What is the best way to keep cultivated onions from sprouting or growing mold? Healing. The harvest is the first step in this simple method, which keeps them in the cupboard for many months. Discover how to maximize the shelf life of your onions so they remain as fresh as the day you picked them, how to determine when your crop is ready, and what to do with the flower stalks.
If you cure onions, they may be stored for up to a year. Here’s how.
A whole season after the initial onion seeds were planted, those little black dots have gradually expanded into a bed of protruding brown (or red, or white) globes forcing their way out of the ground.
The best aspect about growing onions, especially storage onions, is being able to choose a fresh onion from the pantry months after you’ve pulled it from the ground. However, onions may be harvested and consumed at any time.
Curing enables that.
The secret to extended storage
To prepare your onions for storage, you must cure them for a month. Onions may be kept for a very long period after being properly cured, sometimes even into the spring, depending on the circumstances. Onions, however, are not all made equal.
In general, pungent onions keep longer than mild onions and long-day types store longer than short-day kinds (the “long” in long-day refers to the onion requiring 14 to 16 hours of sun to mature correctly).
Typically, mild onions have papery skins that peel easily, thick rings, and a big, juicy body. They are sweet enough to eat raw, but they are especially good in deep-fried “bloomin’ onions” and onion rings.
Sadly, even when cured and kept in ideal storage conditions, the majority of mild onions only survive two to three months. You should consume mild onions initially if they are part of your harvest.
In contrast, pungent onions may be stored for up to a year or even six months. They are renowned for causing you to cry when you cut them, and they are often smaller in size with thinner rings and tighter skins.
The more pungent the onion, the longer it will keep since the sulfurous components that cause eye stinging also prevent rot.
The longest-lasting kind of onions
We just have to come to terms with the fact that the South cannot produce long-storing onions.
However, long-day storage onions that are developed for winter storage are preferred in northern areas. These include mild to moderately pungent globe onions, which come in white, yellow, and red varieties.
Sweet onions of the short-day and intermediate varieties are often kept for one to three months.
Texas Legend, a short-day yellow globe that can occasionally survive up to four months, and Red Creole, a short-day red globe that keeps exceedingly well, are the outliers.
According to the “days to maturity” label on your specific seed packet, onions are generally ready for harvesting 100 to 150 days after seed. If you planted onion sets, you can anticipate harvesting them in 60 to 80 days. (Onion sets are small onions that can be transplanted; these are typically a better option for people with short growing seasons, and they have a higher success rate in spring because they can withstand light freezes.)

How long does it take to grow onions?
Onions may often be harvested 100–150 days after planting. (The “days to maturity” label on your specific seed packet will tell you this timing.) You might anticipate harvesting in 60 to 80 days if you planted onion sets.
(Onion sets are transplantable, little onions that are often a better option for those with short growing seasons. They are more likely to succeed in the spring since they can tolerate light frost.)
The harvest is the first step for prolonged storage.
Wait for half of the plants to topple first.
Your onions’ stems are lush, content, and green while they are growing aggressively over the longer spring and summer days. Those stalks may even be topped with a few onion blossoms.
You’ll notice that the lowest leaves begin to yellow and wither when the bulbs complete developing in the middle to late summer. The stems will soon topple over at the neck. One or two plants at a time, followed by the others, until it appears as though your entire crop is dying.
Do not be alarmed. Knowing when to harvest depends on the leaves!
After half to three-quarters of your crop has fallen, bend over the stems of any plants that are still erect. The plants will go into dormancy if you merely bend them with your hands above the bulb.
You’ll notice that the lowest leaves begin to yellow and wither when the bulbs complete developing in the middle to late summer. The stems will soon topple over at the neck. One or two plants at a time, followed by the others, until it appears as though your entire crop is dying.
Do not be alarmed. Knowing when to harvest depends on the leaves!
After half to three-quarters of your crop has fallen, bend over the stems of any plants that are still erect. The plants will go into dormancy if you merely bend them with your hands above the bulb.
Before harvesting, stop watering your onion crop.
Depending on how dry or humid your area is, you should stop watering onions when the first few plants begin to topple over and leave them in the ground for 7 to 14 days to enable them to complete growing. At this point, removing the water helps prevent the onions from becoming bad.
Rain also causes problems for mature onions, so if most of your onions are completely developed, pick them all before a heavy downpour is predicted.

