Topic: how to store onions?

[Karen Atkinson]

dug up my onions... now wondering best way to store them. They've been in the grreehouse drying for a week..

[tim]

Nicest in a string - ours live in the kitchen as decoration.

Convenient too!

[saddad]

or hung up in those "holey" plastic string bags... or on trays.. they need to be dry and have air around them.

[gavinjconway]

I would need a HUGE kitchen...

I do mine in the greenhouse with the door open so they dont get too hot. They live there till they are finished...

[tim]

Point taken!

We have 4x6' strings.

[saddad]

If in doubt.... soup  ;D

[brown thumb]

mines drying in the greenhouse at the mo but will be stringed and hung from a purpose built beam in the apex of the roof of it and took home as needed and hung the utility room

[antipodes]

I dry mine then put them in those net bags that supermarket onions come in. I then lie the bags on cardboard in the cellar. I used the last of the 2010 crop in August!!!

[petefj]

At this time of the year my wife gives me her old tights, and these are used to store onions.  Drop one onion in, knot above it and repeat and repeat until one leg is full.  Then do the other leg.  Works a dream because it allows air to get to them and when you want an onion just cut above the knot and bob's your uncle!

[katynewbie]

I asked (politely) at a local sandwich shop if they would save their plastic, orange bags for me. They get huge quantities of onions in them and were happy to give them away. One less in the landfill...

[Alex133]

I thought they needed to be kept in the dark and that a greenhouse would be too cold??

[Anisemary]

GJT, I came up with almost the same idea as you today, a freestanding length of aluminium staging, with 2" dia. clematis netting secured to the top, then the stems and leaves pushed through the holes with the onion heads resting facing up on the top. You appear to have some like that and some stood with the stems bent down, which would you say is the better way to dry them, and will the thick necked ones EVER dry enough to be made into strings! I keep my staging in the piggery and bring it out into the sun on dry days, but they seem to be taking forever for the moisture to go from the leaves and stems.

[gavinjconway]

I reckon the greens to be bent downwards so they dont let any bugs in... But I really dont know if it will make any diff.. All mine are bend downwards.. I keep them like basically till they are finished into the next season being self sufficient with them.. The cold freezing winter dosent seem to be a problem but I will occasionally cover them with some newspaper to protect a bit... some do get placed in open boxes in the shed.. more to make some space in the greenhouse so maybe its a good idea to use a few different places.

The cellar idea in the above post sounds a good idea..

I also contemplated storing my spuds under my floorboards this year as I have a small trapdoor to get below... anyone got any ideas on this??

[Aden Roller]

We have quite a large garage and no car  :) so there's tons of space overhead to hang onions and shallots tied in short strings and suspended from the rafters.

At the moment the potatoes are in there too as there's more space than under the stairs which is where they usually go when it gets much colder.

[gavinjconway]

Aden - Dont strore onions near potatoes... they give off a gas which affects the spuds.. search for a recent thread on this or lots of info on Google.. How close is close?? dont know..

In Zimbabwe we used to have a tripple open sided car-port with many rather long roof trusses which were ideal for tying and hanging up the onions...   :)

[picman]

Be careful you can looses the whole crop. After the tops have fell over lift out of the ground gently with a fork and leave them where they are for a week or so then place upside down with the tops, on a racking outside for a couple of weeks , the oil in the roots has to be absorbed, trim the tops and store in dry place with plenty of air , greenhouse staging is ideal. then into an onion bag/net when they are a good colour  and hard. use any soft ones straight away.

[Aden Roller]

Aden - Dont strore onions near potatoes... they give off a gas which affects the spuds.. search for a recent thread on this or lots of info on Google.. How close is close?? dont know..

In Zimbabwe we used to have a tripple open sided car-port with many rather long roof trusses which were ideal for tying and hanging up the onions...   :)

Thanks for the tip.
My potatoes are on the floor and the onions at the other end of a 20' garage and over head so 7' off the ground. There's a fair bit of ventilation. It's only for a few weeks after that the potatoes will come inside.

I'll search and see if I can come up with any info. Thanks.  :)

[Unwashed]

I thought they needed to be kept in the dark and that a greenhouse would be too cold??

I read that onions are better stored in the light.

I've made strings a couple of years and it is an attractive way to keep them, but if you're lazy like me they seem to do find in one of those supermarket carboard trays, the 4" high ones that the produce comes in.

[brown thumb]

well managed to finish digging my white onions to day,  very pleased with the size of them as was hot and  dry when i first planted them and then its been horrible since, Several was as large around as a soup bowl (not dessert) I ran of room on the staging so up turned a old bread tray and pushed the stems through the holes