How To Harvest & Store Onions
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Onions are almost essential when it comes to adding flavour to our cooking, making them one of our most popular veggies to grow. But how do we know when to harvest them? And how do we stop them from rotting so that they keep throughout the seasons?
All our oniony questions are answered in this week's episode on how to correctly harvest and store onions. Fantastique!
To see how Ben got his onions started, watch this next:
• You Must Sow These See...
Or for how to grow perfect onions every time, this is for you
• Grow Perfect Onions - ...
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Thank you, this is my first year growing from seed and this was very helpful.
Great to hear - Happy Gardening!
your enthusiasm is contagious.
should be on T.V.
I always grow plants with my mum, and it's because of you that we can grow our own delicious goods ❤
same here, me and my mum love gardening and it's a good way to spend time together :)
@@dingusdan❤
I liked the clear tutorial. A very good one 😊
I agree
Your videos make me want to start my own garden
Onions also freeze really well, so for that gap in spring you can dice onion closer to harvest and freeze them then.
Also love the dedication of filming a year in advance, been watching a lot of videos while preparing to set up a kitchen garden and basically everyone else releases videos once they're done even though it's out of season and not many would find it useful in that moment.
Thanks for your kind comment. Happy gardening! 😀
Best year ever for my garlic and onions. They are drying all over my garage-braided or in containers with ventilation.
Wow - absolutely awesome - One summer in a poor country, I met a family where the blind grandma was weaving the onions together. I have mad respect for old world traditions with food and food storage.
This is a beautiful video Ben, and your onion harvest is exquisite. I am envious! Oh how I would love to have braids of onions for the wintertime.
This was a brilliant video. I’ve grown onions for the first time this year. They are plumping up well but I didn’t have a clue when to harvest them and didn’t know you had to cure them. Thank you. 😊
Thank you so much for teaching us all 😊❤
Your Onions did better than mine this year, Brilliant job Ben 🙏🙏
This was filmed last summer for full disclosure. My onions this year are doing okay but some time still to go. :-)
your enthusiasm is contagious. TKS!
Wall to wall information and straight to the point. Best advice ever.
I did a few onions last year! Didn't get any planted on time this year however! But I will return to this video again next year and get some going again! Thank you!
This is very helpful, because I planted some red onions this year! Thank you.
The string method; brilliant !
Thanks.
Please tell me you shot this last year. If you already have onions and tomatoes, I am in garden envy. 😀
Don't worry, this was indeed shot last summer! :-)
Far too sunny to be this year 😅
Whew! I was wondering the same thing 😊
Me too!
I wonder if you could do something similar in regards to garlic? Mine are nearly ready for harvest, and I'm unsure how to cure them. Thank you! I love all of your videos! ❤
Garlic should be dried out of sunlight, onions can be dried in the sun.
I just hang my garlic up somewhere warm and airy to dry out. You can also braid them together.
Wow! They have grown beautifully! Mine onions where doing really well up and till May. And then as soon as my acorn try came into bloom they got chomped away😱. I love the way you tied your onions up beautifull!
We need you on Gardeners world. I hear Monty Don wants to retire.
I thought he handed it over to Adam a few years ago!?
@@hevchip741 No, Adam’s definitely being groomed for stardom, but Monty’s still the boss.
@JGR100 OK thanks, haven't watched tv for couple of years. Money didn't look well last time.e I saw him
Definitely got that vibe from last week's episode.
Subscribed. Excellent info. I will be focusing on carrots, potatoes, and onions. Perfect vegetables for a simple stew.
Thanks for subscribing - and a very warm welcome to the channel! :-)
@@GrowVeg ty sir
Thank you! Exactly the anwers I needed right now. Our weather here in N.Germany is awful: wet, cold with very few sightings of sunshine. Difficult but the onions turned out terrific. I was too late for sowing seeds and used small seed onions but they turned out huge which surprised me. Interesting weaving method. Looks awesome..
Also in N Germany! And my onions are AWESOME too. Steckzwiebeln from Netto! Lol.. Seem nearly ready for harvest. Much more rain than I usually get suited them I think! I have ludicrously huge shallots too. My seed onions mostly died in the first surprise deep frost. Ailsa Craig were ok.
