How to Soak Onion Plants
- 1). Fill the bowl or bucket halfway with compost tea. Compost tea can be siphoned off from your compost bin, or you can soak compost in just enough water to cover it for a day. Drain and save the liquid and you have a nutritious compound that is good for the health of your plants. Put the onion sets into the compost tea and let them remain there in a warm place for a day or two. The little roots should bloat up and the onion skin and flesh should be be firm when you squeeze it.
- 2). Drain the water from the onion sets. The soaking will have hydrated the bulbs well, so you can now plant them. Compost tea also protects the bulbs from fungal diseases.
- 3). Till a garden bed with at least 2 inches of compost worked into it. Dig holes 1 inch deep and place the soaked bulbs in with the roots down. Cover them with the amended soil and water until the top 3 to 4 inches of soil feel moist.
- 4). Wind a soaker hose around the onions after they germinate. Use this to water the onions daily for about 5 minutes. The soaker hose will deliver water to the bulbs and roots, keeping the foliage dry. This helps prevent disease and mold spores from forming. Spray a dilution of fish emulsion on the foliage every two weeks as the package instructions indicate, to further protect the onions and feed them.
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