"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