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Gardeners World blog

Allotments

Knowing your onions

Posted by: Jane Moore, 16 November 2007, 10.07AM

Onions After a good few years of vegetable growing I would go so far as to say that I know a thing or two about onions and their cultivation. For instance I know that onions are prone to a nasty fungal disease called 'white rot' and I know exactly what it looks like. (We've had it where I work - very nasty - have to avoid growing onions and all alliums for years!

I know that onion beds need to be kept weeded in summer or the onions become stressed and bolt, producing a flower spike that saps all the strength of the onion bulb. I know a bit about varieties and have had excellent results planting autumn onion sets such as 'Shakespeare'. So, although I have more to learn, you might think I'd grasped the basics. But no! I recently discovered a gaping hole in my knowledge, a veritable chasm which I'm a bit ashamed to admit. Here we go...

I'm not sure how to store onions correctly. Previously I've grown them at work and the chefs have used them as if they're going out of fashion. On the plot I've tended towards the shallots and garlic, only growing a few onions which we've used pretty quickly. This year, having realised - finally - that I find shallots a bit of a faff, I grew more onions than ever. I dried them diligently on the patio, dodging the rain, and stored them in those blue mushroom boxes in the garage. And now some of them are blooming well sprouting and I'm not sure where I've gone wrong! A bit of research (namely Gavin Keir's website) and I think it's partly due to the lack of drying out due to the inclement summer. Also the general web consensus seems to be that over-wintering types don't keep as well as the spring planted varieties. Oh well, it seems I still have a lot to learn!

Comments

  • kenneth

    20 November 2007, 01.58PM

    onions are fascinating and i love them; eating as well as growing! The fungal disease "white rot" sounds particularly nasty and thankfully i have not experienced it, or rather my onions havent! As for storing, my wife and i always tend to store our's in wooden crates in the cellar.

  • Karl

    22 November 2007, 03.11PM

    I have grown and successfully stored onions for about five years now, usually managing to grow enough to last up until the next years crop is ready for lifting. I always buy 'Setton' as sets to plant out in late winter/early spring and after lifting them in late summer, i leave them on my greenhouse staging for about a month. I make sure the greenhouse is well ventilated, but is still warmed by the late summer sun to dry the onions well. This i believe has been key to my success. I then store them in the house under the stairs in onion sacks haggled from a market stall.

  • kate dawes in cumbria

    22 November 2007, 03.13PM

    having grown the onion family on an allotment for several years, i have come to the conclusion that my onions (shallots and garlic too) store best in strings in the garden shed which has few windows but is normally frost free though well ventilated at all other times. After bringing some strings into the kitchen for interesting xmas decorations i noticed they started to sprout into growth, becoming soft and unusable, although the same crop stored in the shed was fine.

    The answer... try to store them as above, and chop, sweat and freeze some for use in soups/stews etc. Use all the onion family in season, i.e. onions from august to xmas, then shallots (which seem to keep better) followed by leeks straight from the ground till spring. Spring onions can be used till the summer crops, and don't forget chives, which can be cut and frozen as they are or chopped into ice cubes. it makes for interesting cooking, i like French onion soup in early autumn, roast shallots with sunday dinners in winter and cock a leekie in january, but Bolognese made with leeks is surprisingly good.

  • Ken Wadsworth

    17 December 2007, 10.23AM

    I have grown onions from sets with good results for 30yrs and from seed with varying results. This year being very wet during June/July the onions were large weighing around 3/4 lb each with thick necks. I managed to dry them out and prevent neck rot by splitting the necks and pulling the leaves apart down to the tops of the bulbs.

    I have previously stored them in an unheated greenhouse in trays over a few, relatively frost free winters. Can anyone advise on whether they will withstand a period of below freezing weather.

  • Denise FInch

    23 January 2008, 11.30AM

    We live in Leeds and have recently taken on a very overgrown weedy neglected allotment. We have cleared this, applied weedkiller (no choice in view of the neglect) and have made 4' wide by 15' beds for vegetables. I planted onions, garlic and shallots in the autumn. I have keept thes weed free and protected from birds with netting. Have I done the right thing? Will the frosts damage the sets, and will they survive all the wet weather? I see that the garlic should have been planted in modules for planting out in March/April - should I rebuy and try again? Advice please!

  • Daniel Duff

    18 March 2008, 06.48PM

    I have overestimated the amount of onions I needed for my allotment can I store them for next year kind regards D Duff

  • John from Hertfordshire

    02 April 2008, 01.31PM

    I grow 4 forty foot rows of onions, garlic and shallots each year. I rotate my crops, in the autumn, when my potatoes are cleared I prepare the ground for my onions by adding manure/compost available free at my site. I dig this in along with some Blood Meal (onions I find do better with lots of nitrogen). In August I sow seeds of Japanese winter varieties which I transplant and then plant in my prepared bed in January/February. I also then plant sets of onions in February/March. I bend over the stems of the earlier Japanese onions in late June and lift them and them dry two weeks later. The same with the set onions but about two months later in late August/September.

    To recap in order - August, sow winter onion seeds; September, prepare bed; October, sow garlic cloves and Japanese winter onion sets; November, transplant Japanese winter onion seedlings; January/February plant out Japanese winter onion seedlings; March, plant out main crop sets; June/July, bend over and lift Japanese Onions; September/October, bend over (if needed) and lift main crop onions.

    By lifting I mean to just lift the onions from the soil, leave for a fortnight then place somewhere warm and dry to dry before storing in sacks or in ropes.

    Use the Japanes ones first. Make sure they are physically dry and keep in a fridge or cool place until needed, they should keep for about a month. Main crops when dried as described I find keep until early summer, when you have the Japanese ones to take over.

  • Lindsey bridge

    21 May 2008, 06.42PM

    I have just planted loads of chives when they have grown I would like to chop them up and dry them out and put them into my chive bottle like the ones you buy from asda etc. But can some one advise me on what to do to dry them out do I just leave them over night can someone help me please thanx lindsey

  • ross

    04 June 2008, 10.54AM

    I have some onions that i think are growing, but I'm not sure if they are (as they have been brought from a supermarket),(to be eaten)! they have green growing out the top of them and I was wondering if I could plant them grow my own onions can someone please help me as i don't know a thing about gardening! thank you ross

  • Linda

    08 June 2008, 01.12PM

    I have grown red onions ( unsure of their name )however they have started to flower, after reading your section about bolting I checked to see if there were any weeds growing within, there was but only at one end would this affect the whole crop and what do I do to rectify it.

  • Stuart

    05 July 2008, 10.54AM

    I'm a new gardener and have planted red onions. The onions have grown tall, about 2 foot (600mm), and some have seed balls on the top of their stems, but a lot of the bulbs are small. Is his normal? Will they fill out. Have I done something wrong? I water them every day.

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