Tending and Harvesting onions for storage
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Hoe and hand weed between rows regularly. Keep plants watered, especially in dry periods.
There are two main types of globe onions. Mild onions are typically large and juicy with thick rings and thin, papery skins that peel easily. They can be cooked, but can also be eaten raw on sandwiches, but unfortunately, mild onions do not keep well. Even when kept in ideal storage conditions, they will only maintain their eating quality for a month or two. So when you have both mild and pungent onions it is sensible to eat the mild onions first.
Pungent onions are generally smaller in size, have thinner rings, tighter skins and make your eyes sting as you peel them. The same sulphurous compounds that make your eyes water inhibit rot, so the
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Tending and Harvesting onions for storage
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more pungent the onion the longer you will be able to store them. If stored correctly in their own papery wrappers, some varieties will maintain their quality for as long as a year.
When the outer leaves begin to turn yellow, bend over the tops. This encourages early ripening and
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Tending and Harvesting onions for storage
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can give a large increase in weight. A fortnight later, loosen the bulbs and break their roots by pushing a fork underneath them and lifting slightly. This also assists ripening. In another fortnight, lift the with a fork and brush or shake off loose soil. and spread them to dry. After a few days of drying, cut off the tops all but one inch above the bulb, remove loose skin, taking care not to bruise the bulbs. Be sure onions are well dried and necks tight (i.e. the tissue does not slide when you roll the neck between your fingers) before cutting off the tops. Bacterial diseases and Botrytis Neck rot can move through green tissue into the bulbs. These diseases do not move in dry tissue. Then store in a cool, dry place. Lay them on slatted shelves, or hang them up in net bags or in plaited strings.
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