Onions

I planted onion setback in Feb.. Was told they would grouw well here in MS. So far all I've got is green stalks. Why won't the onions bulb? They were planted as directed, 1 inch deep as sets.

What could the problem be? I always had good luck in ME. but not here in MS..

I'm following.

And having the same problem. I put in a bulb onion starter plants, and now it looks like it's 4 plants per spot. No way there's enough room for a bulb to form.

I guess I'll have to uproot some to see what they've done.

Ava

Enok , when you plant onion sets the bulb furnishes the new plant with all its food ,the bulb infact shrinks away leaving a well formed baby onion plant growing .. what you have is normal & correct..

It takes several months for the new plants to grow into big bulb onions.

For example....

Here in the UK the sets I planted last winter in mid NOVEMBER have an estimated growth period of six months before they will end up weighing about 1 1/2 pounds each and have golden yellow skins .. then the tops will fall over to one side then go to dried tops , a few days later I'll lift them then lay them on some wire screens for a wekn or so to get a full ripening ready for storing them as hanging down plaited strings of onions.

Onion seed sown in mid February this year this year will produce similar sized onions in about seven months if the weather is good.

Onions take a while and there are two types, short day and long day onions. The length of daylight hours is what triggers the bulb formation. Onions can take 3-4 months to reach maturity for harvest.
http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetables/a/Growing_Onions.htm

That's a nice and handy site Camp , it also translates well into what we have this side of the pond .

Though I didn't clock any heat treated sets that help prevent the onion from bolting ... most of the heat treated over wintering onions we have are refered to as japanes onions do you have such things on your side ?

I planted onions that grew huge and tall beautiful tops but the bulbs were almost non existant. What happened?

I have the same situation. The tops had fallen over and were dying back, so I thought that was the signal to harvest. But the onions are not very big - cherry to lime sized. They were planted mid January. Does anyone have any ideas on what went wrong or how to prevent this?

You can see that the tops are at least over two feet. Also since the bulbs did not grow and since the plants are starting to make seeds, is it possible to cut up and use the whole thing for seasoning? Hate to waste any of it. I am going to pull all these and replant.

Possibly the mix was rich in nitorgen.
Did you plant the biggest or the smallest onion sets you could find?
Did you use 5 types of compost when you made your Mel's Mix?
I usually add a little bit of bonemeal when I am growing root crop.

Or you can chalk it up to the weather.

Too much N not enough P.

Also cut the tops back to a few inches long before you plant the sets. The bulb forms bigger when having to push up new growth for the tops.

Still want to know if the whold thing can be cut for seasoning?

Bud - You'd asked about using your onions. I've read that you can use all of an onion at any point in it's growth cycle, so they should be good to use for seasoning.

camprn and Charles - In thinking back to when I set this bed up last year...I realize that it was my first garden bed and I wasn't too particular about compost ratios at that time (I used mostly horse manure compost). And I didn't do much to it before planting the onions. So too much N is very likely the culprit for me. Thanks for the info!

Bud, when did you initially plant your onions? Were the tops falling over when you pulled them up? You and I are in totally different areas, so I have no idea what your growing season is! (For instance, I just planted my onions about a month ago.)

Bud Alexis wrote:I planted onions that grew huge and tall beautiful tops but the bulbs were almost non existant. What happened?

Bud how long have you had the sets in the ground . mel offfers that 14 or so weeks shouild see you get onions but I'm not sure if he means decent 3 in ch bulbs or mini gold ball sized ones .

Here in\the UK we are guided by sow sets in Feb and you should get decent sized onions mid July if the weather is kind ( warm , sunny and then hot ) If it is a cold wet year the onions will produce lots of tops and little else . Over wintering onion sets sown November ish will give good sized onion around mid June .... my winter sown sets look just like the ones in your picture .

The nitrogen aspect has already been mentioned did you top or side dress the onions?

My book indicates to manure the ground in November and plant the sets in February and not to add any new stuff for onions prefer old " settled " compost/manured ground .

Bud Alexis wrote:Still want to know if the whold thing can be cut for seasoning?

use in stir fries . as part of the veg in crispy duck in pancake rolls with hoisin sauce , cucumber & leek or onion fine shredded length ways in two inch lengths .

