Onions and wind damage

[Annpan]

It hasn't been nearly as windy up here as it has down South over the past few days but my onions are starting to get blown over and broken.

I am new to most of this veg growing stuff, is it OK just to leave my onions as is, or should I fold them, or break them off, or what?

Thankyou

[MINESAPINT]

I have the same problem. The local weather station reported winds of 63 mph on Sunday. The winter onions are mostly laid flat but they are tennis/cricket ball size anyway so I will just use them straight out of the ground throughout summer/autumn. The Spring planted onions have not suffered so badly. I do have some strawberry plants with all the leaves blown off with just green strawberries visible.

[Odsox]

If they are overwintered onions (autumn sown) then they are just about to ripen anyway and would have fallen over all by themselves.
It's usual to loosen them a bit ... sort of half pull them up, to break a few of the roots so that they complete the ripening process. They keep better if they are fully ripened.

[Annpan]

Mine are spring planted onions - I have just spotted flowers forming too... any suggestions? They are still quite small.

[Odsox]

If they are flowering they won't keep, but are still perfectly OK for cooking. Just nip the flowering spike off and leave till you need that next onion.
I would also leave the foliage of the other ones on the ground, they are probably not broken just bent over and will keep on growing for another couple of months yet.

[Enormous Sage]

Yep, the wind hit my veggies and did some damage.
Lost a couple of strawb plants, x3 sweetcorn plants (which I've stood up again in hope) and a Huckleberry plant.

Odd as I assumed the wind would destroy the tomato plants, but they're unscathed - it seems to have ripped into the strawberries for some bizzare reason.

[andyt]

hi Ann Pan,
try not to break foliage, as the resultant aroma could attract the dreaded onion fly. Last year all the shoots on my onions "fell over", well before harvesting time.I kept it off the ground by laying it over a string line between two canes. Had a great crop (which subsequently fell foul to Neckrot in storeage....oh bugger!!)

[QuizMaster]

I've seen them knocked down by the wind, then curl up and start growing again.
We're surrounding our plot with fast-growing willow, as a very effective windbreak. 2 rows, about a foot apart, each row with sallies 18 inches apart. Stagger the 2 rows. They do their job already in year 1. By year 2 you can cut and propagate in Februrary. By year 5 we'll be coppicing them for firewood.

We live near Malin Head, the most northerly point in Ireland. Trust me, it's windy.

[Odsox]

Thanks for that Q.Master.
I live the opposite end at Mizen Head and I am almost certainly going to plant some hybrid willows for firewood, but I was a bit concerned about the wind. Your post has put my mind at rest on that score.
Just got to find out if hybrids suffer from the willow rust that the local native willows get every year.

[Millymollymandy]

Mine are falling over but that's because they are nearly ready to harvest and are going brown, but I would imagine that in Scotland that is not the case yet as in SW England people's runner beans were only just starting to flower but mine were already about 10 foot tall and having millions of beans!