when to harvest onion?

[IndyGerdener]

This is my first year to grow onions. How do I know when they are ready?

[gixxerific]

I have already pulled mine it was an ealry year.

But that basic rule is when the leaves are 2/3 brown.

Being in indianna I might have to assume they are probably ready. Got any pics?

[digitS']

Really, you can harvest onions at anytime during their growth cycle. I assume you are talking about bulbing onions.

A gardener once described these onions as becoming "bosomy" . It gave me a whole new way of looking at them .

Anyway, you will need to cure them after harvest if they are going to keep very long. I used to hang bulb onions on the northside of a board fence. These days, I lay them out on the deck outside the greenhouse. That location only gets direct sunlight during the last hour of the day. They stay there for 3 or 4 days.

During the early stages of growth, sweet onions (any onion, really) makes a nice scallion. It seems a little surprising that we bother to grow "bunching onions" except that they "hold" in the field without forming bulbs so that they can be harvested for a longer time as a scallion. Still, a sweet onion is sweet even when very small. That sweetness appeals to me when it is on a relish tray just as a slice of sweet onion will appeal to me, later in the season, when it is in a sandwich.

Steve [img]https://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/Digit_007/Just%204%20Fun/1sm209yum1.gif[/img]

bye the way, IndyGerdener, your home is in the same county as Hensley Township, named for Berryman Hensley. I am the great³grandson of that Hensley .

[2cents]

In SW Ohio they seem ready, the tops are laying over and some are white & drying out.
I've been using them all year, pulled half last weekend and let them dry on the deck.
I braided them this weekend to hang.
Will pull the rest this week to cure in the sun/shade.

[IndyGerdener]

I have all green stalks, but the bulbs are peaking out above the soil line. is this any indication?

[dtlove129]

Indy, don't think that matters. Most people have part of the bulb out of the ground when they plant it. If your stalks are still upright and green then I would leave them be except for pulling them for green onions.

[DoubleDogFarm]

You being in Indiana, did you plant long day or short day onions?

Wait until 2/3 of your onion plants are laying over, then push over the tops of the rest. This will start the curing process. The necks will shrivel and the bulbs should form paper skins.

Here are my Copra onions last year. These are not ready.
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Garden%20Vegetables/VegetableGardenJuly30th2011030.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Garden%20Vegetables/VegetableGardenJuly30th2011011.jpg[/img]
Harvesting
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Vegetables%20and%20%20Fruits/CopraOnionsSept9th2011001.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Double%20Dog%20Farm%20%20%20Vegetables%20and%20%20Fruits/CopraOnionsSept9th2011009.jpg[/img]

Eric

[IndyGerdener]

Actually I got them from my neighbor who had no place to plant them. he just handed me a hand full. This is the first time for me, and I have no idea what he was doing with them

[DoubleDogFarm]

Central Indiana
https://timssquarefootgarden.com/blog/?p=316
https://timssquarefootgarden.com/blog/?p=204

May help
Eric

[IndyGerdener]

How long does it take to form the paper layer from bending the tops?

BTW pictures help alot!!

Thanks

[DoubleDogFarm]

Depending on your weather, maybe up to two weeks.

Eric

[IndyGerdener]

Well I bent all tops last night. I would say 50% were bent on their own

[jal_ut]

Onions can be harvested and used at any stage of their development. When going for dry onions for storage, you can let them go until the tops fall over and are getting pretty well dried up. I never have long enough season here for that to happen, so August 15 I step on all the tops to knock them down so they will start drying up. Then about 3 weeks later I harvest them and put them in the shed spread out to finish drying. They have to be protected from freezing temps and rain/snow, which is soon to come in this country. When the tops are paper dry, you cut them off and bag the onions.