A lot of my bunching onions are bolting. . .

14 years ago

So my evergreen hardy bunching onions over wintered very nicely and divided into clumps of 8 or even more healthy onions. Foolishly I divided these up and replanted them, when I should have probably just harvested them and enjoyed the fruits of my work. (We had a bunch from the store in our fridge so I really didn't want them to go to waste).

I planted them in the ground in order to let them grow and re-split, but the stress of doing this in the cool spring weather seems to have made a lot of them bolt. Actually, I think one or two were already bolting before I did this. I know that bolting for bulb onions generally means it's time to just dig them up and eat them ASAP. What about Allium fistulosum? Will they continue to grow and split? Will their eating quality go down when they bolt?

Also, if there are no other Allium fistulosum around in my community garden will the seeds from flowers be true to type, or might it be a good idea to bag a flower if I want seeds?

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Comments (3)

theonebluegecko
14 years ago
My bunching onions are actually bolting right now as well.

The main reason you need to eat onions right away when they are bolting is because they do not store as well because of the flower stalk, which goes into the bulb and is fairly inedible.

I am planning on just letting mine go to see so that I have some new seeds to start next time, although I am not sure about cross contamination for them. Although I think it should be ok since there are no others around and it seems like most onions flower later, but once again I am not sure.
cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
Try also cutting them slightly above the ground and pour some fine soil to level the cut ends.
Probably they will grow again. Another way to look at it is that
you harvest them like chives, over and over..
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plantslayer
Original Author
13 years ago
Hello,

I am experiencing this problem with my bunching onions once again, right now! I found last year that the dividing type of bunching onion seems to split around the time it bolts. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case? Also, does anyone know if removing the flowering stalk will help or hinder the bolting process?

I am still a bit confused about all of this, most info sources on onions group bunching onions together with bulbing onions, and only discuss bolting as it affects bulbing onions. I know that the flower stalks become tough and inedible, but if I recall correctly, the plant also splits around the time that bolting takes place. I just wonder if letting the bolting take place is better, or if cutting the bolting stalk down is better for splitting.