Planting guide

When to plant onion

Long-keeping bulbs for a patient grower; pick the right day-length type. In Melbourne it goes in Jul–Oct.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 13–29 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 1 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Low
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means onion can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant onion

Sow seed indoors or buy seedlings or sets.
Plant shallow with the neck above soil.
Weed carefully and keep dry as bulbs swell.
Lift when tops flop; cure 2 weeks.

Onion varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Cream Gold Classicstorage · 17–26 wksEarly golden onion; stores well
Brown Spanish Classicstorage · 21–29 wksPungent keeping onion for the pantry
Red Creole Classicstorage · colourful · 21–29 wksStrong, spicy and long-keeping red onion
White Lisbon Classicmild · fast · 17–23 wksMild white onion; use as a bunching type or fully grown
Walla Walla Sweet Adventuroussweet · mild · 21–29 wksBig, juicy and sweet; eat fresh
Long Tropea Red Adventurouscolourful · sweet · 19–24 wksItalian torpedo shape; sweet and mild
Cipollini Adventuroussweet · heirloom · 19–24 wksFlat little onions that caramelise well
Potato Onion Adventurousstorage · 13–21 wksMultiplying bulbs that store and reproduce each year

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Carrot, Beet, Lettuce

Onion by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Spring Onion · Garlic · Leek · Shallot

Not sure onion is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now