[Kirpi]

I notice some people have bent over their onion necks to finish them off for harvesting and left them in the ground but some have pulled them up and have left them hanging over raised bed sides to dry off before storing.

Someone here said not to bend necks over as they might develop neck rot, but I have bent mine over to stop so much rain finding its way in between the onion layers. I lost about four so far which have turned to slime - due to water ingress I believe. No white rot otherwise.

I hope for a sunny day this weekend so I can pull them and take home for curing.

Bend over or just pull? Too late for my whites but my reds are still going strong.

[m1ckz]

ive bent half of mine to see if they ripen the other half are still standing very proud,,,i need the space

[JayG]

If the leaves are still quite green they will snap off rather than bend and therefore make your rotting problem even worse!

I harvested my Sweet Spanish White onions (from seed) in October last year and even then they hadn't started to die back enough to safely bend them over (this year was going to be different but will probably finish up as an unusual addition to the "winter festival" dinner!) 

Whatever you do they won't keep unless you can dry them out properly.

[Griffete]

Can you dry them in the polytunnel or will they cook ?

[JayG]

If you can cook onions in a polytunnel in Ellesmere Port given the current weather conditions I'm putting my house up for sale tomorrow and will soon be your new neighbour! 

[Fisherman]

Nice one JayG. You made me chuckle

[Madame Cholet]

I'v only just harvested ow onions the main crop ones aren't very big yet is there any rush?

[gazza975526570]

Gosh - mine are still tiny so no way will i be bending them over (and never do tbh). Leave them to do their thing

[GrannieAnnie]

Brian keeps telling me to bend the stalks over on my shallots, but I didn't do it before, I waited until the stalks went brown then harvested.

Who's right?  What difference does it make?

[JayG]

I don't think it really matters - if the stalks are still green they will snap off if you try to bend them, and if they're already brown and shrivelling they've already done the job for you!

Probably the biggest problem this year will be trying to dry them out properly so they store well.

[AnneB]

I take my advice from Joy Larkcom's vegetable book.  She reckons that if you want to keep onions you shouldn't bend over the tops but leave them to do their own thing. If you bend them over you risk introducing rot in storage.

[GrannieAnnie]

Thank you.  Actually mine are shallots, so once pulled and dried a bit they will be pickled!   

[Kirpi]

Too late for me, I bent my tops over like the good old boys on my allotment. Fortunately I don't aim to store that many so they will be used up steadily, but will let them brown off naturally next year.

My red onions are still going strong so I will let them go over naturally.

[Madame Cholet]

I take my advice from Joy Larkcom's vegetable book.  She reckons that if you want to keep onions you shouldn't bend over the tops but leave them to do their own thing. If you bend them over you risk introducing rot in storage.

fantastic book lots of veg i've never  even heard of, as well as lots I have, a real hands on book.
I like the way she has no definitive way just several different options which have been successful for someone!

[sunshineband]

My autumn onions bent themselves over, which they have never done before.

The onions were huge (well huge for me, as in about 4ins across), so after two weeks of being bent we dug them up and they are drying off a bit in the garage, and being used as we go.

The maincrop ones won't be ready until around the end of September