Harvest

When to harvest onions and shallots

The short answer

Lift onions once the leaves have yellowed and started to topple, and before the foliage has died down completely. Autumn-planted sets are usually ready in June and July; spring-planted sets and seed-raised onions from July to October. Shallots follow the same sign, the foliage yellowing and flopping over, in mid to late summer.

Onions tell you when they are ready. The hard part is the week after: RHS no longer recommends bending the tops over to hurry them, and a bulb lifted and dried properly will keep for months where a bruised one rots in store.

When it's ready in the UK

The RHS gives June to July for onions from autumn-planted sets, and July to October for spring-planted sets and onions grown from seed. You can pull an onion to use fresh at any size you like; the signs below are for a crop you want to store.

Shallots are ready in mid to late summer, depending on the variety, when they were planted and the weather.

Onions and shallots: sowing, planting and harvest months in Vercro's catalogue
Window	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Onion: sow indoorsFebruary to March	January: no	February: yes	March: yes	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Onion: sow outsideMarch to April	January: no	February: no	March: yes	April: yes	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Onion: plant outApril to May	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: yes	May: yes	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Onion: harvestJuly to September	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: yes	August: yes	September: yes	October: no	November: no	December: no
Autumn-planted onion: sow outsideAugust to September	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: yes	September: yes	October: no	November: no	December: no
Autumn-planted onion: harvestMay to July	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: yes	June: yes	July: yes	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Shallot: sow indoorsJanuary to February	January: yes	February: yes	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Shallot: sow outsideMarch to April	January: no	February: no	March: yes	April: yes	May: no	June: no	July: no	August: no	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no
Shallot: harvestJune to August	January: no	February: no	March: no	April: no	May: no	June: yes	July: yes	August: yes	September: no	October: no	November: no	December: no

Months from Vercro's crop catalogue, the data the Vercro app plans with. It allows about 17 weeks from sowing to the first harvest. Weather, variety and where you garden move every one of these.

278 UK gardeners had recorded onion in Vercro by 19 September 2026. What Vercro gardens are growing.

How to tell it's ready

The leaves yellow and topple over. This is the sign the bulbs are reaching maturity.(RHS)
For shallots, the foliage turns yellow and flops over.(RHS)
For a fresh onion, any size will do. You can harvest onions when they reach the size you like and use them straight away.(RHS)

How to harvest

Pick a dry day. Bulbs lifted into dry weather start drying at once.(Garden Organic)
Lift before the foliage has died down completely, easing each bulb out with a fork and taking care not to damage or bruise it.(RHS)
Leave the tops standing. Bending the foliage over to break the roots used to be common advice; RHS says it is no longer recommended.(RHS)
For shallots, lever each cluster out with a hand fork, then carefully separate the clusters into individual bulbs.(RHS)

What moves the date

When they were planted. Autumn sets are ready in early summer, spring sets and seed-raised onions from July to October.(RHS)
Variety, planting time and the weather all move the date for shallots.(RHS)
A cold spring. Low temperatures in spring can make onions and shallots flower (bolt), which ends their storing life.(RHS, RHS)

If you leave it too long

Bolted bulbs will not store well. Use any onion or shallot that has sent up a flower stalk first.(RHS, RHS)
Damaged bulbs rot in store. Use any bruised or damaged onions straight away.(RHS)
Foliage fully dead is later than RHS would lift. Its advice is to harvest before that point.(RHS)

After picking

Dry them for about two weeks, on racks in the sun, or under cover if the weather is damp.(RHS, RHS)
Store once the foliage is papery, somewhere light, cool, dry and airy. Not in the dark, which encourages sprouting.(RHS)
Store only perfect, undamaged bulbs.(RHS)
How long they keep: autumn-planted onions until early winter; spring-planted and seed-raised onions until the following spring; shallots at least six to eight months.(RHS, RHS)

Curing, plaiting and where to keep them: how to dry and store onions and garlic.

Where the sources differ

Two good sources, two answers. We show both rather than picking the convenient one.

Where the sources differ
Question	RHS	Garden Organic
When to lift onions	Before the foliage dies down completely, once it has yellowed and toppled.	On a dry day about two weeks after the leaves turn yellow. Its storage page waits until all the leaves have fallen over naturally.
When to lift shallots	When the foliage turns yellow and flops over.	Once the leaves start to yellow, around July.

Keep a record of what each bed gave

Log what you pick, and how much, bed by bed. Vercro keeps the record, so next year you know what worked where, and Today shows what your crops need next.

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Where this comes from

Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.

Onions: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
How to grow shallots, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Onion (bulb), Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.
Shallot growing sheet, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.