onions going to seed

[susan1]

never had this happen last year. Any idea why some of my overwinterd onions have started to go to seed

[susan1]

[saddad]

A thousand and one "reasons"... but too late to do anything about it. Snap out the emerging flower bud asap and eat those onions first...  :-X

[susan1]

thanks

[ceres]

Mine too.  Pretty much every one of the red onions.  Never had that before, usually just the odd one.

[samela]

Mine too  :(

[saddad]

Touchwood.... mine seem OK... no doubt when I go down to look today thousands will have shot up overnight as we have a group coming round tonight.  :-[

[Plot69]

99% of my red onions went to seed last year. Swore I'd never grow reds from sets again.

If your pick off the buds, don't throw them away, they taste lovely. Trouble with pulling the buds off is it leaves a hollow tube all the way down to the center or the onion where water can get in and it rots them.

[tonybloke]

if folk want to plant red onions before the equinox, they most likely will bolt ( day-length sensitive) ;)

[chriscross1966]

I don't understand why folks grow onions from sets, they come through the propagators and greenhouse when there's precious little else to sow apart from broad beans and early peas and you never have to worry about squirrels or the possibility of them rotting away in a wet cold spring, there's a much wider range available and they never bolt in the first year (or at least I've never had them bolt)..... Sets might look easier but there's a lot more to go wrong....

I'm trying Long Red FLorence Simane this year for red onions.... it's a long torpedo of a bulb a bit like an Echalion shallot (I don't think I've spelt that right looking at it) ..... I think the best crop I ever had of reds from my old garden was Red Baron, grew 3-4 plants in a clump with the clumps at 6-8 inches. Lots of 2-3" bulbs in a couple of little 12 foot rows, and they kept really well..... 


chrisc

[saddad]

I'm trying onion from seed for the first time this year... they are doing as well as the sets... (at a fraction of the cost)  :)

[Barnowl]

I had good results from seed last year - Pink Torpedo - so have extended to include some new varieties (Walla Walla, Greek Salad) but am still hedging my bets by continuing with sets.

[thifasmom]

anyone have a picture of their onions from seeds (not the pampered grow for show ones) just your bog standard growing method IE germinated without heat and grown on in greenhouse.

I'm trying from seed this year as i got some in a swap and i made my first sowing in February but lost those cause i dropped the tray of largish seedlings and maimed the lot :'(. second sowing was done in March and i transplanted them  a few weeks ago outside.

I'm just trying to gauge if mine are the right size to get crop from this year, they seem so small. i grew from sets last year with 100% success but of course those were much bigger by this time.

[Barnowl]

Late sown Pink Torpedoes on 5th April 2008.
[attachment=1]

Planted around 10th May

[attachment=2]

Early August have bulbed up

[attachment=3]

They turned out perfectly ok, harvesting late August/Early September.

[cornykev]

My Winter Japanese Sensyhu are coming along nicely some are about a week or so away from picking, the opposite of CC I only do sets much easier and only cost £1 for a 1lb, I only ever have my summer onions bolt but not that many to worry about and I just eat them first.  ;D ;D ;D

[thifasmom]

thanks barnowl that's what mine look like at the moment, so at least i know they are on schedule.

[ceres]

they come through the propagators and greenhouse
chrisc

Not having propogators or a greenhouse might have something to do with it.