Hello,

This year I have tried to grow onions for the first time. I ordered
onion sets from the well known catalogues and I planted an over
wintering variety and another variety in the spring (I can't remember
their names at the moment, I will have to check). I am pretty sure
that they were heat treated, which I read is supposed to stop bolting.

Now some of the onions have developed a long stalk with a bud on the
end, as if about to flower. I was wondering whether I was supposed to
cut off the flowering stem to prevent the onion from flowering?

I have had a quick read of the internet and it seems bolting means
flowering. Is this right?

Does this mean that when you grow onions, you should never see flowers
or buds forming?

The internet seems to suggest that if the onion has flowered, the bulb
will not grow any more. Is this correct? What is the definition of
"flowered"? Does the having a bud count as flowering? I suppose what I
am asking is, if I cut of the bud now, before it opens, will the bulbs
still grow or not?

Could this be something I have done wrong or is it likely to be the
strange weather, where we had that really hot spell followed by heavy
rain since?

I read that fertiliser should not be applied to garlic in May because
the bulbs would be forming and fertilising would reduce the size of
the bulb, but that is garlic, not onions.

I have not been using a fertiliser. Should I and if so what should I
have used and when?

Thanks,
Stephen.

PS.

I forgot to ask, I found this morning that some of the leaves were
bent over and the stems broken. Should I wait and see if they recover
or just remove them and use them now?

Can I harvest them early to use or does the texture and flavour
develop later?

Could they have been bent by an animal visiting in the night? Do
dogs/cats/foxes sit or lie on onions; I would have thought the smell
would have deterred them? I am puzzled what has caused this.

Thanks again,
Stephen.

"Stephen" wrote
This year I have tried to grow onions for the first time. I ordered
onion sets from the well known catalogues and I planted an over
wintering variety and another variety in the spring (I can't remember
their names at the moment, I will have to check). I am pretty sure
that they were heat treated, which I read is supposed to stop bolting.

Now some of the onions have developed a long stalk with a bud on the
end, as if about to flower. I was wondering whether I was supposed to
cut off the flowering stem to prevent the onion from flowering?

I have had a quick read of the internet and it seems bolting means
flowering. Is this right?

Does this mean that when you grow onions, you should never see flowers
or buds forming?

The internet seems to suggest that if the onion has flowered, the bulb
will not grow any more. Is this correct? What is the definition of
"flowered"? Does the having a bud count as flowering? I suppose what I
am asking is, if I cut of the bud now, before it opens, will the bulbs
still grow or not?

Could this be something I have done wrong or is it likely to be the
strange weather, where we had that really hot spell followed by heavy
rain since?

I read that fertiliser should not be applied to garlic in May because
the bulbs would be forming and fertilising would reduce the size of
the bulb, but that is garlic, not onions.

I have not been using a fertiliser. Should I and if so what should I
have used and when?

The long strong stalk is a flower forming, the old gardeners used to say cut
it off but you still get onions with a big hole in the middle usually.
However IME some red onions, which are very prone to "bolting" (making a
flower stem) ,do end up with a usable onion at the side on the stalk if a
bit strange shaped. You will always get some that flower, especially as I
say red ones, and some years it's worse than others. It happens. Fertilize
whilst they are growing, before they start to bulb up, so you get a good
thick neck which turns into a good sized onion. .
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Stephen" wrote
I forgot to ask, I found this morning that some of the leaves were
bent over and the stems broken. Should I wait and see if they recover
or just remove them and use them now?

Can I harvest them early to use or does the texture and flavour
develop later?

Could they have been bent by an animal visiting in the night? Do
dogs/cats/foxes sit or lie on onions; I would have thought the smell
would have deterred them? I am puzzled what has caused this.


It happens, could be anything including the weight of the stem. I just
harvest them at the same time as the rest when the bulb has reabsorbed the
goodness from the stem and that has then withered and gone brown. It's
getting to the time when all the stems will start to flop over anyway.

Of course some of ours are looking poorly, flopping over and going brown and
in our case it's guaranteed to be White Rot causing it, they all go in the
council tip. Lost over half our French Grey Shallots so far, about 10 garlic
and a few onions, there will be more.



--
Regards.
Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:32:36 +0100, "BobHobden"
wrote:

You will always get some that flower, especially as I
say red ones, and some years it's worse than others. It happens. Fertilize
whilst they are growing, before they start to bulb up, so you get a good
thick neck which turns into a good sized onion. .

Thank you for the replies. As it was my first time growing, I bought a
few varieties to see which worked best in my garden. As you say, they
are all red. The only one that is not is radar, which I read was a
good variety to over winter.

It could be that the stems are bending under their own weight; some of
them are a decent size, only it was just the ones in one corner, which
and me think something had sat on them.

When I try again next year, is there a particular type of fertiliser I
should use?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Stephen wrote:
Hello,

This year I have tried to grow onions for the first time. I ordered
onion sets from the well known catalogues and I planted an over
wintering variety and another variety in the spring (I can't remember
their names at the moment, I will have to check). I am pretty sure
that they were heat treated, which I read is supposed to stop bolting.

I've never grown them but my dad grew them from seed every year.
When it cam time for transplanting in their alloted bed, we'd dig the whole
bed out 15-18 inches deep and a six inch layer of horse manure went in,
mixed with newspaper, cardboard, last years waste vegetation and any other
organic material to hand, this was forked intoa few inches of subsoil and
then the whole bed was topped off with a mixture of compost, manure and
topsoil.

He only ever did this for onions, i don't ever remember seeing any go to
seed and they all grew very large and were very hot when picked fresh, when
harvested, we'd tie them in bunches of 3 or 4 by their dried out stalks and
they'd last all winter