Onions: Just learned something new!

[journey11]

I now know why some of my onions try to form a seed head and some do not. It had been an aggravating mystery for me. The ones that bolt don't keep as long. http://www.harvestwizard.com/ is a blog I've been subscribed to for a while that has lots of gardening info/tips/etc. They said to avoid planting onion sets that are larger than a dime because they are more prone to bolt.

(Insert *bonk myself in the head* here.) Of course, I've been going through the bin picking out the largest, most plump onion sets because they look healthier and I figured they would make larger onions than the puny ones. Who would have guessed the puny ones were the way to go?

The feedstore lady bagged my onion sets for me this year and I was perturbed because I didn't get to pick out the ones I wanted. Looks like she did me a favor. I've only had a few that bolted this year.

So now you know!! (And if you already knew this, well...I guess I forgive you for not telling me. Ha.)

 

[wifezilla]

Wow. Thanks for posting that.

 

[RidgebackRanch]

Thanks for the tip! I had no idea and purposely did not plant shallots this year as all available set were really small this year. Great blog as well, can't wait to read more.

 

[digitS']

All part of that understandable "more is better" complex that we all have, Journey. If a little is good, more is better - small good/large better.

Balance in all things . . . . It may help us to imagine that plants have some kind of reasoning ability. Primary - their thinking is on reproduction.

My understanding is sweet onions, grown on farms not all that far from here, are seeded in late August, overwintered and then harvested after 11 or 12 months. I can do that . . . maybe, 1 year out of 3. The other 2 years the sweet onions look at each other in March and say, "Oh my gosh! That was a terrible winter! Let's never do that again!! We had better go ahead with our primal directive and raise babies RIGHT NOW!"

So, they bolt.

We think of onions as really tough. Actually, they just smell strong and are really garden lilies with puffed up leaves. Even chickweed can push them around.

We can plant onions early, early in the growing season but, Dixondale Farms has a pat answer to people who call up and ask why their plants bolted a few months after planting: severe frost after setting out. Yes, onion plants can survive going from South Texas to somewhere in the north but primarily their purpose in life is reproduction. If life gets too difficult for them, that's all they can think about.

Probably as gardeners, we need to con the onion into thinking that his life will always be good. Plenty of food, lots to drink, sunshine . . . Chickweed will always fall at his feet. He's a slacker but imagines himself as such a admirable poser that he can afford to take a nice long vacation in the sun before settling down to the primary purpose of life - raising a family.

Steve

 

[journey11]

LOL, Steve, that makes perfect sense! If I were an onion, what would I do?

We never had any more frost after I put my onions out, but a few of mine did bolt, maybe 30 out of around 250 onions I planted bolted (thank goodness--I'd have worn myself out trying to pinch them all!) So I don't think I'd go for that explanation either. I sure did lament all the small ones in the bag though...so that theory is definitely shaping up.

Thanks for checking out my blog, RidgebackRanch. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'd never heard that before Journey, very interesting. Thanks for sharing .

 

[Collector]

That is good info, my DW spent an hour picking out white, and red onion sets so she could get the healthiest looking ones. And I just grabbed a bag of yellows that were already bagged, when we got home DW scolded me for getting some puny shrively looking onions. The first ones up though were the yellows, all are growing well now though none have bolted so far. I think I will go scold DW now for buying all those nice looking bulbs!!!
Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[journey11]

That's too funny, Collector! I sure hate to get in the middle of a marital spat. Enjoy your "told ya so!"

 

[baymule]

Wow! I always root through the bins looking for the biggest onion sets too! :rainbow-sun (bonks self on head) I had no idea. Didn't know that the ones that make a seed head don't keep as well either. (goes out in dark with flashlight and guilliotine to "OFF WITH THEIR HEADS") Oh well that shouldn't be a problem, we eat 'em so fast and don't have room to plant 250 of them. Thanks for this tidbit of knowledge.

 

[vfem]

Love the onion story Steve, sometimes I feel like talking to my plants about what is ok, and what is not. Like journey... I did not get to pick and choose my onion sets this year. They were bagged and tagged and off I went to plant.

Out of 100 sets I only planted 60 and get the rest away. About 20 were used as spring onions, and only 3 bolted this year!!!

Everyone else has begun the amazing flop over

My garlic however is being tortured by weeds, and I am not winning that battle. I don't think they have even bulbed yet.

While I yell at the sun to 'cool it', the garlic and onions are giving in and giving up. :coolsun ...but ALL my leeks are bolting. The quitters!!!!