how to store harvested onions?

[garden5]

I have harvested my onions, let them dry 3 days, and now I want to know how to store them.

On a side note, my onions average the size of golfball to large-golfball size; has anyone else had problems growing store-bought size onions or is it just me?

Thanks for your help.

[jal_ut]

Put them in a mesh bag and hang them up in a dry place.

[Diane]

My onions aren't any bigger than yours. It's my first year growing
them.

[pharmerphil]

We raise onion from seed.
Most sets you buy, the place you buy them can't tell you if the sets are long day , or short day variety. And thats step 1...Pick a variety thats for your area...Long day for northern gardens, short day for southern gardens.

Plant the seed in February inside in containers at least 4" deep, spaced at about a 1/2" apart.

Grow them out, if they get a bit long, give them a hair cut (cut the tops off) about a inch or two, they'll do fine...

As soon as the grounds ready, set them out, just deep enough that the roots catch the dirt...

I set them a hands width apart (about 4-5 inches) in rows a foot apart.

side dress with a good all purpose fertilizer for those that go that route, For Me, I go with humus, compost and good organic soil well amended and prepared for the plants.

Then there's not alot to do, keep them well watered..NEVER let them dry out, the roots are near the surface....

Soon, the bulbs will beging to rise above the soil, till You have what looks like softballs sitting in your garden.

The tops will fall over mostly on their own when the bulbs are about finished, if not, just GENTLY push them over.

when you pull them, let them lie on the soil for a few days to dry, then I move them to a drying rack to finish them up, and twist off the tops.

We store them in large used onion bags, gotten FREE at the supermarkets (just ask the produce man to save them for you)

in the basement, where it stays about 50°, not perfect, but we had onions from last year up till two weeks ago, just the time this years crop was ready.

we raised 600 last year, only 300 this year.
a couple shots from LAST year ..
Some of last years on drying rack.
[img]https://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/tupro1/e1-1.jpg[/img]

Others still drying outdoors
[img]https://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/tupro1/2e.jpg[/img]


here's my red onion fair entry for this year, the reds were smaller than normal, a little bigger than a baseball
[img]https://www.imageviper.com/displayimage/142719/0/redoni1.jpg[/img]

[rainbowgardener]

thanks for the detailed info pharmerphil and gorgeous pictures. Congratulations on the blue ribbon!

For the rest of us who aren't actually farmers, I also have trouble getting full sized onions. This year I want to try planting some in the fall (I.e. SOON) and letting them overwinter. I've never done that yet, I've planted onion seed in the spring.

[kgall]

Thanks for that great information! I want to grow onions next year. I have never done it and am looking for all the tips I can get!

[nes]

in the basement, where it stays about 50°, not perfect, but we had onions from last year up till two weeks ago, just the time this years crop was ready.

I can't get onions to last 3 weeks around here!! Are you just storing them in bags?

What temperature would be better?

We have a dug basement I just need to figure out the best way to use it for storage .

[garden5]

We raise onion from seed.
Most sets you buy, the place you buy them can't tell you if the sets are long day , or short day variety. And thats step 1...Pick a variety thats for your area...Long day for northern gardens, short day for southern gardens.

Plant the seed in February inside in containers at least 4" deep, spaced at about a 1/2" apart.

Grow them out, if they get a bit long, give them a hair cut (cut the tops off) about a inch or two, they'll do fine...

As soon as the grounds ready, set them out, just deep enough that the roots catch the dirt...

I set them a hands width apart (about 4-5 inches) in rows a foot apart.

side dress with a good all purpose fertilizer for those that go that route, For Me, I go with humus, compost and good organic soil well amended and prepared for the plants.

Then there's not alot to do, keep them well watered..NEVER let them dry out, the roots are near the surface....

Soon, the bulbs will beging to rise above the soil, till You have what looks like softballs sitting in your garden.

The tops will fall over mostly on their own when the bulbs are about finished, if not, just GENTLY push them over.

when you pull them, let them lie on the soil for a few days to dry, then I move them to a drying rack to finish them up, and twist off the tops.

We store them in large used onion bags, gotten FREE at the supermarkets (just ask the produce man to save them for you)

in the basement, where it stays about 50°, not perfect, but we had onions from last year up till two weeks ago, just the time this years crop was ready.

we raised 600 last year, only 300 this year.
a couple shots from LAST year ..
Some of last years on drying rack.
[img]https://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/tupro1/e1-1.jpg[/img]

Others still drying outdoors
[img]https://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p54/tupro1/2e.jpg[/img]


here's my red onion fair entry for this year, the reds were smaller than normal, a little bigger than a baseball
[img]https://www.imageviper.com/displayimage/142719/0/redoni1.jpg[/img]

WOW! CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks for the info on growing onions from sees. I am not from Minnesota, but I am in the north (Ohio) and I want to grow onions from seen next year and I did not know whether I should direct-sow them this fall or start them in pots very early spring (late-winter). Thanks much for your input! If anyone else has any info on growing onions from seed in the north, I am glad to hear it.

Thanks all for how to store my onions!

[Diane]

Congrats Phil on your blue ribbon. Nice looking onions. And thank you for the information.

[jal_ut]

I can't get onions to last 3 weeks around here!! Are you just storing them in bags?

Some types of onions will not store well as dry onions. Walla Walla is a prime exmple. To store well onions have to br dried well, then stored in mesh bags that allow good air circulation. I hang them in the garage (in a mesh bag) until the weather gets cold enough that I am afraid it will freeze in the garage, then I take them down the basement and hang them. The temperature in the basement is around 68 to 70 degrees. I had onions until June this year from last years storage onions.

I don't know how well onions will store in areas with high humidity. Probably not very well. Maybe that is your problem? Here in Utah the humidity is pretty low most of the time, and for sure indoors in the winter.

Onions can be stored for a time in the refrigerator. You need to put them in freezer type ziploc bags to try to isolate the odors. Wimpy bags won't do it.

You can also dry your onions and store them dry. We have done this with a food dehydrator. We put it outside as the odors would kill if in the house.