[strangerachael]

Yesterday  the weather forecast said it would be dry all week, so I pulled up all my onions and left them to dry on the soil. It has been raining ever since....
obviously next year I won't trust to the forecast and will put them under cover straight away, but for now my question is - does it matter? There is no point bringing them in now as they are already wet, and there is no more rain due (according to the forecast  ) once this spell has stopped. Once the dry weather returns will they just continue to dry out, or has some terrible irreparable damage been done?

[sunshineband]

They will dry out, no worries but I would bring them in so that this can start asap, so that none rot from being saturated imho 

[ravenzero1]

how long should you dry them out for.

[JayG]

how long should you dry them out for.

Rot in storage usually starts in the necks, so these must be as shrivelled and dry as possible. How long that takes depends on your storage conditions and of course the weather if they are dried outside.

[someoneorother]

how long should you dry them out for.

About twice as long as they seem to need is what I've gathered

[peterjf]

 onion bulbs get darker with drying skins , become very tight

onion green looks like straw ,

hang them up in shed , greenhouse until needed

[strangerachael]

Mine were starting to look like that before I even started pulling them up so maybe they won't need much more

[diggerjoe]

Same here - lifted the onions and put on the wooden bench in the garden with the intention of drying off and it chucked it down  -sun has been out all afternoon so I hope mine will be dry enough to put in the greenhouse tonight.

[RichardA]

I dry mine in an airy shed but not in a greenhouse as I understand that excessive heat should you get a sunny day when greenhouse is closed up starts to "cook" the onion which will also cause premature rot in storage. My onions last year were dried in the shed and stored laid on shelves rather than being hung up and last ones were used in June of this year. I lost about 6 in all out of about 300 to rot in the season - my best year ever.
R

[Lulu]

Just to add my a word of warning - I put my onions in the greenhouse a couple of years ago and they cooked really well.  Wasted all the effort into growing them.  My harvest is currently on chicken wire in the garden drying ( well they would have been if it hadn't been for today's rain)

[BADBACK]

get yourself some ladies tights drop a onion
down the leg and put a knot above it
repeat over untill legs are full
hang to dry in shed
when you want to use a onion
just cut the bottom one and
hey presto
saves a lot of space on your shelves aswell

[diggerjoe]

Thanks for that info re greenhouses - Good job my greenhouse is shaded by two trees this time of year as they will have to stay there till tonight - then I shall 'shed' them this evening. Last year I kept them out on the table on the patio and OH covered them when it rained but he's more forgettful this year and as its a good crop I'd like to keep them.

[ravenzero1]

once dry could i store them in a hesien sack and keep them in my cupboard undre the stairs

[sunshineband]

once dry could i store them in a hesien sack and keep them in my cupboard undre the stairs

Yes you could indeed.

Just check them from time to time to make sure you don't have one going off/rotting as it will spoil lots more. 

[strangerachael]

get yourself some ladies tights drop a onion
down the leg and put a knot above it
repeat over untill legs are full
hang to dry in shed
when you want to use a onion
just cut the bottom one and
hey presto
saves a lot of space on your shelves aswell

I like this one Badback - i'm thinking fishnets for extra ventilation and a bit of oniony glamour