Adding One More Tote for My Spring Season Onions

This year was a good idea to add another tote for my onions this season because I decided to use more totes for planting red onions.  They were a great addition to the garden last year and I thought it would be good use more totes to plant them.  That is why I only added one for the moment making the total of totes 10.  I will now use four for my red onions and six for my yellow onions.

I am hoping that these onions will be just as good as the ones I picked last season and will last just as long in storage.  The last red onion was used less than a month ago which means that these onions can last quite awhile if stored properly.  Right now I will be using non garden onions for at least a few months or until I pick a new batch of them.
 

Now that I have planted onions I think it is time to get my peas and radishes into the ground.  I probably should have planted them sooner since it might rain tomorrow which will give them one less day of growing.  I would like to till the section where they are going to be planted, but with the rain tomorrow will make the ground soggy and will not be advisable to till when this happens.  I will just have to plant them without tilling.

More plants are going to be planted inside as well because I have many flowers that need to get into pots not to mention all my other edible foods.  I have not planted watermelon which I love to get a head start and really needs one.  My eggplants also take awhile to grow along with peppers, cucumbers, pickles, cantaloupe, honeydew, and much more.

At the moment my spring plants are doing quite well and with this rain occurring tomorrow possibly it will definitely help them out.  I have been leaving them outside for the past couple of days even though it is sill cool.  They are taking to the weather quite well and they will probably stay outside from now until the warm weather makes them go to seed.

Weather is Right for Planting Onions Outside

It seems like the weather is just about right to get onions planted outside into large totes.  I love planting them in totes and is the best way for me to get good sized onions.  This year I have decided on two types of onions to place into my growing totes. 

I chose the usual yellow onions and I also picked some red onions which will be added to the garden.  I am only using a couple of totes for red onions and the rest will be filled with the yellow ones.  For now I am only going to use two since these onions are new for me to grow.

Now that my onions are planted it will soon be time to get some other spring seeds planted as well.  I plan to plant seeds such as spinach, snow peas, lettuce, and others in the garden real soon.  I am just waiting for a little bit warmer weather before I start tilling the soil.

I also will be removing the straw from my strawberry plants real soon as well.  I took a peak underneath the straw and it looks like many of the plants did survive over the cold winter.  As long as you put a thick layer of straw they should come back every year bigger and hopefully with more fruit.  It does take a couple of years before you get a significant crop.

For now I am focusing on what I have already planted indoors.  This includes many flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds at the moment.  Almost all of them have begun sprouting one way or another. 

The best plants right now are my flowers which are some of the first things that I planted this season.  Dill and alyssum have been growing for the past month and a half and will be ready to go outside with some warmer weather coming around.  I will probably start planting more alyssum real soon because I like to have at least three containers or more of these flowers.



I also have all three tomato seeds beginning to sprout along with melons.  I will keep them under the lights for a short time and then soon place them in the windowsill for some natural light.  Right now my tomato plants are in the windowsill getting as much sun as possible.

Getting Some of My Onion Bulbs Planted in Totes

I like using totes for my onions and I also do use the ground for them as well since it worked out last season I wanted to do it again to make sure it works.  I have not placed them in the ground yet and I hope to finish that tomorrow with weather permitting. 

I have already placed them in totes this past weekend and since it usually doesn't take that long I took just one hour to get that completed.  It will take a little bit longer to plant them in the garden which is why I was waiting for a good day to do so.

I also needed to get my squash plants ready indoors as well.  This is around the time when I get them started now that most of my plants have filled the windowsill.  I can place both zucchini and pumpkin seeds under flourescent lights for a quick sprouting.  I do still have some tomatoes that are under lights, but for the most part many of them are getting light from the sun.

I will soon be placing my flowers outside along with lettuce that is being hardened off right now.  They have been outside the past week and I want them to get ready for the weather outside before transplanting them.  I probably will be planting lettuce by the end of the month if possible.

I am also growing some basil and parsley this season for something extra.  I don't usually grow herbs except for dill and cilantro, but this season I wanted to add some to the garden because when I grew parsley last season as a test they were able to last quite awhile and I collected quite a bit of it over the season.  Since parsley worked in 2015 this year I am adding basil to the list.

Just Another Day for Planting Onions

The time has come to start planting onions outside now that the weather is starting to warm up enough to plant these bulbs.  It has been warming up above freezing for the past week allowing me to work with the soil stored inside the totes that I use.  The first week of April is perfect for growing these bulbs.

One added thing that I am doing this year with onions is trying to plant them in the garden as well as in the totes that I used for the past ten years or more.  This was something I did many years ago, but didn't do quite as well as the totes.  I am trying it this year with all the extra onion bulbs that I had left over.  A pound and a half of onion bulbs can get you quite a bit of bulbs.

This means that I have to take care of two different areas of onions this season instead of worrying about the totes.  I will have to double my efforts such as more mulch, fertilizer, and watering.  This shouldn't be bad as long as I do what I did last season.

Peppers, tomatoes, and more plants are sprouting inside.  While it is warm for onion bulbs it is not warm for many of my other plants that I started inside.  Tomatoes and peppers have just sprouted last week and are looking quite good with minimal amount of sunlight.

Tomato

Pepper

At the same time I am beginning to harden off my spinach plants as early as possible in order to get them accustomed to the temperatures and winds that they will face once I plant them into the ground.

How I Grow Onions In Totes

One of the most unique gardening strategies that I use is growing my onions in totes.  Some people grow them right in their garden soil, but I have been growing onions in totes for many years and has always produced an abundant harvest.  It actually works and you too can use it in your own garden as well once you read this article on how I do it.

Let's first discuss the type of totes that I use.  They are just normal totes that you can purchase in most stores that carry them.  They might be a little bit more durable than your average totes because they were purchased years ago, but any plastic tote should do the trick.  My totes measure 27"x21" with a depth of about a foot.  This will be plenty of room for your onion roots to thrive.  Onion roots probably only go down about a max of 8-10 inches max. 

These are the exact totes that I have used for planting onions for over 15 years.

Once you select the number of totes that you are going to use it is then time to decide what soil you want to place in them.  I just use a mixture of organic humus and top soil.  This will give your onion bulbs a boost in the beginning to get growing as fast as possible.

The bags on the side are what I fill the totes up with.  It takes only four bags to fill them up to the top and will give your onions the space and nutrients they need.  Adding some bone meal is another element that I add to the soil because this will give the roots of your onions an even bigger boost which is great especially in the beginning of them growing.

Now it is time to place the onions into the soil.  I place them down with the large area first and the stem part sticking out of the ground.  Do not cover the stem otherwise your plant may fail to sprout.  You just want to cover the base of the onion which will grow larger to become the onion that you consume during mid summer when they are ready to pick.

You can fit about 20 to 30 onions per tote if you space them out correctly.

If you are worried about birds or other pests eating your onions or somehow disturbing them, then you can place some old screens on them which will provide them protection from birds and water and air can still get through to your plants.