As soon as the roots are harvested, dry them out.
Carefully remove each onion by the bulb on a sunny, dry day, or dig around the plant to remove the bulb from the ground. To lessen the chance of rot, make sure the stem remains intact. If you grab the weaker stem, it may rip off completely.
To dry out the roots, spread the onions out on the ground or in another bright, open spot for a day or two.
Keep the onions cured.
Move the onions to a protected, shaded area (under a tree, on a covered porch, or in a garage with good ventilation, for example) and spread them out one by one after enjoying a pleasant day in the sun.
The onions don’t need to be cleaned just yet. Simply leave them outside to dry until the stems get brittle and brown, dirt and all. The onions can enter a deeper state of dormancy during this rest phase, making them less vulnerable to illness.
You can lay them in the sun but cover them with a small cotton sheet to avoid sunburn if there isn’t any shade at all around your house. (Never suffocate them with canvas, plastic, or other heavy, non-breathable materials.)
You may cure your onions in a garage or basement if it rains a lot throughout the summer, but make sure to flip them over a few times a week to guarantee uniform drying. Onions prefer a warm (75°F to 80°F) yet windy environment as they cure.
Enough shade and good air circulation around the bulbs are the most crucial aspects of curing.
Instead of packing all your onions into a basket, it’s preferable to spread them out without packing them in.
It takes two to three weeks to complete this final phase in the curing process (and perhaps up to four weeks, if your summers are humid).
Your onions should be completely dry. The papery outer coats will dry up and shrink around the bulbs, and the roots will become wiry and rigid.

To determine which onions should be used up first, trim them.
After the roots and tops of the onion have completely dried, you may use garden scissors to cut off the stems and trim the roots. You will often get a clean, smooth onion after a few layers of the outer skin peel off with the stems.
Use up any onions that have blossom stalks emerging from the bulbs first. Even after curing, the flower stems retain a lot of moisture, which accelerates the onions’ rate of deterioration during storage. They typically stay for about a month and are safe to consume.
Additionally, onions that have bruises or blemishes should be used up first, as should onions whose skins have entirely fallen off.
For optimum shelf life, keep onions in a dry, dark, and airy area.
The ideal storage conditions for onions are a cold, dry, dark, and airy area, such as within burlap sacks, milk crates, wire or wicker baskets, brown paper bags, or nylon mesh bags.
For long-term storage, onions should be kept between 32°F and 45°F with 65–70% humidity. However, if you want your onions to endure, you should never keep them over 70°F. They should ideally be kept just above freezing but below room temperature.
Remember that onions require cold, dry conditions to remain dormant and are still very much alive after curing. They can come out of dormancy and re-sprout if the temperature or humidity changes.
Every few weeks, you should inspect your onions for any green shoots that could appear while they are being stored. Once, after letting my onions sit in a warm area for a few months, I returned to find my shelf covered in green tentacles that looked like aliens!

Bonus advice: preserve little onions for spring planting.
You’ve just produced your very own “set” of onions! If you happen to have some little onions (I typically get a couple that never got around to growing but are too small to be used as shallots), cure them and keep them for next year!
The tiny onions will grow into full-sized bulbs much more quickly if they are replanted in the spring. And you’ll reap a fresh crop even sooner!
What happens if onions are picked too early?
Onions have the advantage of being able to be picked at any point throughout their growth. Onions may be picked when they resemble scallions if you want the soft green tips, or you can just pluck them in the spring if you prefer little, salad-type onions.
Onions should be used up sooner rather than later if you pick them too soon (before they are fully grown). Compared to mature, cured onions, immature onions will not store well.
Do onions need to be cured?
No. Onions may be consumed at any stage of development and are edible straight from the ground. Onions that you wish to keep just need to be cured.
Additionally, growers of short-day onions in warm areas might not wish to endure the full curing process. You may just cut the onion, keep it in the pantry for use over the following few weeks, and let it dry (in the shade) for a few days after harvest if it will only be used for a month or so.
Shallots also respond well to curing.
Similar to globe onions, shallots are cured and kept. However, they heal in half the time (one to two weeks) due to their reduced size.
Shallots are ready to be collected in mid- to late-summer when their leaves begin to turn brown and fall over. They mature in approximately 90 days, which is a bit earlier than your onion crop. Watch for the tops to flop, then stop watering for a few days, just like you would with globe onions. Remove the shallots from the ground once at least half of the crop has turned brown.
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