When and How to Harvest Homegrown Onions

Homegrown onions are a tasty treat. They’re special because you grew them yourself! Don’t let all that hard work go to waste. When you harvest your onions on time, they last a long time. Learn how to take care of your bulbing crop this year alongside seasoned grower Jerad Bryant.

A woman in blue gloves holds a large wicker basket filled with freshly harvested onions in a sunlit garden.

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Onions have so many uses they’re indispensable in the kitchen. Without them, burgers, sauteed dishes, and fresh salads wouldn’t be the same. Homegrown crops taste delicious, partly because you can harvest them later than grocery store types, but also because you put your blood, sweat, and tears into growing them! 

These alliums are ready to harvest from midsummer through fall as the tops die and fall over. When this occurs exactly depends on where you garden and how your climate changes late in the growing season. Some gardeners may have to plant short-day varieties or start seeds indoors for a successful harvest. 

No matter your situation, we’ll cover when and how to harvest homegrown shallots, scallions, and bulbing types. Proper pulling, curing, and storing ensure your crops keep well into the winter. So, the question remains: when should you harvest your onions?

Walla Walla

Walla Walla Bulb Onion Seeds

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Walla Walla Bulb Onion Seeds

Red Amposta

Red Amposta Bulb Onion Seeds

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Red Amposta Bulb Onion Seeds

Yellow Granex

Yellow Granex PRR Bulb Onion Seeds

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Yellow Granex PRR Onion Seeds

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When To Harvest Onions

Close-up of a man's hand plucking a ripe plant with long, slender green leaves rising above a rounded golden-white bulb from a row.
Gather your bulbs when their tops turn yellow and wilt.

Harvest onions starting in late summer through fall. Onion leaves turn yellow, wither, and brown as the bottoms swell. The plants pull nutrients from their leaves into the bulbs, making them grow wider on warm days with direct sunlight. 

Shallots are small bulbing alliums that are ready quicker than bulbing varieties. No matter if you’re growing shallots or full-size bulbs, you’ll want to start harvesting them when their tops turn yellow and fall to the ground after the bulbs grow to their mature size. 

The exact time to pull up these crops varies in different hardiness zones—growers with long summers typically have early harvests, as the crops have all the time they need to grow. Short-season gardeners may have to wait until autumn. 

Green onions, or scallions, are a non-bulbing type of onion. They grow thin, edible leaves that are delicious in salads, soups, or stir-fries. Harvest green onions when they have more than three shoots, chopping individual leaves to their base. You may also pull up full-grown scallions and store them in water in your fridge. 

Wait For Yellow Leaves

Golden bulbs grow in the soil, their long, yellowing leaves curling and drying in the sun.
When leaves turn yellow, bulbs are nearly ready.

Yellowing leaves are the first indicator that your crop is near maturity. They don’t need their leaves once the bulbs bulge and form papery coatings. They, like daffodils or tulips, use the bulb to survive harsh conditions in the winter. The leaves provide essential nutrients that help with cold hardiness, moisture resistance, and pest defenses. 

We take advantage of this plant’s storage mechanism and eat all the juicy goodness lying inside the papery coatings. Yellowing leaves, like with garlic crops, show that the paper wrappers are growing. Each leaf translates to a layer of skin around the bulb. More leaves means they’ll need longer to dry and they’ll end up with more papery layers to peel. But these layered skins are helpful for longer storage.

Green onions stay green, and if their leaves turn yellow, you should harvest them. They taste best at the peak of their growth when they have clusters of bright green leaves growing from each scallion. Yellow leaves mean they’re past peak freshness—you should plant more to keep a steady harvest, or chop them down and let them resprout for a few days.

Cure Your Crop Outdoors

The hand holds several bulbs wrapped in golden husk, their dry leaves tangled together against the background of a garden bed.
Curing and drying ensures bulbs last for long storage.

An important but often forgotten step in onion growing is curing and drying the bulbs before you pull them out of the ground. Proper curing and drying ensures they last for months in long-term storage. After you see yellowing foliage, start uncovering each onion so that you can see an inch or two of their bulbs above ground. This gives them some space so they can bulge and protrude in place.

Leave the dying tops—the leaves protect the bulbs’ tops from sunscald and sunburn, keeping your growing harvest safe and secure. You’ll wait to cut off the tops until they dry fully and have the color they should in maturity, whether brown, red, or white. 

Onions are ready when the tops and necks are completely dry. Take them off the soil and pull the shriveled leafy tops off. Then, gently brush the skin to remove dirt and debris. Your crop will be ready for long-term storage at this stage.

