I cured mine that were harvested in June in the spare room which is dry and cool (AC) and they did fine. Maybe curing them outside in the shade is a convenience for many, but given all the rain we had, I'm glad they cured inside. They need those dry skins to preserve them. I'd be nervous about leaving them in the rain.

I cure mine inside, too. They are currently hung on strings across my family room with the ceiling fans on. Last night, while I was sitting underneath them, shelling dried beans, the string broke. A bit disconcerting to have your neating-arrange-by-variety, rather-heavy onions fall unexpectedly on your head. So, my point is: if you are going to hang them inside, make sure your sting is strong enough!!

Other than that, I think there is far more risk leaving them outside.

Bellatrix

I cure mine in those short tomato boxes that I get at the grocery store. They're always throwing them out. Nice and strong too.

I put the boxes on the shelves of my little indoor greenhouse (plastic off) and give them a turn every couple of days. Works well so far.

Mind you, I really don't grow that many onions, maybe 50 or so.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:99214}}

We cure our onions by hanging them from a rope in the barn (they don't fall and bonk us on the head with a strong sturdy rope)and just leave them there until we need to bring some into the house for use. Last year we used up the last of the onions in April, as I remember. This works for the yellow, white and red onions we grow. Our neighbor, when she saw our strings of onions, thought they were decorative!

Here's a great onion planting and harvesting guide. Go to page 2, then look in the right hand column for harvesting and curing info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Onion Planting Guide

I have mine spread in a shed wich is well shaded and aired.
Now they look more like those sold in the stores.
By the way this was my first time growing onions but it turned out fine. I have re, white and yellow ones.

Much later inthe game I learned that you have to plant onions very shallow and when they start growing bulbs, move the soil around them away such that abou half of bulbs are exposed.

I think you're confusing things. You harvest them a week or two after the tops fall over. Then you let them dry for while, take off the outer layer with the dirt, trim the tops and roots and bag them in an onion bag.

Now sweet potatoes are left out in the sun for a day to dry and then you cure them before eating. Maybe you just have it all jumbled up. Garlic is also cured for two weeks for storage.

A lot of people online do say to pull up the onions and leave them out to cure a bit. I never leave mine out in the sun, I just lay them out on a table in the garage to let them dry and have never had a problem with that.

I pull mine and lay them down in a row 4 - 5 bulbs wide, side by side and put the tops of the next 4 - 5 on top of the previous ones to keep them shaded and so on down the row. Since it is usually hot and dry during this curing time it has worked well over the years. One year the blubs got rained on but no problems resulted.

Michael

I'm in my 3rd year growing onions in larger quantities. First year, I harvested and cured them on the floor of my shop with what I thought was good ventilation and cool temps from fear of sunburning them if let outside, I lost almost half to rot. Last year, pulled and cured like Michael by covering with the tops out in the garden and didn't lose a single one. I finally chopped the last 10 lbs last month and froze them as this year's crop was starting and the stored onions were sprouting. I've got about 600 in the ground and stopped watering 2 varieties yesterday. They'll come out of the ground this weekend and I'll cure them in the garden for a week or so before storing.
Good luck
Doug

Sounds good unless it's a "sweet" onion like Wala Wala. In which case I have found the Fridge to be the better storage location.

i have been curing my onions on the front porch, on sheets of newspaper. when curing your onions do not clean them. there are websites saying to peel and clean your onions first. but you dont need too. i pulled mime from the garden and straight to the porch to cure. then will hang them up in old pair of nylons whicih i will wash first. and then hang on the front porch until ready to use.