? Last years onions...

[lesa]

Well, I ended up leaving a few onions in the ground last fall. They were tiny, so I didn't bother to harvest them. Well, they lived and were growing huge. What I notice is that they have very large leaves, but are not bulbing out. They are also getting flowers like crazy.
My idea, is to let a few of them flower and collect seed for next year. I will pull the other plants and just use them as green onions (if there is anything underground). Should I bother with the seeds- or just pull everything?

 

[digitS']

Back when I was still trying to over-winter sweet onion seedlings, I decided to collect seed from a few of the Walla Walla plants. The sweet onions were so inclined to bolt after a severe winter, I finally just gave up on sowing seed in August and began starting sweet onions in the greenhouse each spring/late winter.

Anyway, that sweet onion seed grew into sweet onions the following year just like the seed I buy! And, it had a good germination rate .

I don't know what variety you have in your garden, Lesa. It they are from sets - I'd consider it a very worthwhile experiment to collect that seed and sow it in late August. See how conniving I am? I'm trying to get you to do something I haven't done . . . .

The companies that sell sets will sometimes tell you that they are Ebenezer of Stuttgarter. But if you want to buy seed and not sets - you will have trouble finding those varieties! My idea is that they are probably hardier than sweet onions and could over-winter.

I might be wrong. They may bolt just like the Walla Wallas do . . :/ Then, you'd just be in a vicious cycle of growing tiny onions that hang around all winter, then bolt, then you sow the seed, which grows tiny onions that hang around . . .

Risk-averse person that I am, I'm trying to talk someone else into trying it .

Steve

 

[lesa]

Well, Steve it isn't like I'll be needing that garden space for a whole lot of other things!! I'll give it a try. I'll save some to start in the greenhouse, and plant some in August! Thanks!