@@kirstypollock6811 Ja, Steckzwiebeln von Aldi! Aber könnte doch etwas Sonne gebrauchen. Alle Zwiebeln und Knofi sind super.
Nice work guys. Clearly the North German weather isn't all that bad to get such champion onions! Fantastischer Job! :-)
Howdy, Ben! Another great video. What a beautiful harvest you got!👍
I'm going to try multi-sowing onions next year.😃
Excellent video! I will use some of these techniques to store onions this year, and will try growing them from seed next year!
I enjoy your videos so much the information is easy to understand and absorb .I love that there is no yelling or waving arms around and drama .have you ever grown yard long beans ? Im told they are a gourd and therefore can be eaten raw unlike many beans ?
I've never tried yard long beans, also known as snake beans. They are definitely a type of bean.
Last year I plaited my shallots together (no string, just the dried plant stems), which turned out pretty well: Think I'm going to try that with my onions this year...
Sounds great! :-)
Excellent tutorial, thank you!
Hi Ben, brilliant video. Thanks for sharing and take care 😊
Thank you for this video. Very helpful as always
Great tip for stringing onions! Im definitely going to try it this year.
Lovely looking onions
You are the Best Ben ! Just love your tutorial💕
Helpful, thanks. I will string , they look so good.🤗👍
Ahh your video is once again perfectly timed! Off to the garden and check on my onions!!
Braided Onion is my FAVE classic storing!
I made onion ropes with last years crop and we are still eating them.Now I'm getting ready to harvest my Autumn planted onions in a few weeks time.
I’m hoping my onions end up worth saving,it’s been a Pretty wet one Ben,fingers crossed👍
Fingers crossed! :-)
Love my onions, there’s never enough as this Garlic😊
I've been v late in seeding out my onions - mine aren't even planted otmut yet 😅
Thank you for good facts and inspiration!!
I always string my onions, they look good that way and store well.
Well, you make it look so easy that I will have to try it (onion strings). I planted a lot of onions from tiny starts this year, thinking they wouldn't all survive. They did, and now I have a LOT of onions. Mostly yellow sweet onions, but I also have red heirloom torpedo onions. I gather those won't store more than 3 months, so I should use them up first.
Great to have so many onions to get through - a welcome dilemma to have! :-)
Bright handled good scissors that are hard to loose are a tool gardeners need now and then/always.
Thanks for this! I'm growing Walla Walla onions this year and will try your tie up braid! I enjoy your channel as I think we have the same type of weather ~ although I'm in Seattle. Are you having a Juneuary, too? 💚
Very much so - wet and cold! ;-)
Thank you 🙏
Love it, i'm growing onions for the first time this year and i'm sad I missed out on the bunching method you showed :(
I'll definitely be trying the string method though, need to use the space as best as I can
This cold weather means everything's late & I doubt my onions will be ready before late August.
I use the slatted benches out of my polytunnel for onion & garlic drying, as they're not being used & I set them up in the garage.
As for storage; I'm a fan of traditional onion stringing & with Santero, they last through to at least mid April.
Thanks Ben for another great tutorial ❤❤ xx
Would you consider doing another video showing the traditional way of plaiting?
Definitely something to consider for a future video, yes. 😀
Hello. My onions were divourd by slags 😢 but my garlic is grait to the point that i have lefet some to flower for seeds ❤
I know you have answers regarding slags ,but this year thows littel critters have goon crazy
My struberris are looking grait and now have started to send runers
Thank you for All you'r videos they are a joy to watch.
And , if you are like me and just starting to see how it is to grow staff , well this videos are a must
Sorry to hear this. I have had big problems with slugs this year too - it's been a bad one for them!
@@GrowVeg Thank you very much for taking the time to reply .
This is great I never know how to store my harvests. I love what you’ve done with your onions, but as a lazy person I think mine will end up in sacks. I am planning on plating my garlic together though x
Good tutorial, easy to follow.
