Ok I know that it is my first time growing veggies, but what do I do if me onions start to flower ??? They started life as onion sets and I have had no probs until I went down to the lottie tonight and found that some of them have started to throw up a flower. If I snip off the flower will that stop them being useless or is it a lost cause????
In a word - nip 'em!!
But the ones with a flower stem won't store. = Tim
have just struggled and giggled my way thru Ozz' reply - great if you're not in a hurry....but thanks for quick direct interpretation Tim ;) - feel I might need this advice soon, noticed my onion tops are going yellowy!
Thank you Ozzy....I think ??? Where have you been?? Thanks Tim onions have been 'nipped' and will use them first. H.P my tips are going yellow too :o :D :o What do we do???
After visit this morning to lottie...I also nipped off a few heads....Mimi - wonder if the 'yellowing tips' are anything to do with something lacking in the soil....as I've not had my allotment long and was very 'pushed for time'...just got on and dug it and shoved stuff in....notice tho that my lottie neighbour (next door but one) his onion leaves are all a beautiful dark green!!... ???..not gonna worry about it tho cos they look as if they're 'swelling up' ok!
Im in the same boat H.P Have so many stones to get rid of is taking me a lot longer than I expected to get the allotment sorted out. Mind you I did throw some pelleted chicken manure in too. Is first year on our allotment so we are all in the same conditions....clearing builders rubble and rubbish.. >:(
Yup, i noticed the same problem today also. Nipped them and now glad to read it was the thing to do!.
Mimi + Hot Potato - What sets were they that have bolted.?
I have three types in but its only the red barons that have tried to flower, and one of the lottie ladies said she has given up trying red onions as they always bolt.
Is this the experience of any one else?
Yep was red baron sets. But cant remember if was only them that bolted or where there some white too.
One assumes these were planted this spring??
Marshalls' are 'heat treated to minimise bolting'. = Tim
Wow that is bad if they were the ones just planted!! I thought people were talking about their autumn onions ;)
My spring sown ones (red baron and ermm something else lol) are all still fine, thank goodness.
Mine were just the cheapy B+Q ones and yes they are sjjpring planted ones. Well we live and learn.
Now you're asking....one was definitely a red onion (can't remember which variety) didn't write that down...sure the other two were the white onion sets - but they were all very tiny 'heads' just didn't want them getting any bigger!
Mine were sown in the spring too - rather late like everything on my plot this year ???....altho I've written it down, hadn't kept a very good diary to start with :( but now....have improved and write everything down!!...I'm learning ;)
mine were spring planted, not that late though.
I noticed today on a fellow allotmenteers plot, his spring planted red onion sets had all bolted! Every single one had a flower on. :o
Were they Red Baron Emma ???
I noticed the bloke who has the bottom plot - his onions have nearly all bolted - i think they were spring planted. Mine are ok at the moment, but a couple of the garlic are going to flower.
Dunno Mimi, he wasn't around...actually, hasn't been around for ages! If I see him, I shall ask. :)
mine are all going now, all 3 varieties. my reds are 'electric' and i can't remember what the yellow ones are...
My reds are also electric ;D
I checked all mine yesterday and it is just the Red Baron that have bolted...even though they were supposed to be treated to prevent it happening >:(
interestingly i passed whole fields of bolting onions on teh train today, maybe its just a bad year.....
Here, every bulb of every shallot of one type has had a flower bud. Spring planted. = Tim
I put some sante shallots in the greenhouse, an attempt to stop them bolting -guess what- and they're in the way of the toms. ???
Jeremy