Topic: onions going to seed ?

[veggie perin]

Hi
first year growing red onions , 3 of them look as if they are going to seed, what causes this and can I stop this hapening to the rest of them?
your comments will be much appreciated.....VEGGIE

[agapanthus]

I think most people have the same problem with autumn planted onions. I know I have ;D
Take out the flowering shoot as it appears. Nothing you can do to stop it....they are doing
what comes naturally ;D

[Lady Cosmos]

Like Aga says cut off the flower stalks and Than lift the bulb and use as soon as possible because they will not store very well. >:(
It happen sometimes at early sowing or planting in a cold spring and planting in very loose soil. :( :(

[Paulines7]

Mine were planted in April but they too are going to seed.    :(  I have pulled the flowerheads off those plants concerned.  The bulbs are not fattening like they did last year so it looks as though I will have a failed crop, no doubt due to the extraordinary weather conditions this Spring.   Would it be too late to sow some more now? 

[Svea]

ah, question then: are my onions ready to be lifted? planted in november, looking bulked up already. no yelowing on the leaves, two or three trying to flower. some are keeling over.

ready or not ready?

[supersprout]

Would it be too late to sow some more now? 

My lottie neighbour is sowing Sturon Globe now, and he knows a thing or two! ::)

[David R]

red baron(from sets) - 6 onions out of 60 going to seed

stuttgarter none (from sets)!

It seems that if they are going to bolt they will and there's not much that can be done about it. Probably inefficient treatment at set stage.

as said before on this thread, eat 1st the bolted then store the good ones. The bolted ones will store a couple of weeks, maybe more if kept dry.

[Svea]

yes, but should they be lifted now, or grow for more weeks???

the sort i am growing is red electric (or something like that) overwintering onions grown from sets

[David R]

Svea, leave until the leaves have shrivelled up and gone papery. Those that tried to bolt will probably not shrivel and will have a thick stem (what would have been the flower stem). In any case its a bit early to harvest yet, give them more time.

[Paulines7]

Would it be too late to sow some more now? 

My lottie neighbour is sowing Sturon Globe now, and he knows a thing or two! ::)

Thanks for your reply SS, I will try and get hold of some Sturon Globe this week.

[umshamrock]

Mine sturon (planted in fall) were going to seed also so I was just eating them as needed...but yesterday I noticed that they didn't seem to be growing and were just sort of sitting there on top of the soil! So I gathered them all up and stuck them in the greenhouse to dry. I hope that was the right thing to do - but they are massive and I didn't want them to rot!

[Svea]

let me know how you get on, shamrock.
mine are all sizeable and i sure need the space on the plot!