When I can get a bunch of onion starts (already germinated and ready to plant) I use them to get a quick start on growing onions in a garden.

When starts aren't available, I start from seeds, which is slower and makes transplanting a bit tedious, In 2026 I terminated onion seeds in my grow tent and them set them out in the garden. This seemed to result in a large difference in the size of the harvested onions.

First I pull the mature onions from the ground.

Next I lay the mature onions on some cardboard in the open to dry out.

When the stems are wilted, but not fully dried out and the soil has dried out, I trim the roots and the stems and move the onions to bags in storage - now in the pump hous, formerly in a root cellar.