Grow Your Own Magazine

Hello all.

before going away on my hols my onions were doing fine, a few were going to seed and some of the stems had fallen over so not unduly worried.

Arrived back late last night and to my horror when I checked this morning all the stems had disappeared and all what was left of them were soggy bits still attached to the bulb. I have just harvested all the onions but are they ok to store/eat? The bulbs are solid with no signs of them going soft.

Some of the bulbs are still small so I am thinking that these will pickle, can somebody confirm?

Thanks

NN

Same thing happened to mine. Dug them up, put in wire baskets to dry/ripen but it's been raining solid since then. They're hung up in the shed. I don't expect them to store, but will use them as and when needed. Really disappointed with them this year!

Thanks rustylady. My first year at growing veg and this happens. Ah well put it down to experience and move on.

NN

NN,

Next year try buying heat treated sets, these are treated so the flower stem is killed off from inside and should not bolt in any weather. I have about 150 of them in the ground and not 1 has bolted (yet ).

__________________


An onion can make people cry but there's never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.
Will Rogers

I also buy sets, its often the easiest thing to do, and although marginally more expensive I find you get v good return for your money.

Once the stem has tipped over (either on purpose or with rain/hail etc) it will start to die back. In fact books sometimes recommend you tip your onions over for a week or so before harvesting, to get the leaves to die back and the necks of the onions to harden (stops rotting in storage), so you SHOULD be fine, provided you can get them dry in this lovely weather.

I bought 4 bags of onion sets in the spring and have huge onions, all grew and none have bolted.

LCG

ps you can also use winter onion sets, planted in late autumn close together, right the way through the winter as 'spring onions' and any left will bulk up in the spring into early real onions too.....

la cebolla grande

The onions were winter onion sets and it would appear that the stem had tipped over but the current weather had turned them soggy. They are currently in the shed where they will hopefully dry out and remain clear of any more problems. Some of the onions were still on the small side so hopefully SWMBO will be able to pickle them?

Thanks for the advice and to you also Sebbster.

NN

Hadn't been to the plot for a couple of days with one thing and another, went last night to find every single onion stem had at least 2 snails/slugs on them, some had more... So the stems of your onions may have been munched NickNack, rather than rotted? Your smaller ones should be fine for pickling I would think.
Dunno if mine are going to survive the munching they've had, I've resorted to the blue pellets (which I normally avoid) in an attempt to save them, but the spiced vinegar is ready as they were spring planted and still pretty small

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Hi SarzWiz

Thanks for the reply, hope your onions survive the onslaught. I did a bit of slug & snail hunting last night. Left a nice meal scattered over the garden for the birds etc.

NN

same here all my onions are the same the leaves are just a mess on the ground and 2 weeks ago they where a pleasure to look at i put it down to all this rain as onions dont like to much water never mind theres always next year

Greetings
New to this, so here goes.
Anyone know how to do the onion platting thing?
Grateful for any info.
Cheers, Digger

Hello and welcome to the Vine, VD! (actually, that doesn't abreviate too well, does it?? )

There was a thread on onion plaiting if you want to do a search I hope it helps you - I was being particularly thick when I read it and couldn't grasp it.....until I told my hairdresser and she showed me - it is exactly like doing a french plait in hair.

It sounds like you've done better than a lot of us if you have enough onions for plaiting.......!

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Hazel
www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com
update Tues 02/12/2008......End of year report!.....

Hi VD its easy if the stalks are still long and not too dry.
start with 3 onions one stalk in right hand one in left one on your knee in the middle, keep the onions in place and move one stalk (say the right)to the middle over the top of the origanal middle stalk, put the stalk that was in the middle in your right hand. put the left hand stalk in the middle and grab the middle wirh your left hand. repeat when you have room to add an onion just combine its stalk with an existing one.
if the stalks are dry tie string around the top of the bulb and plait with the stalks.

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

Thanks for the info will try to get my haidresser to explain it to me, though I dont think a 63 Year old block who only cuts short back and sides would now the technique, still you never know. Will follow the thread.Yeh bit of a no brainer that Hazel, shows you how new I am I dont know how to change it. I think the "The Digging Virgin" would be better, still thanks a lot.

DV

Have a look at this method for plaiting onions

http://www.saundersallotment.co.uk/September.html

I am also rather new to the onion thing. Although onions are biannual, I thought that one grew sets from seed, year one; planted the sets and harvested the onions for store year 2; planted onions from store to seed year 3.
It is what I have done. Well almost, I am sowing the harvested seed in a week or two when it matures. Or maybe that which I harvested last year.

Phreddy

Hi Nick Nack, its the rain thats done it just save what you can, mine are going the same way but am trying to save what I can if not soft they are fine to use, good luck

Raisedbed

My onions looked more like leeks. and they were soggy. I ended up throwing them all two weeks ago. I was most dissapointed I can tell you.

I'm both sorry to hear about the onion problems some of you hav had but at the same time a littlecomforted that I'm not alone.
just over a month ago i had 3 beds of lovely looking onions from sets. 3 weeks ago I had immature bulbs with short brown stems attached. the entire crop were uniformly affected. I lifted them & laid them to dry on the green house staging. Some of the stems were so wet they oozed water as I gripped them to pull up the bulb.
the ba news is that a number of them have already gone a bit soft & ar unuseable.
I still hope to be able to dry & stoe some of them, but it's apretty depressing harvest.

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Jane