Great enthusiasm 😊😊😊😊
Was this filmed this year? All your plants are so far ahead of mine
This was filmed last summer. :-)
This is pretty much exactly how I do it as well, down to using the racks like that to hold them upside down. I grow about 400 onions each year, all Ailsa Craig variety in Scotland and usually my supply will last our family well into March or April of next year. They are a large variety, 4-6" diameter.
I dry in the racks until the leaves and roots are dry and shrivelled with the necks almost completely closed off - about 3-4 weeks in the greenhouse then I twist the leaves off which seems critical to sealing the neck entirely but some say to just cut. I store in hanging net bags with 50 onions each.
Sounds like you've got a great system going there. Lovely to have them going right through to April.
im sat watching in awe at your onions as i was too impatient and ate most before they got real big they where like silver skins hahaha , i do have some sets in , and some rossa lunga and spring onions but can you recomend a yellow onion to grow next year please
There are so many good yellow onions. I really like Ailsa Craig for the big bulbs they produce, though they don't store as long. Stuttgarter Giant is a good storing variety - and there are plenty of others. :-)
@@GrowVeg thankyou i shall check those out , all my sets went to seed , never again i think seed maybe best for me
I usually plait the onions with a baling twine (similar to stringing you showed). Growing up my dad would pop them into tights...they were everywhere in the garage😀
Me shallots are starting to fall over. I'll be picking them soon.
Have you tried vertical growing with onions in sacks? It’s a sack filled with soil and little holes down the sides with sets growing. Iv tried it for first time this year. They not too big at the moment but thinking the holes may have been too small and maybe sets not sown deep enough.
I've not tried this before but it should work. My main concern would just be that one side would be always shaded, but maybe you could avoid planting into the shaded side of the sack.
@@GrowVeg I saw it and thought it would work for small garden spaces, and yes just planted round two thirds of bag. I’ll let you know how big they get
I like that you remind me of The Farmer from Shaun the Sheep. Subd. This was really great advice and fun to watch. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much! And thanks for subscribing - a very warm welcome to the channel to you! :-)
Thanks. Now i just need my onions to sprout!
Cool editing
Hello Ben, thank you for this, i was specifically looking for how long to dry them out for before storing. I grew some multi sown, and have a few small ones, can I use the smaller ones as 'Sets' for next year? Cheers 👍
Unfortunately the small ones, if saved, are highly likely to bolt/flower prematurely if held over to next year, so best to use them up this season. :-)
Onion skins are great to add to stock to give it colour (they are a natural dye).
Thank you for this very informative video. I have beautiful onions, but they went to seed before they fell over. So am I still able to store them or must I use them now or relatively soon, or give them away? Thank you! Kathleen
I would use them up as soon as possible as they won’t store well.
'Flopping over to get ready for the colder months' Yep that'll be June in the UK atm 🤣
Ben, awesome video! Question for you - I love using the onion greens. Is there a way to continue using them or do they necessarily have to be allowed to dry when onion-curing?
If you cut off the bottom third of the onion, you can replant this into fresh soil/compost and it should re-root and sprout fresh greens. Or you can just grow it in water, so the very bottom of the bulb that's left is sitting in the water to stimulate root growth.
@@GrowVegThanks Ben! I’ll try the water route this time.
As a chef we ever put onions in fridge raw because the gas that comes from the onions turns foods rancid...!!
Thanks for this tip. Will avoid putting them in the fridge in future. :-)
as a commenter on UA-cam, i have to start all comments with, "as a __".
I have dimming hopes for decent onion harvest this year because we have had such cold weather they are not growing as well as usual, and I live in dread of bolting. However, your method of stringing them looks easier than mine so I will try that if the weather gods stop playing their latest game and let me have some onions to string at all. I always dry mine as you do, repurposing a series of pallets for the purpose, but once trimmed I plait them into their own string and suspend that from a dedicated pole in the store/pantry - after which I spend all winter trying to avoid walking into them. I take a string at a time and hang in the kitchen for use.
As I said, this is a cold year [6 degrees in June!] in the far north and anticipating that [thank goodness I listened to the birds and ponies] I gave in as the year started and bought weed suppressing fabric to help retain soil warmth, which has saved the brassicas from total disaster. How I wish I'd done the same for the onion bed, even though I loathe the stuff. Mine are all still teeny tiny. All suggestions welcome!
