How Many Onions Grow From One Bulb?

Onions are one of my favourite vegetables to grow. They are easy to grow and don’t take up a lot of space. It’s easy to get confused and I like to set expectations when people as me for advise. I am often asked, “How Many Onions Grow From One Bulb”. People get confused with onions which is understandable when you consider you get many potatoes from planting one potato is the same true for onions?

How Many Onions Grow From One Bulb?

One onion grows from a single onion bulb.

This may come as a shock and make people feel hard done by but it’s the truth. Onions are not like potatoes but the smaller onion seeds (known as set’s.) produce a larger onion.

What Are Onion Sets?

Onion sets are seeds that have already been grown for a year to reach maturity. Growing onion straight from seed takes a long time – at least 5 months. For many areas in the world the growing season isn’t that long so it makes growing onions from seeds very challenging. Onion sets are small onions that have been pregrown and are ready to grow on to reach maturity in a shorter time frame. Usually 3 months. If your growing season is 5 months or less, you should always grow your onions from sets, they are inexpensive and readily available from most seed stockists. Always look to make a purchase over winter so your order is guaranteed for early spring.

Onion Seeds Vs Onion Sets?

As before you can grow onions from seed as long as your growing season is 5 to 6 months of hot weather. In many areas of the southern US growing from seed is a great option. Whereas in the UK, there is a shorter growing season so you should use sets.

How Many Onions Grow From One Seed?

So onion sets are just onions grown from seed so you guessed it:

One Onion Grows From One Onion Seed!

How Long Do Onions Take To Grow From Bulbs?

It takes 3 to 4 months to grow onions from bulbs, one of the key things is knowing when to harvest onions to they don’t bolt and turn to seed. Onion sets are readily available and inexpensive to buy. I usually grow over 200 onions and these keep well and last a long time if stored correctly.

What Is The Best Time To Plant Onions?

If the winters are not harsh you can get away with growing onions over winter, I get my onions in during the early spring and then again late spring so I have two main harvests. You can grow a lot of onions in a small space. Around 40 onions to a square foot. I grow my onions 4 inches apart. This gives the onions enough room to grow to a good size and enough space between them to easily weed during the growing season.

Can You Grow An Onion From A Supermarket?

It’s not advisable to grow onions you buy from a supermarket. These onions have already been grown to their full size and wont grow. It’s likely they will just rot in the ground. It’s best to grow onions from seed or onion sets.

Onion Growing Tips

This is one of my favorite onion growing videos on you tube right now and I wanted to show it. I hope you liked this post if you have any questions or feedback please leave a comment below.