How onions are grown
An onion's papery skin is finished in a shed, where hot air dries its outer scales into a wrapper for the wet flesh.
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The short version
A rope dragged across the bed rolls ripe onions out of the soil just as a blade slices under them. Georgia's sweet crop mostly starts as seedlings pulled from dense beds and replanted in rows. After days drying in the field, the bulbs lose roots and tops, then sit in a stream of warm air until their outer scales turn brittle.
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Sow the seedling beds
Georgia growers sow seed in September in fumigated, weed-free beds. After 8 to 10 weeks each seedling is about as thick as a pencil. Crews pull them, tie them in bundles of 50 to 80 with a rubber band, and chop off roughly half the tops.
8 to 10 weeks in the bed
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Set out the rows
Seedlings go into raised beds about 4 ft wide, four rows to a bed, with a gap of 4.5 to 6 in. between plants. Day length then tells the plant when to start swelling a bulb, which is why long-day and short-day varieties suit different regions.
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Undercut the mature bulbs
Growers pinch the necks to judge ripeness, since a limp neck means a mature plant. A rotating bar or fixed blade runs about 1 in. below the bulbs while a dragged rope rolls them out of the ground to dry for 3 to 5 sunny days.
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Clip roots and tops
Shears or a mechanical topper take the roots off completely and leave 1 to 2 in. of neck. Too short a neck invites disease. Bulbs ride to the packing shed in bags or large bins, and every hard drop along the way bruises them.
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Cure under forced air
Fans push heated air through stacked bins for 24 to 48 hours. Only the outer scales, roots and neck dry out, so the flesh stays wet inside a brittle skin. Workers then sort the bulbs by size and quality before shipping or cold storage.
97 to 100 °F for 24 to 48 hours
Worth repeating
- Traces of onion were found in the eye sockets of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses IV.
- New Zealand researchers built a genetically modified "no tears" onion in 2008 by blocking the enzyme behind the sting.
- Vidalia onions began in 1931, when a Georgia grower named Mose Coleman planted a mild short-day crop in Toombs County.
Where it comes from
- Chinalisted first among top producers
- Indialisted second
- United Stateslisted third
- Turkeylisted fourth
Top global onion producers in 2021, in the order Wikipedia lists them. The source gives no shares.
Where it goes next
Onions feeds 1 line directly.
Keep walking
Sources
- Vidalia Onion Production Guide, University of Georgia Extension
- Onion Production, Penn State Extension
- Onion
Cite this page: "How onions are grown." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/onions