makes sense!
Maybe if done a bit sooner...
I’m searching vids because I was thinking I’d do mine. 🤷🏼♀️ first time growing from seed and would like some larger onions for a change!
Went with the Candy variety. Accidentally left the first round of seedlings out and they got frozen...so, hoping the second round was planted too late.
Yours look like a super harvest!
Maybe, but I'm not going to waste more onions to test the theory. I'll let someone else do a comparison...eventually. (Crickets) :O)
The ones in my floating raft bed had to be cut back to get them bigger. It does work in that environment anyway! Your onion patch looks great so what you are doing without cutting is the real deal!
Chuck
Thanks. I'm surely done chopping onion tops. That was enough for me. :O)
Its all in the timing. I like to prune twice. Once when I transplant seedlings and then right in midnsummer in the driest time when there is no risk of rain and the tops are as large as they can get but the bulb is just starting to form. Also the key is to leave a couple of centre leaves. DO NOT prune the smallest ones. If you do it can kill the onion.
Will keep in mind for the next time. Thanks.
I planted my onions last September. They’re bolting, but haven’t made bulbs at all. They look more like leeks. I planted both red and yellow onions from sets. Is it still possible they will form bulbs or should I pull them so I can use the raised bed for something else? I have tomatoes and peppers 3 feet tall in foam cups that desperately need somewhere to be planted.
If by bolting you mean sending up scapes (google), then you're done. Onions flower in 2nd season and sets are pre-grown and have higher chances of bolting than transplants which is what I suggest...or seed if you're patient. You can still eat the greens if you like or plant your other veg.
@@C3Voyage thank you for the reply. I will pull them out this week and use the bed for something else. I’ll freeze and dehydrate the tops.
First of all, great looking onions. Secondly, I think you missed the mark on the trimming. Its supposed to be done AS they are growing, not after. Once they have matured, that level up trimming (way too short) will just cause stress, and hinder its growth (as shown). The only effective way to trim, is as they grow from young sprouts. It promotes the new grown of layers, faster, and gives it more time to mature. The lack of nutes going to stalk growth, contribute to plumping up the layers. So in the END you get better results when you start early. But trimming at the end? Seems to me, all you are doing is stopping growth and speeding up curing... in the dirt... which can cause bottom or top rot.
Hey Jason! Thanks. I may give it a go next year. At what point would I stop trimming?
I follow a channel called "Allotment Diary" with Dan and he grows really big ones for show and he doesn't trim from what I've seen. He supports the leaves. What are your thoughts are on why he doesn't trim when he's trying to maximize size.
I definitely agree that trimming at the end is counter-productive. And, I do trim to keep things under control when I start them from seed. Thing is, I'm not sure if trimming once transplanting is the best thing to do. My thoughts are that the leaves keep photosynthesis going providing energy to the overall plant so the more the better. However, I honestly am not sure even still. I'd like to see someone do a "proper" comparison showing positive results for trimming. This way, I can see exactly how to do it.
@@C3Voyage probably the second theyre in the ground? idk
My sets are young and only have 2-4 5" tops, should I trim them now or wait for good rooting and more growth? Also I've been asking if mulching over the exposed top will stop mine from getting sunburn like exposed potatoes do but I don't want to keep them moist enough to mush.
How can the plant deliver energy down to the bulb, if it can no longer take energy from the sun and photosynthesize?
Plants need leaves to do exactly what you've said. Onions are done once the tops flop over. Cutting the leaves is supposed to prevent that by removing much of the weight--according to some folks. With cut leaves, as you know from most plants, new leaves will form, and in most cases, sends up new shoots from the center. It's those new leaves that would continue to let the bulb grow (albeit slow) and make the bulb larger instead of flopping over and killing the grow. That's why I cut some off shorter than others in this trial. This is a trial for me. I just wanted to see. I'm of the mind, now, that cutting leaves does no good. It's not worth it. Still so many continue with this myth that it will make the bulbs bigger. Myth busted in my eyes. Also, keep in mind that onions do grow back some when there's nothing left but a small bit of roots. Take a look at some of the "re-grow onions" videos. I think that's valid though if one eats the leaves like chives.
@@C3Voyage Just a thought, you removed most of the leaves which didn't leave much surface area for photosynthesis. Everything I have read about trimming onions says to not cut off more than 40 percent of the leaf. Onions are triggered to stop growing when their leaves fall over so you essentially did the same thing by trimming them down to the bulb.
