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Does harvesting onion shoots weaken the plant?

12 years ago

I'm growing onions and shallots from bulbs or seedlings, and occasionally snip off a shoot at the base to use in salads. The plants generally have four or five other shoots, and I try not to harvest from the same plant more than once, at least until it's put out a few more shoots. Will this weaken the plant and make the bulbs it produces smaller?

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Comments (2)

wcthomas
12 years ago
If a plant has five leaves and you remove one, you have reduced its light gathering ability by 20%, which means less energy to the plant. A study on garlic showed that removing a leaf reduced the bulb size by 15%, so I would expect smaller bulbs for onions as well.

TomNJ
nygardener
Original Author
12 years ago
Hmm, thanks. So I guess next year I'll have to grow separate plants for leaves and bulbs, harvest the former more frequently and leave the latter alone.
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