Why are my onions flopping and does it matter?

[1Bee]

My onions seem to be doing fine. They put on plenty of leaf and the bulbs are swelling nicely. A few bolted, but by no means all, and although they're desperate for a weeding, I was pretty happy with them...

I carried on being happy with them when I noticed most of them had flopped over... right up until the point I noticed no-one else's onions on the plot had flopped over.

Why do they flop? Does it matter?

Thank you! :-)

[Mr Bones]

When the tops go over at this time of year it's usually a sign that the onions are ripening.

edit to say, maybe yours are an earlier variety than your neighbours.

[1Bee]

Thank you! That makes sense, as I was quicker on the ground, as it were, than most of my neighbours this year.

[Mr Bones]

Looks like onions are soon to be back on the menu then Bee

[Jonnyt]

Yes they are ready for picking. Mine started to go in the first week of July though I planted in the first week of March. Don't delay harvesting as some will start to rot!

[1Bee]

Yes, Mr B, I've already been using up some of the bolters.

Good tip, Jonny, thank you! I'm going to weed them and inspect thoroughly and see where I go from there.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Weeding is a good idea onions do not like competition for nutrients.

[1Bee]

A quick check tells me I planted them on 24th March and fleeced them for a few weeks while they got going.

Which tells me I need to try and sort out some sort of drying rack for them soon!

[Jay-ell]

My shallots have started to keel over, which is good as my overwintered shallots were a no show and I've just used the last one from last years harvest.

I'll be tying them in small bunches and hanging them from hooks in the shed rafters - once I move out the last of the garlic/elephant garlic/oerprie which have dried nicely.

[Penellype]

My onions at home have keeled over, the ones at my friend's which were planted a little later (all Sturon) haven't. I harvest them when the tops start to die down, which is usually sometime in August.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Same here, whilst the foliage is a nice vibrant green I leave them, hoping for more onion.

[1Bee]

Bah.

I've weeded them. But now I see the leaves are covered in a black mildew... what do I do now? Harvest, cut off the leaves, and try and dry the bulbs?

It's my own fault... I deliberately plant close, intending to harvest alternate ones for salads and stir fries, but for some reason or another I didn't do as much of that this year. And the weeds got out of hand when I was ill. Bah.

[Mr Bones]

The weather looks like it's going to turn wet. I'd get them up and into somewhere dry and airy and if any of the leaves start to rot rather than drying out I'd be inclined to snip them off.

[Snoop Puss]

The inner leaves don't look too bad. I agree with Mr Bones: lift them and get rid of the worst leaves.

[1Bee]

Wait! It's not my fault! I did a quick nosey round the rest of the site (it's a very small spot, only another six plots are growing onions...) and ALL of everyone else's onions have got it, too. Even the octagenarian guy two plots over who's my idol, and has his otherwise perfect onions perfectly spaced, planted through heavy duty weed membrane.

And before anyone suggests my onions have infected the rest of the site, I should point out I'm the corner plot with the prevailing wind blowing from the site TOWARDS me, and sheltered on two sides by hedges which lift wind from other directions OVER my plot....

Anyway. It made me feel better. I'm still going to lift them, but the whole storing thing is always going to be a headache - no shed, garage etc. Last year I dried in batches in wire hanging baskets outside our back door, where a largeish overhang of the roof shelters a couple of feet of our backyard, but I didn't have to do the whole lot at once and had a smaller crop. I can use an old nursery fireguard as a wire grid to load them on to, but then I need to find somewhere to put them.

First time I ever grew onions, I had to dry them in our living room, kitchen and on the stairs....