Help ... what's wrong with my onions ...

[mc55]

Decided to lift some of my onions yesterday that looked ready, but three of them had no roots and looked as if they had 'rotted' away underneath. 

Is this the dreaded white rot, or is it insects ? the tops look absolutely fine.

I've not been watering them and the rest all look OK.  There are still some to lift - am I better doing this sooner rather than later ?  Can I put them on the compost heap ?

[mc55]

[rdm51]

hi mc.
Don't think its white rot as your leafs would turn yellow and die back, i think what you have is bacterial soft rot.......... don't compost them, here are a few things that could have caused it :- poor drainage due to high use of farmyard manure, potassium deficiency. i would look it up on the internet see what comes up. and i think i would lift the rest of the onions to be on the safe side.     good luck

[Robert_Brenchley]

i usually get a few like that, and just burn them. It's never been more than the odd one, and it doesn't look like the pics people post of white rot.

[keef]

I disagree, that looks like white rot to me. I think once its started attacking the onions, they start to rot a bit attracting woodlice and slugs which start eating away. You can see a little of the fungus on the onion far right.