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Overwintered onions going to seed
Katfish
Posts: 56
in Fruit & veg
This is the first year I've overwintered onions. They've been growing happily but have just started to go to seed.
I thought I'd have to wait for the leaves to wilt, but is this wrong for overwintered onions. Are they ready now?
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might be because its gotten really cold all of a sudden (i dont know where you are from though) which makes them bolt. i would snip off the flower buds to stop them bolting
Happened with us last year, and I have found the few that survived this years wet winter are going the same way, won't plant again.
So are mine, I checked this morning and they had begun to 'Bolt', I broke the flower heads off.. It stops them for a while.. Its often a sign of a dry spell a few weeks earlier.. But we had lots of rain and Hail!!
Would bending over the leaves help swell the bulbs...??
Last edited: 03 June 2016 23:46:06
Hmm interesting. We've had what I would have called a more 'normal' early spring here but then later spring has been unsettled. I was thinking of the phrase "April showers bring May flowers", which hasn't happened until this year. For the last 2 or 3 years at least we'd had dry Aprils and wet Mays so it had been confusing for my plants. This year we had a wet April, though I'd say that May didn't fulfil it's promise of brightening up. Not so much wet as varied with hot weeks then cooler than average weeks. Perhaps this has confused the plants.
There was a dry week in early May as I remember having to go out with the hosepipe to water the whole garden (normally I wouldn't need to in May).
Certainly overall my plants are different to previous years. My flower seedlings germinated quickly and very well, got to 2 inches and then just stopped. They didn't die and didn't grow. They've been like that for 3-4 weeks. My dad lives 100 miles north of me and said exactly the same happened with his - different seeds, different soil, etc. That includes seeds that are either in the house, greenhouse or under cloche.
I've snapped the seed heads off the onions. If this works then I'd definitely overwinter them again. I put half in to overwinter and the rest in early spring. Half of the spring ones disappeared, whereas all the winter ones are still there and growing beautifully. Just as long as they're edible at the end of it all;)
I did notice that it was mainly the red onions that tried to seed rather than the white.
I gave up with red onions as the squirrels nicked them all... So I bought Shensui Yellows and hope I will get them a bit larger..
Last edited: 05 June 2016 00:25:51
I over wintered onions this year for the first time on the plot, planting in the autumn. Here in the NW we had sever flooding.The onions had little growth on them in April and I expected them to bolt so planted up sets as normal for a crop to save this year.
At least half the over wintered crop have tried to produced flower heads, which have been picked off . I've started to harvest larger bulbs and have an early crop of onions which allows my main crop to mature without picking...
To cut to the chase...I'll over winter again for an early crop of onions.
hi all
i have just lifted my over wintered onions and from the past four years very disapointed with the return.
many were poor and underdeveloped so will think about whether i plant again
they were in the ground a long time and the return for my space was not acceptable
better luck if there is a next time
happy gardening
I have decided to hedge my bets and have now bent over all the top growrh to create a larger bulb.. I hope this helps, I always over winter..
The best results I ever had was to dig a trench about 10 inches deep and put in 6 inches of chicken manure and then back fill and plant the sets on top...
They were good but as I do not have any chickens now.. no manure available.. Pelleted manure is not the same..