Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

General information and discussion about cultivating onions, garlic, shallots and leeks.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old April 11, 2021   #1
nathan125
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Idaho
Posts: 111
Default Onions and overwintering... a question

I left these onions in the ground and never harvested. The bulbs were puny and I was lazy... now they seem to be dividing and multiplying. Can they be separated and stuck in the ground? What's the use for these onions now ?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 20210411_143949.jpg (339.1 KB, 157 views)
File Type: jpg 20210411_143953.jpg (325.7 KB, 152 views)
File Type: jpg 20210411_144009.jpg (296.1 KB, 150 views)
nathan125 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 11, 2021   #2
bower
Tomatovillian™
 
bower's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,793
Default

If you let them continue growing they will flower. And if it's an OP and not a hybrid onion, you'll get seeds if you have some pollinators around.
If it's a hybrid, it's pretty certain to be male sterile, therefore having no viable pollen they won't make seeds unless you have another OP onion blooming at the same time.


If it is a hybrid, or if you don't want seeds, then green onions is about the only use for those. You can cut and let them regrow until you never want to see another green onion.



OTOH if the onion has some multiplier genes, you might get divisions and then small bulbs that you could replant in fall or spring... Alliums always seem to have a backup plan, to keep themselves going.
bower is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 11, 2021   #3
nathan125
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Idaho
Posts: 111
Default

The main bulb did start dividing itself up.... hhhmmm
nathan125 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 12, 2021   #4
zipcode
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6
Posts: 1,582
Default

The use of those onions is to be eaten as early green onions. The flower stalk will appear in a couple of weeks or so, and then they're almost useless.
zipcode is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 12, 2021   #5
brownrexx
Tomatovillian™
 
brownrexx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
Default

Onions bloom in their second year.
brownrexx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old April 15, 2021   #6
GoDawgs
Tomatovillian™
 
GoDawgs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by brownrexx View Post
Onions bloom in their second year.
Fall planted onions and scallions bloom the following spring here due to the big temp swings we have here in early spring. I already have a few of both blooming. Cold, warm, cold, warm. The poor plants feel like they've already been through two years! However it seems that the intermediate or neutral day onions do that less than the short day onions, or at least they do it later in the spring than those bolting now.
GoDawgs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old May 8, 2021   #7
Gardeneer
Tomatovillian™
 
Gardeneer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7
Posts: 4,909
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by GoDawgs View Post
Fall planted onions and scallions bloom the following spring here due to the big temp swings we have here in early spring. I already have a few of both blooming. Cold, warm, cold, warm. The poor plants feel like they've already been through two years! However it seems that the intermediate or neutral day onions do that less than the short day onions, or at least they do it later in the spring than those bolting now.
Hmm. Down here ( southwest part of NC) some of my onions ( bought in bunch and planted around mid January) have flower buds. That is just 4 out of 100.

I am going to let them go for seed so I can collect my own seeds.

BTW the seller told me they are Vidalia.

When do you harvest yours ?
__________________
Gardeneer

Happy Gardening !
Gardeneer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 20, 2021   #8
MrBig46
Tomatovillian™
 
MrBig46's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Czech republic
Posts: 2,523
Default

I grew winter varieties of onions (Augusta, Hiberna and Senshyu) from sowing in August. Out of more than forty plants, only two plants have bloomed for me now in the spring. Large harvest, I gradually harvest them. Some are already starting to dry. Size approx. 20 dkg. If anyone wants to try growing onions from seedlings over the winter, I can send seeds. They are really hardy varieties, they survived temperatures of -15 ° C for me.
Vladimír
Attached Images
File Type: jpg DSCN3037.jpg (114.2 KB, 64 views)
MrBig46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 20, 2021   #9
GoDawgs
Tomatovillian™
 
GoDawgs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gardeneer View Post
Hmm. Down here ( southwest part of NC) some of my onions ( bought in bunch and planted around mid January) have flower buds. That is just 4 out of 100.

I am going to let them go for seed so I can collect my own seeds.

BTW the seller told me they are Vidalia.

When do you harvest yours ?
They were planted Oct 8 and they've been ready to harvest for a few weeks but I'm waiting as long as I can and using when needed. They all bolted earlier, sending up seed stalks so they won't store well. To try to reduce the size of the flower stalk origin down in the onion, I try to cut the flower stalks as soon as I discover them.

Heavy sigh.... still trying to decide whether or not to grow more this fall. I swore I wouldn't but as usual I'm rethinking that since this year's were the nicest ones I've grown. That figures.
GoDawgs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 20, 2021   #10
zipcode
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Romania/Germany , z 4-6
Posts: 1,582
Default

Is that about not storing well actually true or just something that keeps propagating? I've had bolted shallots, cut them early (the stalks), they stored for a year.
zipcode is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 20, 2021   #11
GoDawgs
Tomatovillian™
 
GoDawgs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
Default

I can't vouch for all onions but can say that over the last two years the ones I harvested after bolting only lasted about two months. They'd get soft in the middle. Maybe that's just the varieties I grew; Australian Brown and Red Creole. Of the two the A. Brown bolted less.
GoDawgs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old June 21, 2021   #12
D.J. Wolf
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: Illinois
Posts: 199
Default

My mother used to go through and "step" the onions before they could fully flower. She would watch until they started to shoot up the flower stalk, then walk right over the top of them "stepping" them down. This seemed to break off the flower stalk, and the onion under ground kept growing. We'd have onions all winter long
__________________
Kevin (aka the DJ)
D.J. Wolf is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:45 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★