Harvest onions for storage when the neck of the plant dries down, the tops have fallen over, and the roots are dry and have stopped growing from the stem plate. At that time the outer scales of the bulb are drying out and do not cling tightly (outer scales of yellow-skinned varieties change to a darker color).
Pull the onions by hand and lay in a windrow to cure with the tops placed over the bulbs to prevent sun-scald. Onions may also be cured in an open shed. Remove onions with thick neck (seeders) before storage and discard all diseased bulbs.
After curing, place onions in open-slatted crates or burlap bags for further field curing or drying. Then place in storage. You may use either common storage or refrigerated storage.
Low temperatures in storage reduce shrinkage due to moisture loss and stop disease development. Keep the humidity as low as possible. Good management of ventilation is important. Ventilate storage early in the morning.
Onions held in cold storage should be placed there immediately after curing. A temperature of 32° F is ideal and will keep onions dormant and relatively free of rot. If sprouts grow it indicates too high a temperature, poor curing, or immature bulbs. If you have root growth the humidity is too high. The humidity should be 65 to 70 percent.
Do not store onions with produce that is likely to absorb the odor. Onions stand slight freezing, but do not handle or move them until they thaw. You can store onions in a dry, well ventilated attic or unheated room. Maintain as near 32° F as you can and keep as dry as possible. You can hang open-mesh bags, about half full, from overhead hooks or nails. Slatted half full crates of onions may be stacked on cross bars.
Apples, Pears
Chemical changes take place in the ripening process of apples and pears. This activity is called respiration. Starch changes to sugar, acids and insoluble pectins decrease, and volatile gases are given off. This continues until the fruit becomes overripe and mealy. During this ripening process oxygen is consumed from the air, and water and carbon dioxide are produced and heat is generated.
You may slow respiration by cooling fruit as rapidly as possible after picking. The sooner this is done the longer the fruit will keep.
Research indicates that when apples are stored at 30° F, about 25 percent more time is required for them to ripen than at 32°. Stored at 40°, the rate of ripening is about double that at 32°. At 60° the rate is close to three times that at 40°, and at 85° the softening and respiration rates have been found to be about double those at 60°. This emphasizes the importance of cooling quickly and keeping cold. The average freezing point of apples is about 28° or 29°.