@@grysengrowers4638 I thought I trimmed them two different ways--barely and severely. At any rate, it's a myth to me until someone shows me video proof on how to do it other than trimming when very small.
@@C3Voyage I agree, definitely shouldn't believe everything you read until you try it yourself! I trimmed some back yesterday, they are not in the bulbing stage yet, i'm at 43 N latitude so they haven't triggered to bulb yet. Thank you for the video!
I was wondering about cutting back onions, in the past and now I will cut about half way leaving a few untouched but just to mix with scrambled eggs now and then and those haven't died. Maybe I will try that on a larger scale. Thanks for the video.
You bet. Best to you.
I top mine .and they grow great cut when 9 inches high down to 4 inches the bulbs grow bigger.
Yea, that's about the size when I cut all mine, never seen an onion green grow back so fast, I guess they grew back an inch a day. So should I cut em again in this summer heat ?
You cut low and late
I would guess the idea is to promote back budding so the bulb gets larger.... I think that this idea would work if you left more green for photosynthesis but still cut enough off to trick the plant into setting more roots.
Ok
Thanks. I was about to give my ONE bulb a trim but wanted guidance. Glad I didn't. My first try, so I went very minimalist.
Good plan. Next time more.
I did a test like you did about 10 days ago and the onions that I cut look just like yours. I don't think I'll do it again!
I trim my onion and garlic plants but that is to harvest greens as I love the greens in salad and just to munch on. It has been my experience that my collecting the greens from the tops of my onions and garlic plants tends to slowly cause them to fail. I seldom ever get much of an onion with that and my garlic cloves stay quite small.
My kids love to eat the garlic greens and I have trouble with them killing off my garlic patches by eating too much of the greens.
Great story Ed! Tops are quite good.
Sir, you waited too long . At the stage you chopped, the onion is done growing. That process if any can cause your onion to behave as if it's sitting in your kitchen drawer and sprouting a bit. You needed to experiment half way into growth. You know 1 leaf means 1 layer in the bulb. When you chop 1/2 the leaves, the energy in the plant goes towards new leaves. Try that . Also, I didn't expect you to remove ALL the leaves. This way you killed the plant's digestion process of nutrition . The plant now thinks it has been harvested.
I understand onion pretty good for normal growth behavior. If onion tops are supported, the neck doesn't break as quickly therefore the bulbs tend to get bigger than open field when left alone. The Brits have lots of leaf-supported onion grows. If I didn't, I should have mentioned that the cuts of some of these were to relieve the weight of the tops falling which terminates growth.
There's so many opinions on this grow. The purpose was to see if a bigger-than-normal bulb can be obtained. You'd think someone would have documented a successful way by now. In trials, I try stuff to see what works. I would have tried other things to see, but onions are time-consuming and restricted to late winter/spring not to mention that the crop doesn't interest me as much as others. If you run across someone doing a comparison like mine that actually shows bigger bulbs attained by cutting, let me know.
@@C3Voyage I agree with your opinion. I am also surprised that agriculture labs at universities have not done a study on this subject. Happy farming.
@@wildthoughts6959 You make a good point, but I respect the hell outta the guy because he answers a common question by doing it in realtime and is honest with results. There's a million myths for every growing zone and YT channels usually give a nonanswer and showoff pictures of other things while reading a Wikipedia onion entry and contradict themselves. If you have other favorite related channels let me know! Should I mulch around my bulb tops? They get sunburned or weathered but I don't wanna gat the rotting wet.
I believe you are supposed to cut their tops when they are very young to promote vigorous leaf and root growth (similar to how grass grows after you cut it). It doesn't seem like you had any issued with your onions bulbing at all.
No issues at all really. What you say is what I'm going to do. Cut them until I transplant them and then no more. :O)
Do you spoon out dirt away from the bulb before it starts to swell, or does it just Bulb up naturally.
I talk about your question extensively in this video and it shows what I do too: th-cam.com/video/r5tRcGiYFy0/w-d-xo.html . But, an onion will do it's best to bulb even if under the ground if it's a bulbing onion.
But, I wouldn't use any tool to remove dirt because that will just cause damage to bulbs. Fingers don't.
Can the tops be used like green onions? And so your telling me cutting isn't good lol ? I was gunna try but awe
Yes, the tops can be used similar to green onions, but once they get bigger they're fibrous. You could use bigger ones to cook and remove in stock or soups like one might use a bay leaf. It'll add goodness and you won't have to deal with something fibrous. In my opinion, once the onion reaches transplant size and is planted out in the garden, I wouldn't trim any longer. I've only seen a handful of people (TH-cam) actually cutting onions and I haven't seen proof that it works in a grow video for example. If I grow them inside from seed, I trim to keep them from getting unruly. But, don't let my opinion keep you from experimenting if you want!
