[Curlytop]

Hi All
I am really new to grow your own so please excuse my question   

How do you know when to harvest root vegetables? especially carrotts, potoatoes, beetroot and onions

Thank you
Jayne

[izzy]

i find if you make a note of when you planted them wait 10 to twelve weeks and there you are pull up a few see how things are going.You'll be thinning the carrots and beetroot as you go and the onions can be left until the leaves turn yellow and dry them or pull as you want .

[DD.]

Carrots: A good indicator is the size of the top of the carrot, you may have to brush away a bit of soil to see it. This is not guaranteed though you may have just a stump!

Potatoes: Earlies are generally ready for lifting when they've flowered, again you can brush away some soil (furtle!) to have a look. Maincrop - the foiliage needs to have died down.

Beetroot: You'll easily see them. I start pulling when they are golf ball size, but this is down to the individual.

Onions: They'll flop over of their own accord when they've had enough. They can be gently forked out of the ground, left in situ for a few days, they put somewhere really dry prior to storage.

[Curlytop]

Thanks for the advice
I feel a lot better now I know what signs to look for as I have only grown tomatoes and chillies, and it is pretty obvious when they are ready. 

[Craig69]

Some of my onions have started to flower.
Should i take the flower off or should i pull them up?

[Yorkie]

Craig, you should remove the flowering stalk low down.  No need to remove the onions themselves but they will not store well once harvested so prioritise them for eating first.

[Craig69]

Thanks for that - will do that later today!