Sweet Spanish onions are a long-day, cool-season vegetable available in yellow and white. Long-day onions need a longer day length for growth and are used in the North. Short-day onions are grown in the South. The varieties to grow are not interchangeable, according to the University of Illinois Extension. The onions are globe-shaped, 4 to 6 inches across, with a sweet, mild taste and finely grained slices. Thin the plants in the garden for green onions or let them grow to maturity. Use cooked or raw, in a variety of dishes, including on hamburgers or in stews.
Instructions
1. Break up and loosen the soil with a rototiller or shovel, depending on the size of plot. Add 1 lb. of manure per square foot and 10-10-10 complete fertilizer at the rate of 2.5 to 3 lbs. per 100 square feet. Work the manure and fertilizer into the soil well.
2. Plant sweet Spanish onion sets in the spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to work with. Dig a hole 1 to 2 inches deep, leaving two to four inches between sets. Firm the soil around the sets. Space the rows 12 to 18 inches apart.
3. Plant Spanish onion transplants in early spring. Dig a hole 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep and place the onion transplant into it. Firm the soil around the transplants. Space large-bulb onions four to five inches apart in the row, and smaller bulbs two to two-and-a-half inches apart. Leave 12 to 18 inches between rows.
4. Place seeds 1 inch deep into loamy or sandy soils in early spring. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep in clay soil and cover with a 1/2-inch layer of fine vermiculite.
5. Water sets, transplants and seeds well after planting until the soil is evenly moist.
Tags: inches apart, early spring, Firm soil, Firm soil around, hole inches