Tired Of Having Bugs In Your Garden? Try Growing Onions!
This week as part of my reasons to grow series I share how onions are like magic. Have you ever seen a garden bed that was lined with onions? Or wondered why all the other gardeners are talking about onions? I sure did! In my first year of gardening, people were growing onions on the edge of their plots and I didn't get it.
After some research, I found that onions are very beneficial for the garden! They deter pests that could harm your vegetables. Continue reading to learn why onions are like magic in the garden.
Onions Are Like Magic In The Garden
Onions truly are a magical plant. Repelling aphids, carrot flies, and cabbage loopers among other things. This allows you to have more produce from your garden! Stop giving up your crops to bugs and start planting onions.
Unlike commercially bought pest control, onions are safe to eat! Onions don't take up much space - you can really line your entire bed with onions. I'd recommend planting in double rows if you want to eat the onions as they grow - this way you always have protection.
At the end of last season, I planted onion seeds, and I left my onion bulbs in the ground. In April of this year, I planted onion sets, can't wait to see how everything grows. Keep reading to learn the difference between an onion set and an onion seed.
Onion Seeds vs Onion Sets
When it comes to onion seeds vs onion sets, there are a few key differences. The main benefit of planting onion sets (a small onion bulb) is that you get a "head start" on growing. A downside to sets is that the options are limited - usually white, yellow & red are your options.
Choosing to start onions from seed will take longer, but gives you many more options. Onions such as Walla Walla, Spanish, etc. are available from seeds.
The choice is ultimately yours - do you sacrifice growing time for options or do you sacrifice options for a faster onion? This year, I chose both! I bought 100 onion sets and started about 10-20 onion seeds at home. I hope that the onions I started inside will have a nice head start when I move them to the garden. I imagine by doing this, I'll have onions growing and maturing at different times, and my garden should repel bugs all season long.
While you wait for the next post in this series, take a look at all my series on the blog.
Comments