GOT A FRUIT OR VEG PROBLEM? ASK KG FOR HELP

THIS MONTH’S EXPERT PANEL:

EMMA RAWLINGS

Deputy editor, Kitchen Garden magazine

ANDREW TOKELY

Horticultural director, Kings Seeds

MIKE THURLOW

Adviser to the National Allotment Society

BOB FLOWERDEW

Contributor to Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time

STEVE OTT

Editor, Kitchen Garden magazine

SHOOTING ONIONS

For the last three years I have had trouble keeping my onion crop. I lifted them in late July and made sure that they were completely dry before stringing them and hanging in the shed, but each year by mid-October they have started shooting.

Could it possibly be because of the milder weather we have been having the past few years or is it something that I am doing wrong?The two varieties are ‘Sturon’ and ‘Shakespeare’.

Greg Newman, New Forest

MIKE SAYS:There are two critical stages in preparing the onions. First is drying the bulbs, second is ‘curing’ them.The drying process involves waiting until the foliage begins to lose its colour prior to the leaves falling over.This is an indication the bulbs have stopped growing and are shutting down naturally. Wait until 80% of the leaves have fallen over before lifting the entire crop. At this stage it is safe to bend down the leaves of remaining plants.