We decided to choose Onions because they are easy to grow. Onions are a very popular vegetable with variety of uses and it's very rare to find someone who doesn't eat onions.
The best part about onions is that you can eat it raw,cooked,fried or even grilled. You can use onions in almost every dish. When planting onions you don't have to worry about the market part. Onions are a high demand so you grow to sell.
Remember the secret is to start small if you are a beginner. Let's have some fun with some Onion sesame.
There's a variety of onions just like with a lot of vegetables,you just need to decide on the kind that you find appealing.
Onions comes in three different colours,there's red,purple and white onion. The most common one is white onions. Each onion variety has its very own distinct taste.
These onions are grouped in two growing types known as long day and short day.
The difference between Long and short day is that long day onions begin sprouting when days are between 14 to 16 hours which are the seasons of late spring and summer. Short day is when the days are between 10 to 12 hours that's around winter and early spring.
Both groups have their preferences of location which helps them grow best. Long day Onions grow bestest in Northern states and short day onions prefer the Southern state.
There are two ways to plant onions, you can either use onion bulbs or onion seeds. Most gardeners use onion bulbs because they can withstand poor weather since they are hardier.
If you are going to use the seeds then you can start with planting them indoors then transplant them outdoors.
Get the soil ready for planting.
It doesn't take much to prepare the soil for onions to be planted.
Till the soil about 6inches deep using a hoe,spate or fork which ever one you find easiest to work with,add a layer of phosphorus fertilizer 1 cup per 20 feet. Don't forget to remove any weeds that may be present.
For phosphorus fertilizer the cheapest you can use is chicken waste which you can get from a poultry farm or cow dung.
When planting the onions make sure no more than 1inch deep of soil should be above the seeds or bulbs,if buried too deep then that will constrict the growth of the onion.
Tap the soil with your hand or shoe because onions grow better in firm soil rather than loose soil.
When you see your onions growing then you can transplant and space them apart so that growing isn't restricted,keep the soil moist.
Onions have very fragile roots and can be easily damaged by weeds,should you see any growing weeds amongst the onions don't tug it out just cut the top of the weeds.
In doing so you will be protecting the onions,if you tug out the weeds then you might tug out the roots of the onions.
Supply your water with 2.5 cm of water per week and please supplement the onions with nitrogen fertilizer once a month to add nutrients.
Weeds can be prevented from growing and abusing the onions,treat the onions with a layer of mulch (decaying leaves)this will lock in moisture and block out weeds.
Should you see the onions flowering then just know that the onion that flowered has bolted there for you must root it out.
Harvesting time will show by the onions top appearing a bit golden/yellowish. If you want the bulbs to continue developing the nutrients but prevent the shoots from growing then just bend the top to lay flat on the ground.
In just 24 hours the tops will appear brown, that means the onions are telling you that they are ready to be pulled out. Pull them out and allow them to dry on the sun for at least two days.
It's that easy to do.