If you see any bulbs with cracks or molds, cut off the infected sections and use whatever’s left right away. Diseases can spread to other alliums in storage, and it’s best to keep infected ones away from the rest of your harvest

Store Dry Onions

The black crate is filled with smooth, round bulbs featuring rich, tawny skins and delicate, dry wrappers.
Proper storage preparation extends the shelf life of bulbs.

Now, your bulbs have papery layers and are ready for the indoors. The next step is preparing them for storage so they last as long as you need them to. The type of onion you grow dictates how long it will last in storage.

Long-day varieties need 14 to 16 hours of daylight to form bulbs, and they last the longest. Intermediate and short-day types require 12 to 14 or 10 to 12 hours of daylight to form bulbs, and they keep for less time than long-day varieties. Grow the type that matches your ecoregion’s climate.

Onion Type Required Summer Daylight Hours Hardiness Zones
Long-Day 14-16 2-6
Intermediate-Day 12-14 5-6
Short-Day 10-12 7-9

A huge, juicy, and delicious long-day type is ‘Walla Walla,’ and it’s ideal for Pacific Northwest gardeners. Try ‘Red Amposta’ for a maroon, salad-type onion that works as an intermediate-day type. Short-day varieties like ‘Yellow Granex PRR’ and ‘Texas Early Grano’ work well in warm climates. 

To store your onions, place them in a cool, dark, and airy location. A pantry, closet, or garage works well. You’ll want to simulate underground conditions that keep them dormant. Darkness and cool temperatures keep them safe and secure, preventing rot, pests, and diseases. Once you cut open an onion, store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator. 

Alternative Method: Lodging

Round, tan-skinned bulbs lie exposed on the garden bed, surrounded by lodging, tall, green leaves.
Lodging encourages simultaneous ripening for a streamlined harvest.

Sometimes, the tops are reluctant to turn yellow and wither, and they may need a gentle push to get them going. Lodging onions is a longtime favorite technique of farmers for urging the crop to bulb, and it’s an excellent method for gardeners. It is not the best method for gardeners in areas with consistently rainy weather. In this case, cure your onions indoors in a dry area.

The lodging method is also ideal if some of your crop is developing while the remainder hang on to green foliage. You urge them all to ripen at the same time, making for an easy harvest in three weeks.

Step On Tops

The bed of onions exhibits lodging, with bent and broken leaves lying flat against the soil, revealing exposed bulbs nestled within.
Gently bending tops redirects energy to bulb growth.

It may seem harsh, but the first step in lodging an onion is to step on its top or use your hands to bend it over. The goal is to block the flow of nutrients from the roots to the foliage so the plant can focus on growing its bulb. 

Start stepping on the tops when half or more of the crop has already started to turn yellow or wither. You may do so earlier than this, although it may not work as well as if you wait. Be careful not to sever the onion necks from their roots. You don’t want to rip off the foliage; you want to lay them down gently.

Let Cure In Place

A garden bed with many round bulbs covered with golden husk and with thin, long, dry leaves is ready for harvest.
Check for dryness before lifting them from the soil.

After three weeks or more, start checking the plants to see if they’re ready for harvesting. They’ll cure in place under the sun, and their leaves will protect them from sunburn. They’re ready for pulling when completely dry after all the foliage withers. 

To harvest, lift each onion out of the soil using your hands. If this doesn’t work and they have connected roots, use a shovel or pitchfork to raise them. Dig well below where the bulbs are and lift the soil. They’ll uncover themselves and pull out easily after this lifting. 

Separate the tops from the bulbs and brush off any large dirt clumps. You can now store the harvest in a cool, dark, and airy location. It’ll keep for 2 to 12 months, depending on the varieties you grow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I harvest onion tops?

Yes, you can! Onion tops are like scallions, but thicker and longer. They aren’t as palatable fresh as scallions are, but they cook well in soups, stir-fries, and seasoning bases. Snip individual leaves as you need for fresh green onions.

How do I harvest onion sets?

Harvest all onions the same way no matter what propagation method you choose. Sets may swell quicker than seeds or transplants, but you harvest them the same way once ready. Follow the guidelines above to cure and store your sets worry-free.

When is the harvest time for a homegrown onion?

Harvest your homegrown onion in midsummer through fall as the bulb protrudes in its mature size. Cure, lift, and store your harvest in an airy, cool, dark location like a pantry or garage.

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Close-up of female hands in bright blue gloves holding a bunch of freshly harvested onions with thin, semi-dry leaves emerging from rounded bulbs wrapped in a thin, brown-orange husk.

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