Rotten onions

[glaw5]

Hi,

Lifted my onions shortly before going away on work for two weeks. Left them to dry on a wooden pallet. Since coming home though I've found a lot have gone rotten (and all my work's been wasted!). Just so I'm prepared for next year I'd appreciate any advice on what I did wrong and what I should do right next year. I've heard people talk about tying up onions but I haven't got a lot of patience (or skill!) for that!

Thanks for any help!

[vicky]

Can you tell us a bit more about what they looked like when you lifted them, did you do anything to them before putting them to dry and the conditions of the place they're in to dry?

[rustylady]

As Vicky said, where did you leave them to dry? We know it was on a pallet, but where was the pallet.

[Snadger]

By the sound of it, it wasn't nescessarily your fault. Onions that are in good condition and ripe will last for ages even just lying on top of the soil.
For the onions to rot so quickly the probability is they were affected by white rot or botrytis or similar BEFORE being lifted.

[glaw5]

Sorry! Should have said that the pallet was on the floor of the garage. When I lifted them, as far as I could see, they all looked fine.

I did have some onions that went to seed, did nip the buds off but remember reading that onions that go to seed don't store for as long. Guessing they shouldn't go off as quickly as these have though?

Thanks again for any advice.

[Paulottie]

With onions the better they are dried - the better they store.

They are best dried on a wire rack in the sun and covered if rain threatens...I lay them out carefully and turn them every day....they are ready earlier here though while there is still sun ....you might use a greenhouse with good airflow.

With respect...dumping them in a sweaty pile on a pallet in a dank garage for a fortnight during a really damp spell is not quite the same thing.

As mentioned above however you must carefully check for white rot. It is a common problem giving dull sweaty skin and rotted roots, and later, basel plate.

When dried they are then strung and hung up in a frost free airy spot....you can use a string sack for this if you can't rope them.

To salvage a complete right off...You might be able to saute off the best of it and freeze it in portions?

[glaw5]

Thanks for the advice Paulottie. I didn't dump them in a pile on the pallet, I spread them out thinking that would be best for them drying. And the garage isn't really that dank, it's pretty airy so that's why I thought they'd be ok.

[Paulottie]

MMmmm... well, by deduction if the problem wasn't the drying then it must be disease as suggested...can anything be saved then?

[Two_Sheds]

My garage is damp, there's condensation on the windows in the mornings

[rana]

Garage floors are usually concrete and cold. As you are in Scotland could they have got frosted. As stated earlier onions are best left to air in the sun.

[vicky]

It does sound like they didn't dry properly. Even if your garage is dry, condensation would build up between the onion and the pallet esp if they were not turned. I had the same problem with mine - I had them on a chicken wire 'bed' outside to dry in the sun...after a week of them being rained on I then brought them into my (dry) garage and hung them in those nylon mesh daffodil sacks (not too many in each to max airflow). But moisture around them still caused the onions to rot. To be fair I knew they wouldn't store as they all has wireworm damage so I discovered the rot fairly quickly and chopped them up and froze them.

In the future I'm not sure if I will be drying onions - ok if it's good weather when lifting them but in reality we don't get a week of sun in september - october.

[Two_Sheds]

Now why haven't MY onions dried properly?
I left them in a bucket on the allotment last week. Bucket has since half filled with rain. Onions are floating. Oops.

[glaw5]

Sounds like it might be the condensation then. Our first proper frost only came this week.

Can anyone recommend where to get string sacks from? And is there anything that can be done to stop white rot when I plant next year?

Thanks again

[dogsbody]

Were they "overwinted" or planted this year? The latter keep better than the former (although I always over-winter mine). Previously I have just re-used the stringy sacks my seed potatoes come in and hung those from the shed roof. Simple but it worked.

[glaw5]

They were planted this year dogsbody