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lilion

My onions keep falling over!

lilion
14 years ago

Okay, I have a raised bed with very nice, loose compost and soil. I have never grown onions before. My plants are looking great, but my onions, which I started from sets, are falling over. No bulbs yet, of course, but they look big and healthy, about 18" tall, other than the falling down bit, of course. I keep straightening them up and firming the soil on the side they fall to, but is that normal?

Comments (10)

  • farmerdilla
    14 years ago

    They normally fall over when they start bulbing up. Careful not to cover the bulb with dirt. they do best half out of the ground.

  • okiehobo
    14 years ago

    I totally concure with FARMERDILLA, in fact when they first start to break over I go along and break all of them over, and also pull some of the dirt away from the bulb.
    Good luck.

  • okiehobo
    14 years ago

    Sorry but I forgot to add the reason for breaking them over is to let the plant put all Its energy into the bulbs.

  • canuckistani
    14 years ago

    Will moving aliums totally messing up the bulbing process?

  • msyoohoo
    14 years ago

    I'm not sure if onions and leeks are treated the same way (although I suspect they are) but I was told to give the leeks a little "haircut" from time to time. My experience is that this has given the leeks a nice strong stalk.

  • anney
    14 years ago

    alys

    After being alarmed about my onion plant leaves "bending" and growing all catty-wumpused, my mind was finally set to rest. This year's my first growing them, too.

    I think that when they're ready for harvest, they'll ALL turn yellow-brown and fall over. They won't be that green if untidy-looking mass of mostly upright leaves anymore. I have a couple of small ones doing this now, so I'll uproot and dry those now.

    Given their DTM, mine should be ready sometime in June unless they bolt before then. I can already see some of the onions above the soil, half-buried, and am pleased with their size, though I'm not counting on giants!

  • lilion
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks, but perhaps I should have reworded that. It isn't that the tops bend down, it's that the entire onion, from the ground up, leans over. Like this / . Only think of a much more pronounced angle. Bending I wouldn't mind.

    Or are we talking about the same thing? It's like they are growing out of the ground nearly sideways.

  • skagit_goat_man_
    14 years ago

    This early in the season I'd consider watering them more. Onions can use up to 30" rain/season. Tom

  • lilion
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I'm sure it isn't a lack of water, we've had a very wet spring in Missouri.

    I keep thinking that, because the soil is so very loose, they simply can't stand upright? I've had to stake my broccoli to keep it up.

    Will they grow okay if they keep falling over?

  • cyrus_gardner
    14 years ago

    To Alys

    If you have planted your onions in rows, there is a simple method to keep them standing up:

    Get some bamboo stakes (or any stake about 1/2in in dia).
    Stick two of them at each end, 2-3 in apart.
    Run a twine around them, twisting it around each stake couple of times (making a narrow rectangle.)
    Do this at 6" above ground then about one foot, ..
    Your onions will stand up.