Onions - green stems, no bulb

worded

Am I going wrong somewhere? Some are starting to flower but very little bulb growth.

Soil is damp, and sometimes water logged.

The Sweeper

What variety did you plant?

rocknchef

sound like chives

worded

Got them in B&Q def onions. Were marble size (not seeds) in qtys if 100.

1 x bag of red - variety?
1 x bag of green - variety?

One was spotted in seed. The rest are not but they are all stalk - no bulb.

Did a bit of research and we have damp soil at times water logged with little sun. I think they dont like it.

Everything else is doing quite well.

rocknchef

What causes bulb onions to send up flower stalks? Flowering of onions can be caused by several things but usually the most prevalent is temperature fluctuation. An onion is classed as a biennial which means it normally takes 2 years to go from seed to seed. Temperature is the controlling or triggering factor in this process. If an onion plant is exposed to alternating cold and warm temperatures resulting in the onion plant going dormant, resuming growth, going dormant and then resuming growth again, the onion bulbs prematurely flower or bolt. The onion is deceived into believing it has completed two growth cycles or years of growth in its biennial life cycle so it finalizes the cycle by blooming. Flowering can be controlled by planting the right variety at the right time. Use only transplants that are pencil-sized or smaller in diameter when planting in early spring or always plant seed

maryxyz

I planted red onion sets from Tesco in spring - most stems have died back so I dug them out today. The largest onion is barely one & a half inch diameter while a couple grew giant stems & the onion set hadn't grown any larger.

Spring onions grown from seed grew reasonably well in the same bed (better than buying them from Tesco who import them from Mexico which seems mad - can Irish growers not supply spring onions ?)

Maryxyz

old boy

when the stalks start to get big they need to be bent over so as they will not continue to grow, and the growth is transfered to the bulbs, you may not be too late yet.

maryxyz

thanks for that, old boy - unfortunately I've already dug them all out - but will keep in mind for next year - didn't realise you had to bend the stalks -most bent themselves - just a couple developed turbo stems & no bulb - do you know if the onion bulb can continue to grow even if its stalk has bent & withered ?

Maryxyz

old boy

the growth transfers to the bulb when the stalk is bent and twisted.

jobrok1

I'm a first time grower. Hadn't heard this tip before.

I have farly big strong stalks on my onions now.
Bulbs are very small though!
So if I just bend the stalks over and give them a twist, the bulbs well increase in size?

old boy

yes make sure that you twist their necks rather hard then as i have said the growth transfers to the bulb, after a week or so you may have to strangle some that survived. the old gardeners around here used that method, also if it was possible they planted the setts during the first week in january, and lifted them on th 21st of june, they were usually replaced by winter cabbage.

tenandtracer

Top tip thanks - have done likewise. As an aside shallots are doing great this year (big and tasty!) - they must tolerate these temperature fluctuations better!

Rujib1

tenandtracer wrote: »

Top tip thanks - have done likewise. As an aside shallots are doing great this year (big and tasty!) - they must tolerate these temperature fluctuations better![/QUOTE

That's funny. My onions were absolutely the best I ever had this year, by a country mile and I didn't need to bend or twist the stalk.
However shallots, were dissapointing :eek: All planted the same day, first week Feb.

R1

hepcat

This happened wit one or two of our onions, and we read that you should remove the ones that flower, and bend over the stems on the rest. it has worked and all are practically ready to come out now.