The single costliest mistake in onion is buying long-day seed — near…

The single costliest mistake in onion is buying long-day seed — near the equator it just grows leaves and never forms a bulb at all. Look for a short-day type: Red Creole, Bombay Red, or Mang'ola Red.

Transplant at 45-55 days with 3-4 true leaves, never later than 60, and space 20cm between rows and 10cm in the row for the biggest, best-selling bulbs.

Scout every week from the 4-5 leaf stage. Open the leaf neck and count thrips — act at 1-3 larvae per leaf, because thrips damage is what lets purple blotch in, and that fungus alone can cost 85% of an unchecked crop.

Harvest when about 80% of the tops have flopped and the necks have gone soft. Cure in shade with moving air for 14-20 days, until the neck is dry and the skins rustle, then store in a raised, airy crib or net bags — never sealed plastic, it sweats and rots the bulbs.

Cured well, the bulbs hold 3-5 months — long enough to skip the week everyone sells at once and wait for the market to run short instead.

Are you holding any of last season's crop right now, or selling as you go? Reply and tell us.

https://divisi.africa/insights/growing-storing-onions-off-season-profit-el-nino/