http://joofi.notlong.com/ 26 July 2007 Onions growing with bulb fully exposed. In 2006 Spanish Onions were grown and they had a hot taste. Mentioning this to an experienced vegetable grower, I was told that fully exposing the bulbs to sun in the later stages of growth would produce larger bulbs and there would be no "heat" left in the bulbs. The bulbs tend to grow out of the soil anyway, so I scraped around the bulbs and exposed all except the roots. When the onions are harvested it can be determined if the "heat" is removed. The onions now are larger than what was produced in 2006 and are still growing. One onion was pulled today, the one in the picture, and it had no 'heat". The experiment is an indicator that exposing to sun works-not proof until repeated several times. http://www.durgan.org/Blog/Durgan.html
Nice looking onions Durgan. It sure looks strange to see them growing with the bulbs fully out of the ground though :o) Did you gradually move the dirt away from the bulbs as they grew or did you just plant the sets that high out of the ground? I dug mine last week and they have been spending the past week outside drying before I bring them in. The did quite well this year - good size which indicates that I am finally getting the garden nutrients back to where they should be. Anne