Thank you for the video …I was about to top mines off but your results tell me otherwise .
Hi Brent, well, better late than never. I've seen videos of people cutting the tops of Green Onions but not bulb onions. The only thing I was ever taught to cut on bulb onions was the Flower stock.
I trimmed everything around and left the new ones in the middle alone. Uhh dang dude. Thanks for the sacrifice.
Did you bulbs last longer and get bigger?
@@C3Voyage oh man. This is my first time with onions. Well it's been a week since I did that. It's amazing. I just pruned the outside and left the new growth alone. It's coming back. I was looking at your video for advice. It helped with some of the things I wasn't too sure about. thanks!!
Great video. This myth never made sense to me, you need the leaf to create the food stored in the onion. Maybe though it did speed up maturation (curing, not more bulb development)? So maybe that is where the myth started...
I don't see any flowers, do onions flower? I've got this plant that looks like an onion but is flowering! You're onion garden is great!
Onions do flower. If grown from seed or transplant, they won't flower because typically, onions flower in the second year. When grown from bulbs, they've grown some and then are halted which can trigger flowering in the same year. As a vegetable, you don't want onion to flower because the flowering stalk (scape) can ruin the bulb.
@@C3Voyage thank you so much for getting back to me, someone transplanted it into my garden, and last summer we smelled onion and thought maybe it was some sort of onion. It came back this year and has scapes and some flowers. Is it too late to cut off the scapes and flowers or should I dig up to see what it is?
@@tsinay40 Of course that's preference and how much your curiosity gets the best of you. :O) We get these wild onions that come up everywhere every year so it might be that as well.
Thanks. I'm here to know if the tops regrow if i cut some off. Where i live we cannot grow onion, just the greens. Now i know i don't need to sacrifice the whole plant if i need just a small handful
Most plants grow from the center out meaning new leaves will start in the center. As long as you don't cut the growing tip, it should continue to grow. In your situation, what I would suggest is get some spring onion seed and let them grow for a while. After they are 8 to 10" tall, start snipping the very tops of the leaves to meet your needs. Alternatively, you can grow chives.
@@C3Voyage thanks for the extra tip :) I do grow chives & has bought some bunching onion seeds. But, i love one type of red onion that has intense flavour, even as greens. So i'm trying to see if i could grow it as all-year-round green onion
Never trimming again my onions this year were horrible.
Same.
Hello Brent, some people cut their Leeks when planting and they do well, but at the mature stage I wouldn't do it. Very Interesting.
⚘Happy Gardening my friend,Terry.
Definitely learned not to trim after they start bulbing.
Hydroponic Gardening & More with Brent its good to experiment, take care my friend.
Hydroponic Gardening & More with Brent what we do to keep them growing is to cut or pull off the flower/seed stem, but we never cut the blades. you had a pretty good crop there, if you want real big slicing onions you need to buy the big onion plants seeds/plants not pre-started bulbs. at least that is what works for us way up north in Pa east coast, just saying, Joseph T
Hey Joseph! No bulbs. These are Dixondale Farms transplants. Check out the video when I planted them: th-cam.com/video/mrNGdxLmJFk/w-d-xo.html
None of mine sent up a scape. They just flopped over as they usually do when ready to harvest.
Check out the harvest video: th-cam.com/video/MPJkMJ-Z_U4/w-d-xo.html
Nice big bulbs. I just wanted to see if trimming increased them in size even more by extending the plant growth at the bulbing stage.
Joseph, really enjoyed PA. Such a beautiful state. We only stayed overnight in the RV a few times traveling, but oh the long beautiful drives and towns with character.
I had learned to snap them over, but not to completely trim them off. I don't know if it works, but an old timer taught me that as a child.
Yes, it's true. Snapping the necks ends the grow and shortly after you can start curing them.
Old timers also.say bats will.get stuck in your hair, and if you dropma spoon, a new boyfreind will come into your life......
Are the green tops edible?
Yes! They can be tough, but I've dehydrated them and crumbled into a powder before to use them in soups and stuff. I've also added them to a puree type soup. Roasted tomato and squash soup is one I've done. Add them while cooking and puree and mmmmmmmmmm, good. Bottom line is, it's kind of not worth the effort unless you just want to say you've done it. The bulb tends to be the prize ya know.
