Will my onions fatten up?

[amandaandherveg]

My onions began to fall over this week. They're on the small side, will they fatten up any if I leave them in the soil a while longer?

The leaves are still green but with a brownish tinge.

[Capsid]

They won't fatten much more now, how big are they?

[amandaandherveg]

About 2", not very impressive.

Could I pickle them? May as well lift them and get something else in the bed.

[Capsid]

I've never pickled onions, so can't help. But a 2" onion will still store OK and taste nice. I find that you need a good load of compost dug in to help retain the mositure for the onions to absorb and fatten up.

[amandaandherveg]

The soil was quite clayish, could this have been the problem?

[HeyWayne]

The soil was quite clayish, could this have been the problem?

Soil might have "capped" and restricted the onions.

Some of mine are massive 10-11 cms, but they seem to be in one of the beds that I chucked loads of compost on. The others are in a fairly clay bed - but even those vary.

[Capsid]

The soil was quite clayish, could this have been the problem?

Clay can dry out which won't help onion fattening, so dig in lots of compost.

[Hellbell]

My onion leaves have been lying down for quite a while now and the bits of onion that are poking through the ground are looking really good, but do I have to wait for the foliage to go brown before I dig them up?

[Capsid]

No need to wait. I dug mine up last week.