Last edited by shiny on November 04, 2026. View history
Pukekohe Long Keeper Onion
Pukekohe Long Keeper Onion
A variety of onion
A New Zealand heirloom onion. It is described as the best keeping onion, so dry and store it after harvest. A yield of 27 kg per square metre has been recorded, planted 10 cm apart on the diagonal in good, well-fed soil. Sow in trays from February to July, transplant when the tops are 8 to 10 cm high, and harvest in January and February.
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- seed packets
Pukekohe long keeper onion facts
Lifespan
Row Spacing
20cm median of members' seed packetsGermination
10–15 days median of members' seed packetsDays until maturity
217 days median of members' seed packetsWhen to sow
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Pukekohe long keeper onion, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 4°C and a shortest growing cycle of 85 days at its best temperature, about 1233 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Pukekohe long keeper onion will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing Pukekohe long keeper onions
- Sow seeds in trays 8 weeks before planting out
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before planting out
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Weed around the plants 2 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with a nitrogen fertiliser 4 weeks after planting out every month
- Stop watering as the tops fall over 1 week before first harvest
- Lift the bulbs at first harvest
- Dry the bulbs in an airy place 1 week after first harvest
How members grow Pukekohe long keeper onions
Sunniness
Planted from
Video
Where Pukekohe long keeper onions grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about Pukekohe long keeper onions
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Who's planted Pukekohe long keeper onions
- shiny The Deck · Wellington, NZ
Pukekohe long keeper onion harvests
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 85 to 175 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Allium cepa L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Liliidae Asparagales Alliaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | biennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about Pukekohe long keeper onions
Resources outside Growstuff.
