Kitchen Garden Forum

Planted a few rows of winter onion sets, both red and white, the whites have now collapsed but the leaves are still green are they ready to harvest? and should I still be watering them?
The reds are still upright and alot smaller

Sorry but a newie with onions, don't think I will bother next year, but then, I haven't tasted one yet....

donedigging, you say "winter onion" sets - well, they are usually planted in October/November. So, have they overwintered already? If so, yes, they will be ready for harvesting. Overwintering onions are really for harvesting as you need them, they don't keep very well. I would just pull them as you need them, largest ones first, and let the others grow.

Thank you Monika,

Yes, they were planted before christmas and
thank you.

Dear Donedigging, since your Onions have got to this stage, it is no watering for the white ones and you could still water the red ones if you so wish.

Dear OH,

Thank you for the watering advice. I watered them last night.

Second quick question,
Can they be lifted and dried for later use, or do I just pull them as I need them? Its just that I need the space for other things. (sorry but can't tell you what variety they are as I bought them loose from the garden centre)

Dear Donedigging, i wouldn't worry to much about watering the white Onions, it's just that it will not make them any bigger if the tops have gone over.

Regarding the lifting, what i like to do is, push a fork underneath the onions and just lift them slightly with some soil, so not to snap all the roots off. Then leave them for another few days, they will dry off a lot quicker this way.
You can just dig them straight away if you want, but they seem to keep for even a shorter time if all the roots break off instead of drying off.

They should keep for a good while, but Autumn sown Onions don't store very well into the Winter.

If your red Onions are still upright and growing, i would leave them for a while to grow a little larger.

Dear OH,

Thank you for sharing your many years of experience.

I will "slightly" lift them tomorrow, as you described.
The reds are all still upright, so will leave them well alone.
Am I right in thinking then, spring/summer grow onions store better?

donedigging wrote:Am I right in thinking then, spring/summer grow onions store better?

Yes they do. Overwintered onions are grown primarily to fill the gap between onions sprouting in store and the beginning of the main season's crop. So I wouldn't worry too much about encouraging them to ripen fully before lifting them because they're not going to last long in store, even if you want to keep them. You can start using them as soon as they are big enough. If you want the ground for another crop now, you can get away with lifting them before the tops have fallen.

Thank you FelixLeiter for clearing that up.

I still can't get over how much I learn here everyday and how generous everyone is with knowledge and experiences.

Sorry another quick question..

How do I know the onions have dried out enough to harvest?

Dear Donedigging, they are ready to harvest once the tops have gone over and the tops are starting to dry.

But to get them from the harvest stage, to the storage stage, they will need drying further.
This can either be done outside in dry weather, or under cover if it is going to be wet.
What you are trying to achieve is, that there is no moisture left in the neck of the onion before they get stored.

Don't forget you can use onions at any stage, whether they are green or dried.

Thank you OH

But do I have to wait for the leaves to go yellow, to show they have dried out or do I just cut the green off and dry them ?
Rain expected here over the weekend

donedigging wrote:But do I have to wait for the leaves to go yellow, to show they have dried out or do I just cut the green off and dry them ?

Don't cut anything off yet. The tops should be rustle-dry when they're ready for storage, then you can trim the tops if you need to, but not before. You can, if the season turns cold and wet, string your onions while the tops still have some moisture in them. If the sun's shining, though, let them crisp up in the sun.

Thank you Felix Leither,

I don't think me and onions get on... they are soooo slow.