Red onions are becoming more and more popular in kitchens around the world. Red onions are sweeter and milder than yellow onions and are perfect for sauces and salads. Learn in this article when to pick red onion.
Growing red onions is fairly easy and follows the same pattern as any other type of onion. Onions are all biennials, which means that they produce every 100 to 175 days. Learn more about How Long Do Red Onions Take to Grow.
There is a great variety of red onions, the best known and easiest to grow are Red Burgundy and Red Creole. All varieties of red onions take approximately the same time to germinate and be ready for harvesting.
Red Onion Varieties
As mentioned above, there are many varieties of red onions to grow and harvest in your garden. They all take about the same amount of time to be ready to harvest. Here is a list of red onion varieties to grow:
- Italian Torpedo
- Red Burgundy
- Red Creole
- Red onion ‘Hyred’
- Southport Red Globe
Remember that red onions need plenty of sunlight for proper growth and development. Red onions will develop best when they receive 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day.
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When to Pick Red Onion
When to Pick Red Onion? The red onion will be ready to be picked after 100 to 175 days, all this will also depend on the light received, climate, irrigation, etc.
Ideally, the red onion should be picked before the first frost. Leaving them too long in the ground may cause them to rot.
If the red onion plant begins to bloom, this indicates that they stopped growing. All the energy at that time is going directly to the flowers and no longer to the bulb of the onion.
It may happen that your red onion does not bloom, so just wait for the green foliage to start to fall off. You will see that the stems (green foliage) of the red onion begin to fall off and are no longer straight.
Stop watering red onions a few days before picking. It will prevent rotting and allow better picking of the red onion. We recommend our article When to Harvest Onions: When Onions are Ready to Harvest?
How to Pick Red Onion
How to Pick Red Onion? To pick the red onion, you should grab the foliage and pull. If the soil is hard, you should use a shovel to dig a little and harvest the red onion. Dig carefully so as not to damage the onion. Shake onions to remove excess soil.
Now you must cure the onions to be able to store them, let them cure with the top still attached to the red onion.
To cure red onions, they should be left in a cool, dry place with good air circulation. You will notice that the necks and roots of the red onion are drying out. The curing process of red onions takes approximately 7 to 10 days. Store red onions in a cool, dry place between 35 and 50 °F (1 to 10 °C).
