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When Should I Harvest Onions?

16 years ago

I have always harvested onions when the leaves fell over. But I have been thinking than a fallen-over leaf is still green and, therefore, performing photo-synthesis and that the sugars thus prduced would be going to the bulb. So is this a valid argument not to harvest until the leaves have started to turn yellow? Experienced onion growers please advise. Regards, Peter.

Comment (1)

wcthomas
16 years ago
Hi Peter,

I harvest when the tops are down AND the necks are soft & mushy, even though the tops are green. Like you I reason that green tops are feeding the bulbs, but I read somewhere that when the necks are real soft the process stops. I too would like to hear more on this from the experts.

Tom
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