There's still lots of time. If you are in the UK, then it looks like warmer weather is on the way and this should really help. It's amazing how quickly things can grow once the conditions are a little more clement.
@@GrowVeg Caithness, as far north in the UK as possible before getting your feet wet, on top of cliffs that are home to the world's wind symphonies. I agree and fingers [not so green as yours] are crossed. My heart sank when I saw the beginnings of a bolt on a couple but the others are still trying! Short of offering my firstborn as a sacrifice, there isn't much I can do but hope.
@GROWVEG.please can you tell me when i can plant celery seed have i left it too late this year ? And how long does it take from sowing to eating please ?
Here in the UK I would say it's now too late to sow celery. However, you might find it available in garden centres to buy in plug trays, ready to plant. It takes about four to five months to go from seed to harvest.
White onions are hard to come by here in Central Portugal, but I favor them for salsas. I tried some Lisbon onions from seed, letting them bulb rather than pulling them when young. I expect they'll be ready to come out and cure in the next week or so by the looks of them. My question is -- I'm planting a variety of crops in one large bed, so what is good to put in the spot where the onions were once they're pulled?
Once the onions are gone you could get in any number of follow on crops. In Portugal, late-sown cucumbers or zucchini/courgette could do well, as well as bush/dwarf beans. Also leafy crops like chard and salads, so long as you're on hand to water. Or perhaps a sowing of carrots, again well-watered to aid germination.
Very off topic but do you have any videos on badger defences? My sweetcorn and peas have been devastated! I have been advised that it’s no use in my area due to the local badger sets but I’m determined to beat them.
I haven't got any videos on this, sorry. I'm not sure of the best way to deter badgers, as they are very strong animals. Apparently they don't like the smell of citronella oil, so that may help. Also very hot chillies and ultrasonic defences. More here: www.hillier.co.uk/garden-and-home-ideas/deter-badgers-from-your-garden/
1 Mature until onion leaf base softens.
2 Lift with small fork.
3 Cure by keeping in a dry, airy place. Leaves down, for up to 4 wks.
4 Tidy loose dirt etc off the bulb.
5 Weave onions in a string using dried up leaves or other storage method.
6 Store in dry, frost free area.
You are welcome
Hi, My 1st time this year growing onions in tubs , Question. Can i put the soil that i used into next years compost pile, ? And why if i can't or if i can. ?
Yes, you could certainly reuse the compost. But maybe don’t use it for growing more onions.
Will you please share where you get your onion seed from? Or do you grow your own?
I bought my onion seeds from Kings Seeds, but this is one crop it's well worth saving your own seed from.
What's the reason for trying to keep them out of the wind while curing?
I just brought them under cover to keep them clear of the rain/wet. A little wind would be fine if it was dry.
Do you just leave your onions to the elements, or do you water and feed regularly?
I water in very dry weather. Other than that they are just left to their own devices.
I save and plant the onion stubs from store bought. The problem with this is you do not know what kind they are and the times for planting, harvesting, etc. I feel much braver now...😉
What temperature to store them?? Hot where I live! Thanks !
I store them in a cool outbuilding, which would be between about 5 to 15C (40-60F).
I have a little hobby greenhouse 8' by 6' . It gets horribly hot in the afternoon sun, even with the vents open. Is the alternating night temp of about 70 and daytime soaring into high 90s ok for curing the onions? Should I put a little fan to move air through in the daytime, cover the greenhouse partway with shade cloth, or something? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I agree with the viewer who said you would be a great followup to Monty Don.
Thanks Carol. It may be a touch too hot in your greenhouse - ideally you don't want temperatures above about 85C. So you could try shading the greenhouse, or dry them inside somewhere a touch cooler.
Thank you so much for your reply. I don't have an onion crop this year so I will experiment with the temperatures in the greenhouse this summer so I'll know how to regulate it next year. Any suggestions for a good storage onion in zone 6 Pennsylvania?
I planted 300 from seed and allium leaf miner as wiped the lot out not in the garden and at the allotment
I'm so sorry to read this. They seem to be an increasing threat these days.
