Bending onion tops before harvesting article first appeared on Agribusiness Magazine. Like their Facebook Page for more tips
To new farmers , rolling down onion tops may seem like a questionable thing to do, but many farmers think folding onion tops before harvesting onions is a useful practice.
Why Do You Fold the Tops of Onions?
If the demand is too high, you can sell the onions right away, so folding onion tops isn’t really necessary as the plant is going directly to the kitchen. However, if your goal is to store the onions, rolling down onion tops encourages the onion to turn brown and stop taking up water, thus boosting the final process of filling up. When sap no longer flows through the plant, growth stops and the onion will soon be ready to harvest and cure for storage. This is where Tanzanians beat us.
When to Fold Onion Tops
This is the easy part. Fold or bend onion tops when the onion leaves begin to turn yellow and fall over on their own. This occurs when the onions are large and the tops are heavy. Once you’ve folded the top of the onions, leave the onions in the ground for several days. Withhold water during this final bulb filling period.
How to Roll Down Onion Tops
The technique for folding tops is totally up to you. If you’re an orderly farmer and messiness drives you crazy, you can fold the tops over carefully, creating rows that keep your onion bed tidy. On the other hand, if you tend to be casual about the appearance of your garden, simply walk through the onion patch and step on the tops to bend them further. Don’t, however, step directly on the onion bulbs. You can roll an empty drum on top of the onions for easy folding.
Harvesting After Folding Onion Tops
When the onion tops turn brown and the onions are easy to pull from the soil, it’s time to harvest the onions. Onion harvest is best performed on a dry, sunny day. Cut the neck with a sharp knife just at the area of bending. For the roots, give them a shave just slightly below the base.
