Onions - Mildew

Hi folks.

A few days ago I dug up my onions and put them in the greenhouse to dry. Anyway, yesterday I was looking through my new T&M catalogue and they were advertising a 'downy mildew' resistant variety, 'Santero'. There was a picture showing onions affected by 'downy mildew', and I quickly realised that mine looked exactly the same. So, I'm assuming that mine won't last and quickly go rotten? Is there some way of maybe freezing them before it's a total loss? Also, is there anything I can do to prevent it in the future?

Cheers...Freddy.

 

Hey Freddy,

Any that have signs of mold on, I use straight away.

If you freeze them, it'll disrupt the cell structure so they won't be crisp, but you could cook them first & freeze in small amounts for adding to meals.

I buy bags of fried onions from the international supermarket as I love lobbing a few in sandwiches when i'm in a hurry. As far as I can work out they are just fried & then dried.

 

Hi Ziggy, thanks for that.

Any idea how I can prevent it in future?

 

Not a lot you can do Freddy. The fungal spores can survive for several years in the soil. Even when there were chemical controls available they were not all that effective.
See this RHS fact sheet >
Onion downy mildew / Royal Horticultural Society

 

Hi Dave, thanks for that.

Looks like I'll have to try the resistant varieties in future. A pity, because although they're infected, they really are quite good/large.

Cheers...Freddy.

 

An alternative to freezing Freddy is dehydrating this simply removes the water and doesn't destroy the cell structure as freezing does. The initial investment in a dehydrator isn't cheap but might be worth thinking about if you've other produce you'd like to preserve. We're currently dehydrating tomatos and have just done a some plums and apples.

 

Sorry to hear about the mildew Freddy , as this is my first onion growing year I am trying to pick up as much info as possible. So hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread. I have just harvested my shallots , and have them in my shed to dry for 1 to 2 weeks . Why do I need to dry onions Is it to help the storage of them , and/or does it improve the flavour for cooking ?

TIA

 

It stops them rotting during storage. I usually plait mine on strings and hang on a south facing wall until dried and then store them on their strings under the wide eaves of my shed. This year it's been so wet that I've just hung them out of the rain under the eaves.

 

With the rain & lack of sun, I wish i'd ignored the advice to "leave them in another 6 weeks" & gone with the gut feeling to pull them when they were ready. Loosing quite a few to mold now.

 

Not had any mould problems this year myself on onions.

I did not realise downy mildew affected the storing potential, I assumed it was a mould of the growing plant and if thoroughly dried might not be a problem.
But I'm probably wrong.

I always make sure the necks of the bulbs are totally dry before storing.
I've just strung the last few today, they had been roasting in the cold frame, lid down but with ventilation, for two weeks.