Allium cepa Onions

Planting position: Full sun. Spacing of 10cm between plants and 30cm between rows.
Requires regular watering (less during germination period). Well-draining, compost-enriched loamy soil and layers of grass clippings mulching for seedlings. Added 2:3:2 to preparing beds, at a rate of 65g.m ² and apply nitrogen fertiliser to developing plants fortnightly. Draw soil up around the established plants, but over a period of weeks, for if this is done too suddenly they may rot. When planting onions, keep their depth very shallow to ensure satisfactory bulbing.
Propagate from seed, sown in situ.
Harvesting is done from 7 - 8 months after transplanting, when the tops start dying and falling over. Place harvested onions in light shade to dry out over a couple of days.
Pests, diseases and their cures: Downy mildew - spray the leaves with mancozeb. Thrips - spray with mercaptothion.

The bulbs of this biennial plant are used for flavouring, in vegetable dishes or in salads. Other family members include: Spring onions are early varieties, used in salads. Shallots produce clusters of small, brown-skinned bulbs.