Store bought Onions vs Home Grown

[Shadowbob]

I'm wondering how worthwhile it is to grow onions yourself vs just using store bought. Is there a big difference in flavor? I mean onions are cheap and usually used for their strong flavor, often caramelized or fried. Most home grown items I like raw or lightly cooked. I can see growing garlic, shallots and green onions. But when space is limited is there a great reason to grow big bulb onions?

 

[Chuck]

I'm wondering how worthwhile it is to grow onions yourself vs just using store bought. Is there a big difference in flavor? I mean onions are cheap and usually used for their strong flavor, often caramelized or fried. Most home grown items I like raw or lightly cooked. I can see growing garlic, shallots and green onions. But when space is limited is there a great reason to grow big bulb onions?

If you live anywhere where it is warm, storage is a problem. I used to grow onions but they all started to rot after about 3 months. Onions are heavy feeders so the cost of growing them, to me, outweighs the organic benefits of my homegrown. I can't tell the difference between store bought and mine. I guess it all depends on where you live and if you can maintain storage.

 

[Shadowbob]

Thanks that helps a lot. I don't see any point to growing them if they taste the same. The store bought organic onions I get tend to last a long time, 2-3 weeks out in the open. And they're available year round for dirt cheap.

I'm in Southern California, looks like I should really add some info to my profile.

 

[marlingardener]

I plant red onions because they are expensive here (why, I don't know). I also have plenty of space and lots of chicken manure, so I plant yellow and white onions, too. Like Chuck, I have trouble keeping them, so the excess get diced and frozen to use in stews and soups. You don't want to be in my kitchen on onion dicing day!

 

[RamblingChicken]

I grow Copra onions. Rock hard, dense, store for months and months in the fridge, high in sugar (and sulfur, but when you caramelize them, you cook the sulfur out), in my experience caramelize faster than grocery onions. (Though that's mainly an impression--I have yet to set myself down with identical pans and two identical burners and an equal volume of sliced onion of both types, to do two big batches and confirm that I'm definitely right about that.)

I skipped growing them this year and I miss them; next year I plan to grow even more than usual, and make a few big batches of caramelized onions to freeze.

Edited to add: When I say "store for months and months"--they last close to a year for me. As the months roll on through winter and into spring, the occasional onion-gone-bad becomes more frequent, but the majority are still sound.

 

[remnant]

Here in the tropics, we grow red bulb onions like Jambar F1 which do not spoil easily and can be stored in a net which confers an airy atmosphere. I tend to have an aversion for store bought varieties due to the fact that most are genetically engineered hybrids designed for short growth spans and have a less punchy flavour.

 

[Vinaya]

I grow my own onions. However, my onion produce does not fulfill my needs for the entire year. When ever I have to buy onion, usually I don't go to the store/grocery, I buy onions directly from the farmers. There are many benefits of buying from the farmers, for example, it is cheap and free from pesticides.
Growing onion from seeds is very easy. Plant the seeds and in four weeks the saplings will be ready to be transplanted.

 

[RamblingChicken]

Here in the tropics, we grow red bulb onions like Jambar F1 which do not spoil easily and can be stored in a net which confers an airy atmosphere. I tend to have an aversion for store bought varieties due to the fact that most are genetically engineered hybrids designed for short growth spans and have a less punchy flavour.

For what it's worthy "hybrid" is not the same as "genetically engineered." Hybridization is a traditional plant breeding method that has been used for far, far longer than genetic engineering--essentially as long as humans have been breeding plants. It's unlikely that these onions are genetically engineered; I just Googled to reconfirm that onions rarely are.

That's certainly not to say that you have any obligation to buy or eat them. But I wanted to note the difference--hybrid onions are not the same as GMO onions. In fact, the F1 in Jambar F1 means that Jambar is a hybrid.

 

[SydneyGee]

@Shadowbob I am in SoCal as well, and I have decided to steer clear of bulb plants like garlic and onions. I have heard too many stories that they rot, and if your soil is too wet they are difficult to harvest. The soil in our yard ranges from very sandy fertile soil to dense hard packed clay that never drains, so if we even did want a crop they would need a garden box with lots of sandy soil. Plus onions at the store here are 3lbs for .69cents!

 

[Beth_B]

I've been growing onions for the last two years and they are much more "oniony" and stronger flavored than store bought ones! So are the ones I buy from local farmers.

But storage is an issue, as others have said, so I often buy grocery store ones too. They are really cheap.

 

[Chuck]

If one grows a few onions that is great, but, if one grow a LOT of onions thinking they will save money they are wrong. You have to fertilize and water. But the main thing is you have to have a way to store all of those onions. One must eat a bunch of onions to make it worthwhile when onions are so cheap at the store. Growing more than a 1 months supply to me is ridiculous. And how many onions is this..........100 at the most? It is still a lot cheaper to buy from the store

 

[headfullofbees]

I grow 2 crops a year:
1) "Summer" onions.
My main crop of onions, usually about 250.
Sow seeds Jan-Mar, harvest July (thinnings) to Aug.
2) "Winter" onions, about 80.
Plant sets next week, harvest May (thinnings) to June.
Summer onions store to March/April Winter onions last until Sept. when Summer onions are ready and cured.

I see a huge difference between shop bought and my own, because I amend the soil to suit, very strong or very sweet, and can get the flavour I like.
My, "Red Baron" red onions, I grow really pungent, yet Ailsa Craig are very sweet. I don't grow many Ailsa Craig, as they don't keep well, and I tend to share a pack of seed with a friend who's a fellow grower.

 

[digger]

Onions aren't that cheap in my area and I've started growing onions in a few pots to see how it turns out. I love dishes with lots of onions in them so I want to grow my own and also make use of the green leaves as seasoning for stew or porridge. I hope they'll grow well in pots.

 

[RamblingChicken]

For me, it's not about whether the homegrown onions are cheap, but about the garden-grown onions being (1) better and (2) longer-lasting. Copra onions have lasted about a year for me. It's handy to be able to dig an onion that I harvested four months ago out of the fridge and know it will be good, rather than digging out the onion that I bought two weeks ago at the grocery and find that it's sprouted mold.

I just heard a rumor that Copra seed is no longer being produced. Aiee!

 

[Corzhens]

When we had moved to this house of our own in 2001, we had planned on planting vegetables for our consumption so we would not be buying from the market anymore. We are quite successful with ginger and pepper for until now we just rely on our garden for the need of those mentioned which are growing beautifully especially the red pepper which is very prolific with fruits. But with onions and garlic, we are not really good at it and the quality of the onions in the market is beyond compare as if saying our onions in the garden is of low quality.