On 6/9/2021 6:38 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
What happens if you plant a store bought onion?

it might flower if the conditions are right.
it may not be suitable for your soil or climate
(they usually like pretty good soil).


Can you cut it into pieces like a potato?

not quite, you need to make sure there is some of the basal
area where roots come out of (this is common among most bulb
species) whereas potatoes will grow from any point on the
potato that has an eye.

commonly it's just not worth it because the onions often
have so many seeds from flowers that will grow that it's a
waste of something edible to do that.



songbird

I'm under the impression that onions generally flower in their 2nd year.
Since I use sets that were grown last year by someone else, they generally
will flower, but not all.
Like my garlics, I cut off the flowers to push more energy into the fruit
rather than seeds.

That said, I have a lot of success with stored seeds provided I don't hold
onto them for a long time and try to keep them cool as in the fridge.

This year, I bought some 'Bunching Onions' for scallions and read that if I
leave them in the ground, they will probably winter over and come up on
their own. Anxious to give that a try as I have left onions in over the
winter in Zone 4, eastern Maine and they all came up. Oh, and the onions I
use as sets are Stuttgart yellow onions. Rather flat then round and hold
really well. Still have 5 leftover from last year and they haven't sprouted yet.