" wrote in message
...
I am growing purple onions, my first onions ever.
They have huge wonderful green tops and a few have started to grow that
sprout with a flower on top. Sorry, can't reember what it is called.
I understand you are to cut off or bend over that sprout so the energy
goes
into the onion. If I leave it on, what will it become?
Also, is there any reason to NOT cut some of the green tops to use for
onion
chives? Will it hurt the progress of the onion?
How long do they take to bulb up?
Thanks, all.
Roz
phx, az, usa

1.) Red/Purple Onions are not the easiest to raise well.
2.) If they are sending up a flower stalk I would surmise you have planted
onion sets and not
new first season plants, n'ext pas?
3.) If you want anything at all from the onions the flower/seed stalk should
be pinched off at the earliest
opportunity...but even then the bulb it makes will have a hard central
core and be inferior as well as
a short keeper.
4.) If you want green tops you should grow shallots or a bunching onion.
Once you cut the top of a
bulbing onion the resulting bulbs will have dead shells within them as
each verticle leaf of an onion
corresponds to one shell of the classic onion bulb structure.
5.) To the extent you will have success if any the bulbs will be complete by
mid summer.
6.) Day length of onions is quite important. You should be on a short day
onion and you should either
plant seeds in November to make plants for February (Phoenix) or
purchase plants. Onion sets
can make some onions, but you will always have trouble with seed stalks.
7.) If you want some excellent onion culture info from an excellent source
of plants (where I get mine)
go to this site:www.dixondalefarms.com Try the variety called "Candy"
It may be too late to order
from Dixondale this year and also late for planting in the Phoenix area.
BUT, if you want bulbs, don't cut those tops.
Best wishes, Jerome