Onions/Garlic - should they come up now to avoid the deluge

[newspud9]

On the basis I havent exhausted my credit on asking "basic questions",....as it appears it is going to chuck it down tomorrow and possibly a lot of next week, and as my garlic and onions look about a week or two away from being ready to dig up and dry out, should I do that now to try to avoid the likely rot if i leave them in the soil.

Thanks for all the responses

[newspud9]

[goodlife]

I have started to lift my garlic up but I'm only digging those that have bulb'ed up into decent size and those that still have plenty of green foliage and/or bulb is still bit small I leave..this rain will help to bulk those later varieties.
If yours have matured and they have their papery skins on...there is no need to wait any longer.. prolonged wet weather just spoil the looks although the bulbs themselves will be useable for some time..long term storage without decent 'skin' will be effected.

[RenishawPhil]

Ive lifted a whole bed of onions and they are now in a very large greenhouse, so will be totally fine in there and the skins will dry in there to,

Got two more beds to pick , but they will be fine for a few more weeks if it stays unsettled

[ed dibbles]

if your onions are still green with the stems resistant to bending if you gently push them with the back of your hand the wet weather will not hurt them as they are still in growth mode.

If on the other hand the top growth is beginning to bend over naturally or easily does so with the above gentle nudge then your onions are getting ready to harvest.

Gardening manuals often suggest ripening them in situ in the sun but I always lift mine when they are beginning to fall over and ripen them at home on the patio or moved under cover if it turns wet.

All the storing onions are now lifted with the earliest ones already in store and the later ones still drying.

All in all it's not been a bad year for onions this year.

[manicscousers]

Onions and garlic all up, tthey were falling over and, with heavy rain forecast I didn't want to take a chance with mould 

[caroline7758]

Planned to dig mine up yesterday but couldbarely get the fork in the soil. Of the 8 bulbs of garlic I've dug up so far 3 were rotting. :((

[newspud9]

All the advice is much appreciated.  Many thanks.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I pulled all my onions today as they were fallen over and dying back. They're crap, and so's the garlic.

[bluecar]

Sorry to hear that Robert.

I lifted my garlic two weeks ago and I'm pleased with the crop although I've got a couple of odd ones which developed a few cloves above the main bulb. My onions have started to look ready and they are a mixed crop although I would seem to have more than normal thick stemmed onions on my largest than I normally get.

My shallots need to come out as the recent rain has pushed wet mud over a lot of them - this will be my first job tomorrow. Hopefully they will not have started to rot. They look a good crop compared to last year.

Regards

Bluecar

[Robert_Brenchley]

My shallotts were good, for the first time ever. I grew them in a raised bed, which may have made the difference. But garlic grown in raised beds was pathetic.

[pigeonseed]

Sorry to hear about your bad onion and garlic crop Robert. My garlic is also poor- it looks almost like crow garlic!

If my onion/shallot stalks were green and resistant to bending, as Ed says, I'd leave them in the hope theyll still ripen. If they die back, they seal up nicely and go into natural storage mode, which is what you want.

If you have any still green at the end of the season, or if they flower, just eat those first as the dormant ones will store.

You can also eat the green bit as a consolation prize for lack of storability   

[Nigel B]

I pulled all my onions today as they were fallen over and dying back. They're crap, and so's the garlic.

Same here. Mind you, I wasn't able to keep them watered curing the dry spell. Good enough only for stews, the onions. The majority of the garlic can enjoy another spring next year.

[Digeroo]

On the basis I havent exhausted my credit on asking "basic questions

I did not know there was a ration.    I have been growing veg for 40 years and I still have loads of questions.

Thanks for this thread I have hardly looked at my onions, they are all wound up in the netting.  Most people seem to have them unnetted but something was nibbling mine big time.