Pulling onions currently.
What causes the bulb and lower stem to thicken but not really form a nice round bulb?
Could it just be a matter of time? They can sometimes look like they're just sitting there and then, all of a sudden over the course of something like two weeks, they'll suddenly swell their bulbs. Other than that, watering well if it's very dry will give plants the resources they need to swell those bulbs.
i store my onions by way of the onion braid
My onions are very big but the necks are still thick and solid do I harvest now or leave them. ?
You could leave them a bit longer, but equally feel free to start harvesting them now for immediate use.
Question.......the used tights.....washed or unwashed? Great Video Thx.
Haha - I reckon either would be fine to be honest! :-)
Can you start onions next year from the seeds?
Absolutely. Here's a video that may help with that: ua-cam.com/video/Xr_QTp2J9Ek/v-deo.html
Can they be braided like soft neck garlic?
I'm not sure if the foliage would be flexible enough for this.
so alot of my garlic, onions and shallots have gone to start a flowers which I have removed but not sure I can keep any of them! this includes my elephant garlic…. thanks
If they have flowered then they probably won't keep for very long, so I would just use those up first and store the ones that haven't flowered.
@@GrowVeg so that will be all of them then 😢
can you do the same with leeks?
Leeks are just left in the ground to use as and when, no need to lift and cure.
My greenhouse is very hot this time of year. Will high heat hurt them when you're curing?
Yes, you don't really want them to get above about 85F / 30C, so I would dry them somewhere a bit cooler if you can.
@@GrowVeg OK. Thanks so much!
What happens if you leave onions in the ground too long? None of mine have flowered yet, but the tops are larger than yours looked before harvesting, and some have fallen over.
I would harvest them once most of the leaves have fallen over and the bulbs are starting to colour up. If you leave them much longer their quality can deteriorate and they won't store as long.
My greenhouse gets pretty hot. What temperature is too high to cure onions?
I would say if it's very hot you may be best drying them off indoors, somewhere a touch cooler. I would say anything above about 85F/30C would be too hot.
Newbie grower here so excuse my ignorance. I planted out some Japanese onions and they’ve grown really well and the onion is showing above the soil now. However, I’ve notice today that a couple of them are starting to get little heads on the top which looks like another bulb. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Thanks
It's a bad thing. They are bolting (flowering). May as well lift the bolted onions and eat them now, the bulbs won't grow anymore once bolted, and the bulbs won't store.
@@nedkelly5866 Seriously. I knew it was too good to be true. Do I need to cure them and let the skins dry like it shows in the video or do they need to be eaten now?
@@Tea_and_thyme_2012 Eat the bolted onions now. They are perfectly edible, but won't keep.
My grandfather would braid the leaves together to keep his onions
I don't know why, but onions and garlic are my most difficult crops to grow. I've tried winter onions from sets and onions from seed. But the sets bolted prematurely and the ones I've grown from seed are not even close to growing a bulb at this point in time. It's frustrating. 😔
I hope you keep on trying. :-)
@@GrowVeg absolutely! Failure is a word that doesn't grow in my garden. Only learning.
To grow onions from seed you really need to sow them in January in a heated propagator if you reside in the UK.
@@trevorwills3356 I started them indeed in January. But I placed them on a South West facing window sill. Today was actually the first moment that I noticed quite some growth. So I hope they will grow into a nice bulb.
I'm from the Netherlands, so climate is quite the same. This year our summer was on a Wednesday..... How about yours?
I just planted my onion seeds about 2 weeks ago.
They haven't popped up yet.
Onion seeds needs to be quite fresh, so maybe re-sow with new seed if they haven't germinated in another week.
@@GrowVeg the onions finally popped up out of the ground! Thanks!
i hang mine in a gazeebo but this year ive lost so so many
I love useful knots, but can never follow how you do it, even in slow motion, could you just do a quick video with a step by step to make the slipknot? Thank you 😅
To be honest I had to look up how to do a slipknot also. This video gives a good demo: ua-cam.com/users/shorts3yya8JQgLc4
I usually just loosely braid my onion s and hang them