Grow Your Own Magazine

Most of the red onion sets I planted back in march have started to flower.

None of the 2 other types of onion, Stuttgarter & Sturton seem affected yet (touch wood).

Has anyone else's red onions started to flower and is this typical of onions grown from sets?

p.s what can I do with them, will they continue to grow or do they need to be pulled out?

thanks for answers.

our lottie neighbours red onions have done the same;according to lottie wise one~nip off the seed head & leave to "hopefully"carry on growing.not sure if it the reason but when it was really dry we watered ours(they havent gone to seed)but our neighbour didnt.dont know if the early warm\dry spell bore any significance or not?

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As I understand it, the warm spell followed by cooler wet weather can confuse the onions and they think it is autumn so start to flower to produce more seed. I was advised to nip off the flower buds and the onions would continue to grow. They do seem to be doing fine.

I've stopped growing red onions from sets as in twenty years of growing them I think I've only had one year where I got a reasonable crop from them!
For some reason it's always either the red onion sets or the japanese onion sets which throw up premature seed heads.

I now grow my red onions from seed and for the past three years have had no problems.

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Yup, red onion sets are notorious for going to seed early Thompson & Morgan had quite a few varieties on offer this year, some of which are supposed to be much improved, so perhaps it will get better in the future. I'll be trying Snadger's way next year & sowing seed!

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Can't one buy heat treated sets that prevent the onions from going to seed?

I sowed red onion electric sets last september and they are doing very well at the moment, some are pretty big for reds. So if all goes well i will be planting them this autumn too. Fingers crossed.

Every one of mine (Red Baron) put up flower shoots. I nipped them off, but I don't know how they'll keep. I've grown them fom seed in the past with better results, but I'm beginning to think they're not worth the bother: ordinary onions are just as good - and better!

They won't. Use them up. I'm eating mine as spring onions, in stir fries.

Bolting is caused by fluctuations in temperature. Watering has nothing to do with it.

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you could always freeze them we did last year cos they had gone to seed, 2 of our garlc have also started to go to seed? the one from the garden center but the ones we planted from last year seam fine even better so i dont think we wil be buying garlic again just re plant what we grow

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Dobby

I have about 40 Red Baron onions. All are very big with huge top growth and fair size bulbs. As I planted these in September I thought setting seed was normal at this time of the year. About half of my onions have started to set seed. I was going to save seed from the largest for growing next season. Am I to believe that this is not worth it.
I am fairly new to growing vegetables so I do not know what is normal expected growth

i have red karmen and several of these have gone to seed. ive also had grey mould on them after last weeks rain, so ive cut off affected leaves.

As TS said bolting is caused by fluctuations in temperature. Red onions are usually more likely to bolt than white ones. Try to hold off planting red onion sets till the last minute. If you remove the flower spike the onion will go on growing and will usually produce a normal sized onion. The problem is that the bottom half of the flower spike is still in the heart of the onion and will start rotting after lifting. This is why onions that have bolted wont keep. They will freeze well or you can slice and dry.

Ian

i got my red onions from Suttons(heat treated ones) bit more expensive, but seem to be ok at the moment. I plant my onions (red/white)at the end of April and never had a problem yet.

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I grow Hungarian Red Ham onions from seed and I don't think they can be surpassed for taste! They have a distinctive taste similar to a shallot but far nicer in my opinion, especially in gravy!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I always grow Red Baron from sets and have never experienced any bolting... except this year I put in the usual order with Marshalls and for some reason they were unusually late delivering... Meantime I saw Red Baron sets in Wilkinsons for £1 a bag - so I got some of those as well... Both M and W sets are doing well but in the last few days (it's been quite wet here) I notice that every Wilko RB set is now running to seed (not a problem, I'll use 'em up anyway) but not one of the Marshall's sets is bolting. Apart from the W sets being sown first both groups have had identical growing conditions so I assume the difference might be due to the efficiency of any heat treatment they've been subjected to.... Perhaps one up to Marshalls this time? bb.

Its the first time I have grown onions, to be honest its the first time I have grown anything as we only recently got an allotment but my red onions have started to have flower heads on too. So my question is, do you just remove the flower head or all the stalk .

I think next year I will attempt to grow red onions from seed and white from sets and see if that makes a difference.

Just remove the flower head, just remember that any you have removed the flower head from will not keep for storing as the flower within the bulb will start rotting as you lift them, so just mark them by using a plant marker or something or a twig next to the ones that tried to flower, you will then know to eat these in a few days after lifting.

Personally I find growing onions from seed much harder than from sets, ie thinning out and they take a long time to grow compared to sets.

This year I am growing two diff types (Red Baron and Jet Set White)from sets to pick early as spring onions, planted the sets in March and now they ready for picking, already had some and they taste nice but they not very hot yet as they haven't had enough sun on them as yet.

I have also found for the first time that about 6 of my Red Barrons are bolting to seed and have removed the flower head accordingly, I assume the heat treatment didnt kill the flower head in all the bulbs, the other 100 or so i have planted out have not bolted so far.

My red onions are very soft and I have dug them all up, white onions are doing fine.

Yeah my red ones are soft too, its just the growing conditions this year.

I find that if you peel off a few layers of skin then the onion is fine, although about half the size when picked.

I have grown white onions from seeds for the first time this year and they are doing far better than the sets. I know you have to start them off in Jan and they do take a bit of time and effort but looking at half time results well worth it.

Ian

I've planted some shallots in April and they are quite tall and quite a few leaves for each one, but how do I know when they are ready?. Presumably ,each leaf should have a little shallot at the end of it ? .( how can you tell I'm a newbie !!)

margo

red karmen onions i have just dont want to bulb up at all. very disapointed with them