Onions?

moggins

Does anyone know when it's the right time to dig up your onions? 3 of mine look as if they are about to flower.

aimeelister

I have heard thats a good time to dig them up. I have no idea however and will be following this thread so i know when to dig mine up!

twink

this is going to be a bit vague as dh grew the veg but the onions are not meant to be flowering this is called shooting and to do with the weather i think the onion stems should start to dry up and dh used to bend them over to ripen the bulb think harvesting is july/august
sure someone else will know better but do know they shouldnt be flowering unless you want to collect the seed

brokenwings

Hi
if your onions have that little bulby shape on the top and look like theyre flowering they have basically started to go to seed
theres little you can do
if i was you i would pull them up and use them now as they wont keep

as for bending the others tops over - they will basically dropp over themselves and then you can just bend them in a tidier way and so they look neat and leave them until harvest time ( yes usually late july for me )

moggins

Ooops, that's a big failure on the onion front for me then

brokenwings

p.s moggins
youre not that far from me so we have probably had similar weather
a few of mine have also started to go to seed - im going to use them to make relish with

the others havent started to bend yet

in_my_wellies

Bend all the tops over of those which are bolting (starting to flower). They may continue to swell a little.

If you let them flower the bulb part which you want will be empty as all the plants energy will be going into the stem and flower.

Here is a detailed answer:-

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0103/onions.asp

Try planting Japanese onions in the autumn. They are ready around now, they fill the gap between the main crop ones which have been stored all winter and which are just finishing now. (I haven't bought onions for 26 years)


I like this site and if you are ever near it is well worth a visit. It's only about £3 to get in I think. I'm a life member so I don't really know the exact cost. Children only used to be £1 or so and they will love the vegetable kingdom!

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/index.php

hope this helps someone

Brown_suga

does anyone know if the same would apply to garlic??

twink

try https://www.selfsufficientish.com/garlic.htm

samnmalc

www.allotments4all.co.uk

This is a top site for all things green!!