Onions and schoolboy error

[mrgrower]

Ok you more experienced gardeners are going to think i'm an idiot.

This has been a great year the best i've ever had for white onions so good that I took some home and laid the rest out in the greenhouse to dry off. Yes you more experienced gardeners are going to know my next line.

rather than help dry them out the heat generated in the greenhouse has turned the onions into mush.

So after having the best season so far for my onions through stupidity I have lost all this years harvest.

I'm soooooooooooooo gutted but won't make that mistake again.

Newbies be aware.

Mr G

[lottie dolly]

I am most suprised at that,i never had that when i did,have a look at their bottoms,see if any white rot,also dissect one to see if they got the worm,a lot of peeps have had bother this year with those very things,

[mrgrower]

Hi! no rot and thought the same about worms opened a few no worms just cooked centers due to being in direct sunlight. South facing full sun.

Silly mistake

[Ananke]

EEKS! Mine are hanging in my greenhouse.
We've not had any sun since I did and they are drying well but if the weather is likely to get warmer, I'll need to move them.

[arpoet]

I dried mine in a cool greenhouse.. I also left the roof wide open and left the door open in the days.
I Lay them on these blue mushroom trays to allow good airflow with as many of the tops hanging down. After 2 weeks they were dry enough for stringing up. I now have 4 x 5lb strings of onions hanging in the basement. Plus 5 lbs of little un awaiting pickling and another 5 lbs ready for kitchen use this next few weeks. That's 30 lbs from a kilo of sets.

[Alison]

I think if your onions went to mush that easily then there was probably a problem already so don't kick yourself too much. What temps are you getting in there? Assume you have air flow of some sort too?

[WendyC]

I 'cooked' my seed potatoes one year by leaving them on the bench in a south facing potting shed. We had a very hot Spring. Funnily enough none of them grew and I had to replant in mid May when the choice of seed potatoes was rather limited.

[mrgrower]

Mine was in a south facing greenhouse doors and windows closed and temps up to 40 in the greenhouse wasn't able to get to the lottie as often as I normally do.

[Shadylane]

I always dry mine in the greenhouse at home, but I leave the door open in the day and the windows on an auto vent opener. I leave the allotment greenhouse door open all the time unless hurricanes are forecast
I agree with Alison that they were probably infected/affected by/with something.

[skeggijon]

I know a couple of people who have done the same thing. In hot weather the greenhouse is way too hot for drying onions and will cook them> You need somewhere dry and around 18 to 25 degrees.
Obviously in growing season, a greenhouse should not be dry due to humidity in there.

[Two_Sheds]

the heat generated in the greenhouse has turned the onions into mush.

Heat dries things out, it doesn't make them mushy. Unless you aren't ventilating your gh correctly, then the humidity/condensation will indeed turn them wet, mushy, mouldy.

My onions are hung in hanging baskets in the gh to store, they're fine. Nice and dry