Onion
Allium cepa · Onion family
Plant portrait
Onions carry hollow, upright leaves above a bulb. Bulb shape and the colour of its outer layers vary with the variety; plants can be grown from seed or a small onion set.
Harvested part
The bulb; young leaves also have culinary uses.
What to watch for
Watch the first leaf emerge from seed, followed by new leaves and a widening bulb. Yellowing, falling foliage can accompany maturation; always compare with the actual crop’s condition.
Growth stages of the onion
Plotilo illustrates the onion in 5 stages in 3D: seed, small sprout, young plant, growing and harvest. The models show typical shapes; they do not predict how long growth takes.
- Seed
Starting from a seed. It is shown on the surface to make it visible in this illustration.
- Small sprout
A single slender first leaf emerges from the soil.
- Young plant
The young plant carries more leaves and starts to take its own shape.
- Growing
Leaves and stems develop. Their shape depends on the species.
- Harvest
An illustration of the harvested part. Roots are made visible for clarity; this image does not confirm actual maturity.
Same botanical family
Same botanical family as the onion (the onion family): the leek, the garlic, the elephant garlic, the wild garlic, the chives, the shallot and 2 more plants from the catalogue. Gardeners usually avoid growing the same family in the same spot several years in a row: that is the idea behind crop rotation.