My onion sets have just developed seed pods on the stem, they are only small onions i've been told they will only be fit for use in salads. Shall i dig the effected ones up, or do i percevere and hope they get bigger
My experience is that you can leave them to fully develop. The only problem is that the ones which have bolted won't store very well.
Once an onion bolts you get a hard flower stem which goes right through the bulb. If you leave it, more "juice" from the onion goes into forming flowers and stem - that's what the bulb is for!
I'd pull the ones that are bolting and use them now in whatever takes your fancy..
Leave the rest to mature - were they over wintering ones by any chance?
Some people bend the flowerstem over and snap it - not right off as water can go down the hollow stem. I dont know if this is really effective though.