Help with onions

[HunkieDorie23]

My brother planted onions about 6 wks ago (two weeks before me) and now his onions are starting to develop seeds. I have never seen this happen this early. I told him that I thought he should remove the seeds from the top of the onions so they continue to develop but that I was going to check here first.

Is this right? Anyone else having this problem?

 

[seedcorn]

destroy seed heads so that the plant then uses all it's energy developing the bulb.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

destroy seed heads so that the plant then uses all it's energy developing the bulb.

OK, that is what I thought. I have never had my onions seed. I always havest them before but they are always large and ready to be picked. His are still quite small, about the size of a quarter. Did he plant them to early and they are bolting? I know some cool weather plants do this but I haven't heard of onions doing it. I always manage to get my onions in late so I don't have to deal with colder weather.

 

[digitS']

Stress encourages plants to bolt to seed. The cause could be heat or drought or cold temperatures for some plants.

I bought 3 different onion varieties from Dixondale Farms in Texas a couple years ago. Only the Mars red onions bolted to seed and fortunately only about 25% of them. I checked with Dixondale as to why they thought this happened and was told that they had just been too stressed by the cold weather after planting.

I overwintered some Walla Walla's one year and they bolted (that happened more than once :/). Just to see what they would do, I broke off the seed stalks. They stayed alive and grew into something like leek-sized green onions. We used a few in the kitchen and they were fine but these plants never produced a bulb.

. . . just my 2

Steve

 

[vfem]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but onions are a cool season crop and when they bolt (or go to seed) it wrecks the veggie/fruit!? Aren't you supposed to plant onions in fall or super early spring, late winterish?

I would assume the onion is no good now... like when lettuce, brocolli, ect goes to seed they're no good to eat.

 

[digitS']

About 1 year out of 3, I could get August-sown Walla Walla's thru the winter and to a nice crop in July.

In 2 out of 3 years, they would bolt immediately to seed in late Spring - or, most of them would. But, that's in my neck of the woods . . .

I gave up trying to do this and just start them in the greenhouse in late winter (& order plants from Texas ).

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Don't know anything about walla walla except they taste good. But yellow/white onions, if allowed to go to seed, can still be eaten but used more like a scallion than what we are use to in onions.

To get the big bulbs, they can't be allowed to go to seed.

 

[mtn_penny]

We always just pull those ones up for green onions.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I started to get the flowerheads forming on my Walla Wallas too. They are starting to bulb nicely, so I decided to snip the flowerheads off and see what they will do. They have been grown over winter in my greenhouse, which is probably the only way I'll ever be able to grow onions from seed. I'm hoping if caught early enough, it won't affect the bulbs too badly.

I also have considered moving them outside. I have heard that for some plants, if you shock them by moving them, they will stop bolting.

Edited for gramar.