| Onions live for 2 years. Year 1 they start from seed and grow into plants. When daylength is right (it varies on variety) they focus on storing food (growing the bulb). Year 1 is over for them. Year 2 they grow again, but instead of focusing on storing food, the focus on reproducing (going to seed). This is what you experienced. Long story short is the bulb size you have at the end of the first year is the max size you are going to get, leaving them ggrow another year won't get bigger bulbs. If you started from seed and ended up with small bulbs there are a few possible causes. The first cause is not starting them early enough. Onions require a long growing season. In my version of zone 5 I start onions from seed in January or early Feb at the latest. Plant out time is mid April. The second potential cause is the wrong variety. Onions are photoperiod sensitive plants which means they are 'triggered' to grow the bulb in response to the day length. It is actually the length of darkness they relate to, but... Onions are divided into 3 types, long day, short day and intermiediate or day length neutral. In the south short day onions are used, in our area long day varieties are used. In our area we want the onions to grow their bulbs as spring progresses into summer (days get longer). Using the wrong variety is a guarantee of small bulbs. Unfortunately I commonly find onion seed in stores here that is short day and it invariably will do poorly for us. Yet another potential cause is lack of water and fertilzer. Onions prefer a rich soil with constant water available. A shortage of either during bulb production stalls bulb growth. You only have so many days for the bulb to pack on weight so every day counts. So, water frequently (keep soil on the moist side) and fertilze regularly (once a month or so). Amending the soil with compost and other organic material is helpful in providing a rich, loose soil. Toss the onoins in the compost. You can save and grow the seed, but I wouldn't suggest it if you aren't certain they are lon day onions. Personally I find it much easier to grow onoins from plants. Dixondale farms (online vendor) is one I have used and everyone I know that does business with them is pleased with their service and plant quality. Still, growing from seed is fine if you start with the right variety and get started while the snow is still coming down. (supplemental lighting is a huge plus) | 
