Onion Plants
Allium cepa Onion plants are drop-shipped by Priority Mail directly to you from our Texas supplier, so shipments can arrive from January through April according to your planting zone.
Onion plant ship dates
| area | timing |
|---|
| Zones 9, 10 | mid-January |
| Zone 8 | February 5 |
| Zone 7 | February 26 |
| Zone 6 | March 19 |
| Zone 5 | April 9 |
| Zones 4, 3, 2 | April 23 |
Onions are dug as live plants from the field; shipping schedule may change due to weather conditions or other variables. You will be notified via email when your order has shipped.
When Your Onion Plants Arrive
Remove plants from the box immediately! They may seem a little peaked from travel, but don’t fret! Just tease apart the bundles and transplant the bare-root seedlings directly into spring garden beds. Plant them in the ground as soon as possible, watering well. If you can’t plant immediately, spread plants out in a cool well-ventilated place. If necessary, place roots only in water for a few hours, taking care to keep the tops dry. After planting, keep onion plants well watered and well weeded.
Planting instructions (for conventional growing) will arrive with your shipment. As always, a professional soil test should guide your fertilization program. Onions are particularly sensitive to deficiencies in calcium and sulfur, and require steady nitrogen availability through the season. Band a balanced slow-release fertilizer like soybean meal or NutriVeg into your planting row at 2 lbs per 100 row feet, or a couple teaspoons per transplant hole. Water seedlings in well with fish hydrolysate with kelp (diluted at 2 oz per gallon water). Repeat the fish/kelp fertigation or side-dress with a readily available N source like blood meal several times throughout the season.
Try our Tears of Joy Onion Kit to increase your odds of success.
