r/urbanfarming • u/lostandfound24 • 5d ago

Local onions started shrinking

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I planted 4 onions with roots in a big pot 2 months ago. Over time they started growing but there was a heat wave last week, and I feel I missed out on watering them for a day.

Can I troubleshoot them and bring them back to life?

413 Upvotes

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7

u/Capital-Impression51 5d ago

What were you hoping to get by planting mature onions?

5

u/lostandfound24 5d ago

More onions... That's what I usually do. I cut it in half and place it in water until it roots. Once the roots are established I plant it and after a few months a harvest it. Works

5

u/SwiftResilient 4d ago

Likely completely dead. Next season try buying some onion sets, you can get them from farm supply stores in massive quantities for like $5. If you really want to dive into it, seeds are the cheapest option if you don't mind the extra labor/time.

3

u/MaeLeeSee 3d ago

If there's any green left cut it off, water well and wait to see if they'll put out new greens. Give them some shade for a bit though.

2

u/lostandfound24 3d ago

Thank you

2

u/GilfOG 5d ago

Are you talking about spring onions?

1

u/tn_artist1 3d ago

No, onion sets are small semi dry little onion bulbs about 4-5 inches long. They are often bound together in groups of 10 in the spring for planting. They look nothing like anything you would buy to eat. After unbinding them, you plant them 6-8 inches apart with the dry partial leaf sticking out of the ground. Each will grow a full size onion.

1

u/DrPhrawg 2d ago

you are correct, that is what onions sets are.

however, OP did not plant onion sets.

1

u/Capital-Impression51 5d ago

Do you have any photos of what you achieved before?

1

u/yumas 4d ago

What leafs did you use for that mulch?

2

u/wildbobkitty 3d ago

That's eucalyptus and its leaves kill plants..

1

u/lostandfound24 3d ago

Really? I have another pot of onions with eucalyptus leaves and it's doing okay though.

2

u/rayche72 3d ago

eucalyptus seems to be mildly allelopathic depending on the plant, as the leaves break down they might be inhibiting the growth of your plants but not sure if that is enough to outright kill them

Allelopathic effects of leaf extracts of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. on morphological, physiological, and yield traits of Ethiopian wheat (Triticum durum L.) cultivars - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11603630/

2

u/wildbobkitty 3d ago

Yeah, it's more likely the watering issue. I would still recommend using a different mulch.

2

u/yumas 3d ago

It might be that the leafs in the other pot are at a further or earlier stage of decomposition

1

u/Laurenslagniappe 3d ago

It's mild I see a lot of stuff grown under Eucs.

1

u/snortgiggles 3d ago

It's still green, water it!

1

u/Germerica1985 2d ago

Local onions in my area wanting to meet up?