I need my potato onions looked at

[T]

Hi All,

My potato onions are starting to look a little ragged. Is it time to dig them up yet?

Many thanks,

-T

[songbird]

nothing wrong with using them any time you want as they are an onion right? so use them now or after they've died back completely or and place in between.

in general with bulbed crops like onions you'll get the biggest bulb when the leaves have died back almost completely, but many people will lift their onions before that stage because of chances of them rotting in more moist climates. and they need to dry to get ready for storage. if you wait too long into the cooler and wetter weather you may not get them dried well enough, etc.

dig some up and look at them. when you get enough of them growing you can pull some every once in a while just to get a sense of how they grow and when they divide and if they go dormant and for how long, how the new bulbs form...

songbird

[T]

Thank you!

Do I now stop watering them?

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

if they're still actively growing i wouldn't. i don't stop watering the onions here until they've fallen over.

the thing with onions like these is that they multiply so you can start using them anytime they reach a size you want and you'll likely have plenty of smaller replacements to replant.

dry them well and then store in a dark place until replanting time or just take your chances and leave some behind for every plant you harvest and they'll likely regrow.

move some dirt aside and see how they're doing. that's how you learn. check things out, look, observe.

and of course put some in more than one location because you never know what the weather and soil will do. nice to have a few someplace as a backup in case the other spots fail, etc. eventually you may even find they've become too many.

for me this year, we're mowing the spot i wanted to dig up all the garlic to get it out of there. injuries have prevented me from getting that done so Mom will mow it until i can get back to it.

songbird

[T]

Thank you!

Asa soon as the weather services says no more thunderstorms for a while, I plan on digging one up and set it to drying in the sun.