[Yorky]

Many of my onion sets, sown in April, are falling over. The stems seem too heavy and have either pulled up the actual onion sets also or at the very least the stems are bent.

Should I straighten the sets up again and firm them in? Why would this have happened?

Thanks in advance.

[michael brenock]

If the sets are being uprooted then you have a root disease called Rhizoctonia in the roots . usually after growing onions in the same plot previously. There is no treatment, prevention only . if the stems only are bent and lying over then that is normal and natural, a prelude to bulbing and maturity. onion stems especially heavy ones blow over easily in strong winds. the size of the leaves determines the size of the bulbs.
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)