Bolting Onions

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by alana, Jun 14, 2010.

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  1. alana

    alana Super Gardener

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    I noticed today my onions, grown from sets, have flower heads on them. Do I cut them? Advice please.
     
    alana, Jun 14, 2010
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  2. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    You can, but the onion will have a flower tube in the middle of it. If it bulbs up at all. You can either eat them now as spring onions or move them to another part of the plot, let them do their thing & hopefully they will divide into 2/3 spring onions early next season.
     
    Phil A, Jun 14, 2010
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  3. theplantman

    theplantman Gardener

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    cut flower spikes out and use quick, they wont store and as said above middle will be poor..sorry no good news. Its been an unusully dry season and this encourages bolting. Heat or water treated sets wont bolt, (they dont get quite as big though) onions grown from seed are less likely to bolt too.
     
    theplantman, Jun 14, 2010
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  4. alana

    alana Super Gardener

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    Thanks guys - now what can I cook that needs lots of onions :)
     
    alana, Jun 15, 2010
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  5. Phil A

    Phil A Guest

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    onion bahjees use quite a bit of onion
     
    Phil A, Jun 15, 2010
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  6. nFrost

    nFrost Head Gardener

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    A couple of mine have bolted in the last few days so I nipped the flowerhead off. When you say they wont store do you mean in the ground where they are now? Can I leave them to bulb as much as they can and then use ASAP?
     
    nFrost, Jun 19, 2013
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  7. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    They won't store over-winter, they will be fine in the ground though. They won't bulb up fully so eat these ones first once they get big enough :blue thumb:
     
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      JWK, Jun 19, 2013
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    • nFrost

      nFrost Head Gardener

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      Okay, thank you. Felt very disheartened when I realised what was happening. Had a little sulk and everything.
       
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        nFrost, Jun 19, 2013
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        Some years I've had nearly all of them bolt but generally it's only a few and only one so far this year. How many of your's have bolted then nFrost?
         
        JWK, Jun 19, 2013
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      • nFrost

        nFrost Head Gardener

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        hmm...probably 4 out of 30-ish. Some (not the bolting ones) look really good and bulbing up nicely and some seem a bit weedy. I've haven't taken great care of them to be honest!
         
        nFrost, Jun 19, 2013
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        That sounds OK to me, if you haven't already do so you could feed them to beef up the spindly ones. I used to use growmore granules, now I scatter chicken manure pellets - other fertilizers would be good too like Blood Fish & Bone. Don't over do the fertilizer, you're just trying to give them a little boost.
         
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          JWK, Jun 19, 2013
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        • nFrost

          nFrost Head Gardener

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          Never thought of that, thank you JWK. Are onions grown from seed less likely to bolt? I guess they may be more susceptible to pests and disease though as they take longer to get the harvesting stage??
           
          nFrost, Jun 19, 2013
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          I'm not really sure, I always grow from sets as they are so much easier. For the first time in years I've grown a few from seed for the giant onion competition, they are much better looking due to being molly-coddled so it's not a fair comparison. My guess is that grown from seed would be just as susceptible to bolting but hopefully others will comment who have experience.
           
          JWK, Jun 19, 2013
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        • nFrost

          nFrost Head Gardener

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          I guess you're giant onions are grown in a controlled environment also as you want them be at their best.
           
          nFrost, Jun 19, 2013
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          Yes I've kept my giant onions frost free and used grow lights in the early stages, and individually potted on. Now they are planted alongside my normal sets, but the giants have a windbreak and circular supports so the leaves don't flop over. All way too much faff just for a few onions, next year I won't lavish so much care on them, it's interesting to see what a difference a little lot of TLC makes though.
           
          JWK, Jun 19, 2013
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