Use them in mashed up boiled egg ( like sacllions or cress ) with mayo and salad cream as asandwich filling .. chop the green stems in 1/8to 1/3 inch wide rings

Chuck the whole onion chopped up in the frying pan with olive oil, fry till soft then add them to a stew or minced meat .

Eat the thinnest ones as part of a green salad . plain or drizzled with a french dressing etc.or a few streaks of sweetened thick balsamic vinegar .

You can also have them oven braized in gravy or nuked till softish then finished off in a white or cheese sauce that's been slipped under a hot grill too slightly brown them up.... like baby leeks

hi

we planted some organic green onions that went bad in the frig...they have grown great!!.....i just said the other day to my children and hubby that we needed to cut the tops off and use them in our dinner.....well....went out today and they have shot up some flowers well not yet a flower but a flower pod..... not sure how long the flowers have been up...but..i didnt notice it a couple of days ago....so...my question is....can we still just cut the tops off and eat them and leave the bottoms to continue to grow?.....will they taste any differnt because they have bolted like other plants do?.....can we let some continue to flower and save seeds since it was an organic green onion?

same with the chives.....they came back from last year....but they have already sent up flowers too....

thanks

hugs

rose

I as well thought i had done something wrong. I double checked the plant to harvest info on the package. Yep i had read it before i bought it, Onion's take a great deal of time to get to harvest point. I have fine green shoots all over the place showing my green onions. They seemed to have come up over night then put there feet up and nothing. Still green though. My bulb onions have shown themselves as of yet, but i am not looking for a harvest until fall.

Good luck !

Marietta mike

I'm not terribly good with onions, either. However, I'm told you are supposed to plant according to where you live.

If you noticed that I am from Louisiana. i was raised on cajun cooking, so if you know anything about our cooking, you know that as a part of our cooking basics we always use green onions as part of our seasoning. We mostly saute our seasoning, and either add it to the main ingredient or add the ingredient to the sauted seasoning. Along with the green onion we will also add a regular bulbed onion together for seasoning. Since my onions are starting to seed, and are not making bulbs, I was wondering if the tops could also be used as seasoning. Never have tried the stems on a bulbed onion. I would hate to waste good seasoning.

Sadly,THIS part of my garden has not yet been Mel Mixedized. I am working on that part as I can get to it. I did manage to get some compost and manure mix with regular dirt, best I could do for now. The ph is right, tho. The parts of my garden with MM is growing fantasticly. I planted the onions in March. We have had an unseasonably warm winter this time. My potato plants that I planted in early March are making potatoes,(Youcan Gold) about the size of softballs. The plants are still green and growing, some three feet tall. We are digging a few anyway and eating them.

I am going to dig up all the onions and try replanting. I hope the weather does not hinder. It can get really hot here with a lot of humidity. We have already had temps in the 90s. I really appreciate all your comments, which are very helpful, and useful. Thanks. Keep them coming and I will keep reading.

Hey Bud, do you still have the package from the onion seed? By looking at your photo it looks like they may be 'bunching onions' which do not bulb out hugely. ALso, you may have actually picked them a month early if they are a bunching onion.
http://myfolia.com/plants/1152-bunching-onion-allium-fistulosum/varieties/18304-red-blush

Normally I buy my onions from a farm supply. For some odd reason I was in a supermarket when I noticed these red button onions and also there were yellow ones so I bought them and planted them and voila. You see the result. Wont do that again. I will cut them up and use them for seasoning and if I can still find plantable onions at the feed store I will replant and hope for the best.

If the onion plant is putting out flowering parts it means that the plant is reaching the end of the life cycle. Cutting off the flower stem will only slow the process down. Harvest the onions that are flowering for best results.
http://www.ehow.com/info_8166442_happens-onion-blooms.html

Chives will be fine, you can use the flowers in salads or as a garnish in other dishes.

Green onions are always one of the joys of sring. Pull when the size of a pencile, wash, salt the bulb and eat - use the green as a topping to a salad or add to stir fry, course it can always go into the compost bin, but I'd eat it.

we have harvested some of the replanted onions and they are sooo yummy!

here is a pic of one of the green onions that has gone bad in the refrig....sitting next to the harvested replanted one......wow....i think its safe to say that yes you can cut off the bad part of a green onion and replant it and it will grow



hugs

rose