[davel831]

Hello all,
              Well apart from the god awful weather we are having i am coming up to that time of year where i am running out odf space on the plot. I was hoping my winter onions would be ready by now so i can use the space!!

Whilst i was down at the plot yesterday i noticed that they were looking fantastic, good size, but the tops still haven't fell over yet to give me a idea that they are ready??

Another plot holder suggested that i could pull them up as they are and let them die back that way??

I need the space for more planting, so please any ideas when they should be ready or what should i do??

cheers before hand

dave

[Salmo]

They will be ready when the sun shines. If you pull them up green they may not store. By all means pull a few to use reasonably quickly. Would that give you room to plant?

[Auntiemogs]

Having the same thoughts myself Dave. I've grown Senshyu Yellow, which I don't think store too wellanyway... You could always chop & freeze them? Mags 

[angelavdavis]

I bit the bullet on Saturday and pulled some of the larger onions, to make room for the smaller ones to bulk up and have left them drying in the greenhouse.  

Mine tend to suffer from onion whiterot, so don't dry store very well anyway and I was terrified of them simply rotting in the ground with all this rain.  

I plan to chop and freeze mine.

I checked on my garlic as the rust has really been bad this year, but although the stems look nice and thick, the bulbs haven't bulked up much at all so I will leave these for a while.

[Nikkithefoot]

I pulled mine out at the weekend. The tops were going black, and I really needed the ground. I accept they won't store that long, but equally rotting in the ground wouldn't be good either.

[davel831]

thanks guys.. i feel i am between the devil and the deep blue sea......

i will have a look over the next few days and ponder on wat would be the best thing to do!

cheers again dave

[Rich72]

I dug all mine up last Thursday. Drying in the garage as we speak. I plan to chop and freeze a load in chilli/bolognese sauce type portions and going to a huge batch of onion soup with some others.

[bigben]

Winter onions dont store all that well normally and tend to be used to tide you over until the main crop onions arrive. If they are a useable size then lift them and start using the ground. If they are not big enough yet then you need to decide which is more important - the space or having to just get small onions. I dont know how much room they are taking up but you could consider lifting enough so you have space to plant what you want to plant and then plant in succession as you lift others after that.

[davel831]

Hi All,
          Thanks alot for the help and advice i have lifted half the onions and now are drying in the shed and greenhouse. The size of bed is 10 foot by 8 foot.

I have now planted in the lifted side and when the others have got a bit bigger i will lift them and plant that side as well..

Again thanks alot for help and advice


Dave  :happy: