Onions going to seed in year 1?

[jonathanpassey]

I started my onions (Yellow of Parma) from seed back on the 22nd of February and transplanted on the 7th of April (4 weeks before my last frost) when the seedlings were just narrower then the width of a pencil. My spring was pretty standard for Utah and alternated between unseasonably hot/dry and frost.

The onions got a slow start (too hot immediately after I planted?) but seemed to limp along and then took off in mid may and are now fairly large plants with small (2 inch) bulbs on many of them.

Trouble is, most of them are sending up a flower stalk (looks like a garlic scape). I already cut all of these off and ate them (hence no picture... they were delicious).

My first question is: are my onions going to continue to grow their bulbs and be able to be cured for storage? If they are going to degrade in quality then I will pull them right now and use them fresh or dry them.

My second question is, what can I do to avoid this next time? My suspicion is that I ought to plant out later...

Thanks for any help you can give,

jp

[nwheritagegrdn]

I think (although I could be mistaken) that it's pretty normal. I planted onions from sets mid-March and most of them sent up a flower stalk, which I cut off. I think as long as you don't let the flower bloom and set seed, thus taking energy from the plant to do so, that your onions should bulb up just fine. Mine certainly did!

[Father'sDaughter]

I've read that onions bolt (send up a flower stock) when they're under stress -- too hot and dry or an extended cool stretch will cause it. Googling "onions bolting" should get you some info. One article I read said that onions that have bolted will not store well and should be used first. I haven't personally experienced any of my onions bolting (knocking on wood) but it sounds like it's fairly common.

[Lorri D]

Onions normally need two years in the ground to bolt. But, If your weather has been hot for a few weeks and then went back to cold for a few weeks, then that temperature change sometimes can trick the plant into thinking it has gone through two seasons. Mulching with straw or using frost blankets can help control temperatures fluctuations. Also, I learned not to plant too early.

I bet it is true about the stress too, I as see that in other plants.

Lorri D

[jonathanpassey]

Thanks everybody. I suppose I will begin using them as I have need rather than waiting for larger and better storage onions. On a positive note, I ought to have plenty of tomatoes for sauce so the onions will go into that as well.

And maybe late in the summer I will dry those that I didn't use.

jp

[jmsieglaff]

FWIW, I planted onions I grew from seed and a handful from sets just as comparisons. 75% of the set planted onions bolted (as soon as I saw the stalk coming I cut them as far down as possible). None of my onions from seed bolted. In the past I've grown onions from plants (pretty sure my local garden center gets them from Dixondale). They were good onions but I also had issues with bolting. I'll be starting from seed again next year and probably starting them a week earlier, maybe ~Jan 15.

[joseph]

If you cut those bolting onions open you will find that the flower stalk extends all the way to the roots in the center of the bulb. The layers of onion closest to where the stalk was will be the first ones to go bad, so during long term storage you will end up with a rotten spot around the flower stalk residue.

In a normal year that planting date would have been fine. Utah had a really super cold spell. I don't remember exact date: I think during May. Much colder than typical for that time of year. It damaged a lot of fruit blossoms, froze corn back to ground level, etc. That might have been sufficient cold to trigger the onions into flowering. Especially if they were already pencil size when planted out, that seems to be about the size necessary for bolting. Plants smaller than that often overwinter without bolting.

[jonathanpassey]

thanks for your reply Joseph. (OFF TOPIC: Have you written about land races in other places? seems like i have read stuff from a Joseph in cache valley before. Are you that Joseph? I (am trying to) garden my 16 by 40 garden pretty intensively but my neighbors have an unused space almost that same size (with just a bit of shade) and I am thinking of buying true potato seed and trying a land race in that plot. If i can arrange that, then i'll have more room in my garden for tomatoes.)

i think it was may 13th and 14th that got down into the 20's here. only 3 days after my average last frost date, but an unusually hard freeze. I imagine in cache valley it was much colder. there was another cold spell in June but not quite freezing for me.

I had low tunnels over my tomatoes and squash but the tunnels only give me a few degrees protection. i put space heaters in them for those two nights...

a few of the smaller transplants don't seem to have bolted, so what you are saying makes sense. maybe I can cure 10 out of 80 for storage.... anyhow, we'll use most of the onions fresh/green this year or slice and dry them.

thanks again,

-jp

[joseph]

jonathanpassey: Yup. Same Joseph. I don't write about landraces on this forum, but I do in other forums. I moved the gas grill into the greenhouse for those couple of super-cold nights in mid-May. The last frost damage in my garden occurred on about June 18th this year. Average last frost date for me is about May 26th, but I don't plant highly frost sensitive things usually until after June 5th.

If the other garden is shaded because of nearby trees the competition for water and nutrients can be fierce causing a vegetable garden to grow poorly. Things like raspberries and grapes can do well competing with tree roots. Other crops may do well with nearby tree roots, but I haven't done the trials. I just avoid planting near the one tree in my field. Any additional harvest is better than none.