'H',

Not good news as you will see below:

Q. What causes my bulb onions to send up flower stalks?
A. Several things can cause flowering of onions, but it is usually
temperature fluctuation. An onion is a biennial plant, which means it
usually takes two years to go from seed to seed. However, this condition
is triggered by temperature. If an onion plant is exposed to alternating
cold and warm temperatures resulting in the onion plant going dormant,
resuming growth, going dormant and then resuming growth again, the onion
bulbs prematurely flower or bolt.

Q. Should I remove the flower stalks from my onion plants?
A. No. Once the onion plant has bolted, or sent up a flower stalk, there
is nothing you can do to eliminate this problem. The onion bulbs are
still edible but probably will be smaller. Use these onions as soon as
possible because the green flower stalk which emerges through the center
of the bulb will make storage almost impossible.

I copied the above from this site which is very very long so I add the
site in case you wish to visit it.

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publ...L/FSA-6014.asp

Regards,
Emrys Davies.








"H" wrote in message
...
Some of my onions and garlic, planted as sets earlier this year, are
throwing out flower heads.

Should these be removed or left?

Best,

- h