onions

[robo]

Hi all , my onions are looking good this year unlike last year, ive been told I should bend the tops over and tie them I know this was done in the past is it still the thing to do ifso when or at what stage

[Primrose]

My inclination has always been to wait until the stems start to collapse naturally of their own accord as a sign of their readiness for harvesting. I check them regularly though and immediately snip out any seed heads which start to form and always try to use those onions first once they've dried out.

[alan refail]

Leave them alone! If you bend/tie it will only stop some of the goodness in the tops being absorbed by the bulbs.

[robo]

Thanks for the replys, , I was going to leave them untill one of the guys from the allotment came over telling me to tie them but he did not know the best time to do it, I will leave it all to nature

[Geoff]

What are they by the way? I can't believe onions anywhere near harvesting yet except for Japanese over Winter ones. Mine are all from seed and growing well but barely bulbing yet.

[robo]

The ones that are doing really well are overwinter ones the ones ive put in this spring are doing ok but nothing like the others

[FelixLeiter]

Research, as opposed to unwelcome received wisdom from interfering busy-body fellow allotment holders, demonstrates that bending the tops over, especially if done prematurely, actually damages the tops of the bulbs. When damaged, they do not store well. When an onion is mature, the top will flop over of its own accord without any help from us. What research has also shown is that, if you want to hasten their ripening, ease your onions a little out of the soil with a fork.

[Monika]

I had a good look at our overwintering onions today (variety Radar) and their stems are still completely upright and green. I certainly never turn them over but wait until they flop naturally, though I will be starting to use these onions very shortly - they don't keep well and neatly cover the gap between the last bulbs of last year' shallots sprouting and the new ones being ready (I don't grow summer onions, only shallots because I find they keep much better).

[robo]

I cant remember the name of the bigger ones I cant even remember from where I bought them ( getting old ) I did keep the packaging left it in the shed but cant find it, I was discussing the onions with my wife today while having a cuppa down the plot we seem to remember me planting them in spring with my eldest granddaughter as I mixed them with red onions which are also doing well, I did find a few of lastyears that we planted in another area they are looking good seems to be an onion year, I think I bought the most of my setts from a local garden centre called rivensdale , last year I got them from wilkies and they where not that good so this year I decided to buy all my seeds and onions and spuds from more of a reputable sorce for want of a better phrase, if I get chance I will take a photo when im down there on sunday

[PLUMPUDDING]

I also never bend the onions over, but if I think on, when they have fallen over, I flip them all over to the side of the row away from the sun so that the sun can get to and ripen/dry up the bulbs better.

Like Monika I rely more on a good supply of shallots to last through the year. I have just finished last year's this week.

[Primrose]

Yes, in my limited experience I found that shallots store better than onions but we use a lot of alliums and find shallot skins are such a pain to peel off. Somebody once told me that if you soak the skins for a few minutes first this makes it easier, but it's still fiddly. Give me a nice large onion any time, red or white !

[robo]

I planted around 40 rather large onion sets around febuary they where all adout 30mm diameter when I was planting them I was thinking I should get some nice big onions off these, they have all split some as many as 8 seperate onions most 6, they where definitely not shallots but now I am confused ive never had them split before but I have not grown a lot up to last year

[Geoff]

I don't think there is much difference between my white onions and shallots for keeping but the red onions are better.

IMG_3090_R.jpg (208.04 KiB) Viewed 4957 times

Luckily the Autumn sown Senshyu Yellow are starting to bulb up nicely so we might just make it through.

IMG_3088_R.jpg (227.47 KiB) Viewed 4957 times

[robo]

They look very healthy

[Tigger]

Just a word of advice - make sure you feed them. We've had great onions for the past few years but I think it's all due to nourishment.