Drying onions - how long

[ameno]

How long is best to dry onions so that the skins are dry and hard enough to store a long time?
I've had mine in my mini greenhouse for about 3 weeks now, but the stems (or rather the stumps where I cut off the dead leaves) of about a quarter of them are still slightly damp in the centre, and I'm worried that if I hang them in storage in that state then they may go mouldy from the stem end.
I don't recall having this problem last year, and I don't know whether that's because they dried quicker last year or whether they were damp last year, too, and I just didn't notice (they kept very well last year).

[Mr Bones]

Ours took about six weeks this year. The middle of the stems need to be dry or they risk rotting.

[quanglewangle]

Ours took a week out on the ground (luckily dry) then another three weeks on greenhouse staging, turning every so often, until the leaves went brown and papery. We don't cut the leaves off until that stage. Greenhouse quite warm and airy.

We string them up and store them in the house in bright spot and expect them to run out (about April/May) just as they start to sprout. Not experienced rotting.

BTW All refers to Japanese autumn started onions

[nickdub]

If you string your onions, which is very easily done on a doubled string, they will continue to dry while they are stored.

[quanglewangle]

If you string your onions, which is very easily done on a doubled string, they will continue to dry while they are stored.

But ameno has cut off the leaves, which will make stringing a bit tricky.

[ameno]

I sort of string mine. I don't trust plaiting the leaves, so what I do instead is cut the leaves off to about 2 inches, then tie that 2 inch leaf stump to a piece of string, with 5-7 onions per string (depending on the onion size). I then hang them in my under-stairs cupboard.
I cut the leaves back to that 2 inches already as I thought it would probably help the insides of the leaf stump dry quicker.

[nickdub]

I haven't got any research to back this up, but I'd have thought cutting the leaves was a bad idea unless they are already dry.

[ameno]

I haven't got any research to back this up, but I'd have thought cutting the leaves was a bad idea unless they are already dry.

They were mostly dry, just still slightly damp in the middle.
And why would it make a difference, especially as I cut them some 2 inches away from the bulb?

[quanglewangle]

^^^
I suppose I thought of the leaves as sort of wicks that would draw moisture out of the bulb and allow it to evaporate.

[Jungle Jane]

Your onions have been in there for three weeks but it hasn’t been that sunny until these last couple of days. They’d dry quicker if they had the constant warm weather,wait a bit longer before tying with string,let them get the air around them.

[Snadger]

Because I don't need the area I am growing the spring planted sets in for another crop I am experimenting with leaving them in situ until the leaves are fully dry, Only then will I lift them.The tops have all been bent over in an orderly manner just to tidy them up.
The japanese onions I lifted earlier and dried off aren't really storing very well................but I knew they wouldn't, hence the spring planted sets!

[quanglewangle]

Stringing onions - no need for hard knots
Use a loop and sheet bends.

The red rope stands for the string loop and the blue for onion leaves. Alternate onions on front and back.

We store our onions a bright dry place (corner of kitchen) , although usual advice is to store in the dark.

[nickdub]

They were mostly dry, just still slightly damp in the middle.
And why would it make a difference, especially as I cut them some 2 inches away from the bulb?

Probably does depend on how short you cut them - as I said no research to back this up. If I had a lot to store, I've always strung them first, so I'd tidy any bits of leaf after stringing.