Well, I was like why waste them if you can put them in salads sort of like green onions. Thank you much!
Yes. They are edible.
I use them all the time.
This is what green onions are.
However. They are stronger in flavor. And are thicker.
I use the tops and bottoms ( greens and roots) of store bought onion bulbs.
I cut them about 3/4 of an inch from the ends.
I litterly, cut the top and bottom off. Go plant them. Finish skinning and chopping to onion, and cook them. You can let them dry for a few days and it still works. ( I'm am in one of the dries places in the US and I can still plant them a week later)
For bottoms ( roots) I plant them so top is at ground level. And water them daily, sometime 3x a day.
Tops. First I let them grow until they have at least an inch of green before I cut up onions. Most the time over 2 inches. I often harvest 6 inches leaving 2 inches from top of bulb. I plant them greens up and put them about an inch in the ground. So at least an inch is above ground. They will grow roots this way.
Warnings.
Do not cut them too short they must have over 3/4 inch of bulb. Or they will not grow. That both tops and bottoms.
Do not halve the roots or tops. Most the time the will not grow. ( I really don't remember them ever growing)
When you harvest the greens. Do it between 6 to 12 inches in height. LEAVING 2 inches of greens still on plant. They will keep growing back.
As someone said. I think he cut them too late. I never let them get over 12 inches.
Now. I have yet to harvest the bulbs. Because around my third time. Something always eats them. This has gone on for years.
As in I'm about to cut them again and over night they are GONE. Bulbs and all. I've also had times the tops have been ate off.
I think multible critters are getting them. I've had wire mesh and they are ate. Cattle panels and they are ate.
This goes for anything I grow. I've lost a lot due to this. I have yet to grow watermelon, cucumber, squash, ECT to maturity.
Lmao I got tiny monster matiene ad saying stop watching hydroponics videos
That ad irks me. :O)
... maybe ... maybe ... they have to be cut regularly from the beginning when you plant them and not only when they are already so advanced in time? If you cut them so late and so drastically then, you stress them instead...
That makes sense!
I cut my onions like you did and water went down the center of the stem and my onions rotted .....
Excellent, more information for why not to do it. :O)
My onions keep producing flowers before ever bulbing up. Any ideas on what I can do to stop them from flowing and actually grow a bulb??
I think I can help. Onions usually flower in their second year. What can happen is that if one uses onion sets (small looking onions) instead of onion transplants, the onion can believe it's grown a year already so when planted, they often flower. Some odd varieties can flower in the first year. Your best bet is to get onion transplants. My favorite is dixondale farms. Google it. Make sure to get the right "day length" for your area. In the South, we grow "short day" onions.
@@C3Voyage thanks for the help :)
@@C3Voyage I agree, ...Dixondale are the best supplier of transplants. ...and the least expensive including free shipping. Been their customer for 20 years... The Ailsa Craig's can get really huge (long day type).
@@wesseavey Growing some Candy now from them, short day.
Proof is in the pudding! My brain tells me the onion would take energy from the bulb to try to push out new growth after the topping. Seems counter intuitive and I think your experiment agrees:)
Same here. In fact, most refused to even try to grow new growth, but seemed to have given up. I need to harvest them.
Did the cut ones get shaded out by the uncut ones?
I don't think so, no.
Thank you for posting this I've had to move to a smaller gardening space and I don't have as much Room to experiment.
No problem. All the best to your garden adventures.
Hello, how are onions inflated like giant onions?
Maybe too late in the season and too much removed.
Yes, potentially. I'm thinking it's not worth doing at all though.
Hello, what is the way to enlarge the onion head to the maximum
I don't top mine but I do cut just a couple of leaves at a time it seems to work for me. Note: I got like 12-15 onions. Sure having an onion patch that big seems like it's not worth it.
I might try supports next time.
What about shopping the tops but what about covering the bulb so that it has some protection and moisture
Most uncover the bulb to allow it to expand. The roots are on the very bottom.
@@C3Voyage I have always completely covered my onions from day one and I always get large full grown onions. I live in northcentral Montana.
Awsome onion patch ❤🤞I am hoping fer 5 😂
IT’s only me though 😏
Thanks fer the video 👍🙏
my white onions are the size that yours are in the video right now and I was wondering about cutting some of the tops thank God I watched your video I've been side dressing my onions with some nitrogen about every 10 days and the bulbs are getting really fat and keeping the ground moist
Awesome, getting such big onions so early? Where do you live? I wouldn't cut after they start bulbing. In fact, I'm not going to cut anymore.
