Digging up onions

My onion leaves flopped over about 3 weeks plus ago. Strong winds didn't help either to determine whether they were ready. Have been so trying to catch up with the flower garden after last year's hip op that I haven't have the time to see to them. Forecast is good for Mon and Tues here, so am I panicking unnecessarily?

Mine flopped over about the same time as yours goosegirl so I pulled them up back then. Once they've got bent stems, that's it for growth. Some folk leave them in the ground for a bit but I knew I'd be busy and pulled mine right away and spaced them out on racks to dry in my garage.

If you're getting a lot of rain, I wouldn't leave them in any longer as the little beasts start to grow again and want to make seed stalks. After you pull those, the storage life is greatly shortened.

Thanks all - just had a panic as we keep getting occasional showers here then, when it's dry, I have to be elsewhere. Left it today but will get them up tomorrow and dry them out in my shed. Robinson's of Mammoth Onion fame advise cutting their roots off - how much of their tops do I trim off?

I didn't trim mine at all but plaited them in 6s like Garlic:



Makes storage much easier

I don't do anything before they're dry  - well maybe cut the roots to loosen the dirt - that's all.

This year I cut most of the tops off as I was pressed for space in our crowded garage. I left about 6" of tops on. Most of the roots were already dried so I trimmed them right off then set all the onions to dry on a rack. We've had a very dry summer, as usual, so not surprising the roots were finished.