Kitchen Garden Forum

My onions seem to be ahead this year - already had to nip off flower heads, the leaves are beginning to yellow and the skins are going papery. I always misjudge exactly when they are ready and end up with quite a few where they have tried to stalk up which have to be used first. Anyone got any tips to know exactly when to harvest them and any tips to bulk / perk them up a bit at the end?

Westi

If they are starting to flower already, perhaps you planted/sowed them too early and they"think" it's been winter already? Unless they are flowering (in which case you should use them rather than try to store them), I would think they will continue to grow. You could buy special onion fertiliser, perhaps that would do the trick!

They were overwintered so have seen some pretty grim winter weather. The latter sown ones are still quite small. Maybe the first sown are indeed nearly ready?

Westi

Dear Westi, overwintered onions often do this, especially red ones.
As they often get stressed through Winter and early Spring, and then we get a hot spell, they think there job is done so send up the seed head.

With overwintered ones, you can start using them green, as soon as they are of a usable size.

Cheers OH!

They are a usable size indeed so think I may start harvesting. It is the red ones that are flowering so may have to start on them. Is it right to say when they flower you may as well get them up as no matter how many flower buds I nip off they still end up with a core in them?

Westi

A couple of my red onions have already developed flower stalks and I didn't plant the sets until late March.

Dear Primrose, at lot of Old Codgers have done the same, he is not amused.....

Oh, Westi, you didn't say they were overwintering onions! Yes, a few of mine (Radar) are throwing up flower stalks, too, but with overwintering onions I just pull those up which I am likely to use in the next few days and leave the rest in the ground until they have all been used.

Pulled my first two 'Radar' today to use green, they were huge! A few, but not all, have produced flower stalks.

Everything seems earlier, my garlic looks ready too, and I picked a nice bowl of ripe strawberries today!