Q. Hello Bob. My son got me onions that were
little 3″ sprigs with roots, no bulbs, tied togather in a
“bunch”, no soil. we separated them and planted a few months
ago. They have grown about 7 inches or more tall and I just noticed
today some of them are getting seed bulbs on their tops. But if they are large onions, why are they going to
seed already?
I checked
the bulbs under the soil and they are maybe 2 inches around. Is that as
big as they will get now that they are going to seed or should I cut the top
seed bulb off? I don’t know what kind they are but do know they are not
shallots or leeks. And since the bulb is so large, pretty sure they aren’t
just green onions. But if they are large onions, why are they going to
seed already? Please help.
 |
| These are the onion flowers. Producing the flower uses enough energy from the plant. Making seed from this flower consumes even more energy. Unless you have some use for the flowers, remove them as soon as they start to develop. Twist or cut them off. |
A. Yes, that is the flower being produced. This can sometimes happen if there are some wildly fluctuating air temperatures or erratic irrigations.
Pull or cut the
flowers off unless you want to use the open flower for culinary purposes then
let them open and remove them. Do not let them go to seed.
use is just dissolve some fertilizer that can be used for foliar applications
into some warm water, dissolve it and pour it around the plants evenly.
Otherwise you would do what we call “side dress” a dry fertilizer in a narrow
band about two to four inches from the plants in a line parallel to the row. Do
not get dry fertilizer too close to the plants or you can damage them.
is your clue to go ahead and harvest them over the following week or so. They
will also benefit from a surface layer of mulch. This can be shredded newspaper
(black and white only) around the plants.