SAVE THE ONIONS !!! 😁🤘
How do you fertilize your onions?
Liquid complete fertilizer.
How long do onion sets take to grow until harvest? 120 days? Thanks
About 3.5 months.
@@brentmontgomery849 thanks for the prompt reply. Appreciate ur time..
You bet.
Well that makes me a subscriber.
👍
I thought the idea was to trim the tops to encourage more green leaf growth at the top. More green leaves=more rings=bigger onion. BUT, the green tops aren’t growing in the bulbing phase so it’s pointless to top bulbing onion, especially since the bulb draws energy from the tops…that you just trimmed away. 🤦🏽♀️
Was to prevent the weight of the leaves from breaking the neck prematurely. Share a link if you see something I don't. I'd appreciate seeing more on your point of view.
@@C3Voyage I’ll trim bent leaves but not top the entire onion. I’ve never had an entire onion topple over from the weight of the leaves that are standing up.
I have the onion that's about 3 weeks old and the first and tallest leaf got bent from the weight. There's two other leaves but I'm not sure if the bent one is helping it or not
In addition I would have never cut all of the leafs. Try again but this time leave a few (3 or 4) right in the middle and cut just the outer layer.
John, I think I'll just grow them without cutting. It was a trial and that's what I got out of it.
John is right. Only the outer layer, never the middle. Similar to pruning a banana tree and watching how tall they grow.
I grow green onions friend.
Did it not go to flower? I wish to get seed from atlease one of em.
No, it did not.
flowering uses up a lot of energy, so farmers usually harvest before that
Thanks for your hard work.
My pleasure!
Cut mine and not impressed, won't be topping ever again
The green nitrogen feeds the bulbs, trim early on but later, sugars carbohydrates 😊
Great experiment but you are missing one thing. You cut back the onions the wrong way. cutting the head of the onions would introduce water (H2O) to the head and would eventually rotten the center of the onions. FYI.......Cut back the oldest leaves only but fertilize before doing so. Thanks... Happy gardening.
Sure makes sense to me Eric on the water entering. But, I'm not going to cut them anymore. If you read the comments, lots of good advice here, but some of it is different. I wish someone would show me a comparison cutting vs not cutting. You know proof in the pudding. Glad you're here buddy. :O)
I would have done this experiment during Fall/ Winter time.
If you do this Fall, share. Would be great to get more information.
I would pass on the trimming. There is a lot of myths out there. This is one way to find out. Have a great weekend. Best wishes Bob.
I think you are right Bob.
What variety of onion is this?
I believe these were Candy onions, a large sweet yellow onion. It may be a Texas Granex.
What about bad weather … rain getting in the tops when cut off … this must destroy the onion… I live in the North East of England lots of rain 🇬🇧
You answered my question. That’s a nope on cutting the tops.
That's where I am as well. No more cutting...
How can so many people recommend this? This is the only video I've seen testing the theory and it shows the theory is a bust. I would like to see others test it on a larger scale. But it seems obvious if you cut back the green part that takes in the C02 that means the plant is getting less Carbon, which is 50% of what plants are made of.
Cutting off the greens is going to stop them from photosynthesizing, so topping them makes no sense to me at all. I've heard & read so many gardening myths it's ridiculous. People need to use some logic.
Best thing I do with all my onion & shallot root ends is stick them back in the soil immediately. They grow really nice onion greens for me all growing season so I can save my actual onions for winter.
People still thinks bats will get tangled in your hair, and you get warts from toads, so.... Lots keep repeating these myths, and new gardeners take their word.
Great experiment. And the results speaks for itself.
I think so!
Sorry but I disagree. These onions were cut way to late and trimming 2 rows in a bed can hardly be called an experiment with respect.
I think you cut too much! I think the need to prune depends on your soil, precipitation, sunshine, etc. The onions in the video were clearly doing fine - nice and upright. My onions would be much taller and falling over at the same age. I've had a problem with onions maturing prematurely (thus, small) for a long time. I haven't found a cure yet, but I'll keep working on it, and try (light) trimming!
I only give onions a haircut when they are very young....while they are just seedlings all crammed into the seedling tray. Trim them down to about 6" tall just before setting out in garden bed. No trimming after that!
Me too!
have you tried this ever again? thanks Carl
No, I haven't. I don't think it's worth it. I've not seen video evidence from anyone either that trimming after transplanting helps. Lots of anecdotal comments, but no proof.