Problems with Onions

[Stevek]

My Onions have been in the ground and doing well. Recently the leaves have started to fall, and a few of the outer leaves turn black.

I have lifted a handful, and there are no obvious ailments, all look ok and are now drying (in the greenhouse, it hasnt stopped raining here!).

Should i be lifting the others now, or leaving them to fall over completely?

A number of others on the allotment say they have suffered from mildew, but looking in the books, this doesnt seem to be whats wrong with mine!

Also, if i do lift them, should i leave the bed empty till next year and just prep it, or is it worth sticking something else in for the rest of the year?

[Snadger]

Must admit.....it sound a lot like like mildew problems to me?

If it is mildew it can depend on airflow around the plants. Mildew is usually not a problem on windy sites methinks so I usually try and grow my onions in an airy part of my allotment and give plenty of space between plants.

PS Likewise with carrots, as carrot fly like still conditions to do there damage!


PPS Welcome to the vine stevek!

[TEB]

I tend to feel the necks of the onions that are still in the ground and if they feel "squishy" then I lift them, as to what to do next with the bed then it depends whether you are doing any crop rotation, I plan to fill some of my onion beds with late sowing of turnips and carrots (bit late but fingers crossed), some spring cabbage and then prep the rest of the beds ready for broad beans.

PS Just have a thought that if you do have some kind of disease then the onions may not store and you may want to keep them apart from other onions

[zazen999]

Any iffy onions get taken out, stripped back to 'good' onion and used first. All the healthy ones are dried and strung and stored.

I'd perhaps lift a couple just to see if they are healthy [depending on how many you've got of course], and if they are ok leave them be....perhaps do the soggy neck check and lift a couple of the ones that are soggy as they will be ones nearest to being ready.

[Stevek]

Many thanks for your help! I shall pop down tomorrow and have a good check of the onions

[southern softie]

To save another thread, I'd like advice on onions too.
I have 3 batches.
I have already lifted one batch of 100 onions and they are now on a rack drying in the shed.
The 2nd batch look like they can be left out a bit longer as they haven't all folded over yet and look healthy enough.
However, the 3rd batch, which were planted in spring, look like they might be suffering a bit of water damage. A few of them look like they have dark patches on them as if they are water stained. The site is very open so they get a lot of wind to help keep them aired.
They still look like they have a bit of development to go and I am not sure if I should lift them now as I don't know how this will affect their ability to be stored.