Onions

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Flo
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291358Post Flo »

There's discussion over on one of the gardening forums about the onion sets going to seed this year. In the UK they are supposed to be heat treated but people are wondering if this always happens of late. Also heat and dry weather seems to affect whether or not seed heads form.

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291359Post happyhippy »

Thanks Flo,will take a look.

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291361Post Odsox »

happyhippy wrote: Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:42 am Onions!I plant sets,and each year alot of them form seed heads way before the onions are big enough.I read that to combat this,you can cut that stem off,which will force the bulb to still grow,I've done this now,and hope it works.Any idea's why my onions keep going this way?
I assume that they haven't started to form a bulb yet so can't really help, but I have had some bolt when they have formed a sizeable bulb and they can be used. But you have to not leave them too long as the centre of the bulb goes hard and inedible.
Keep us posted on how those (potential) flowering ones turn out.
Tony

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291362Post happyhippy »

I planted the sets I think back in March.yes they're already forming bulbs Odsox,so I've cut out the stem that has the flower on it.(Flowers havent come out yet,but I could see the end of the stem was swollen,and I've had this issue many times.

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291372Post MKG »

Onions go to seed because it's too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, a day with a 'y' in it, excess solar radiation, ill-fated horoscopes, the Russians, aliens, elves, bad vibes, soil too sandy, soil too clay-y, and the coming apocalypse. Avoid all of those and you'll have no problem.
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291377Post ina »

Or they just want to show how pretty they can look... :flower:

I sometimes leave some to flower, for the visual effect! :wink:
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Flo
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291385Post Flo »

Save the seeds after they flower.

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291387Post ina »

Flo wrote: Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:01 am Save the seeds after they flower.
Good idea - will try that next time.
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291395Post Weedo »

Thanks MKG - I can give mine all of those conditions in one day this year!

On a more positive side, the onions I planted from seed have now caught up to the same varieties planted from sets 2 weeks before; doesn't look like the successive planting thing is going to work unless I increase the time gap. Garlic in this week (hopefully) on the old rule of "plant on the shortest day, harvest on the longest"

In the past I have stored garlic (peeled cloves) in Olive Oil; My climate is too warm for bulb storing. Has anyone tried crushing and freezing?
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291399Post Green Aura »

Weedo wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:59 am Has anyone tried crushing and freezing?
...and miss out on all that garlicy olive oil? :shock: :lol:
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291400Post Odsox »

Weedo wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:59 am Has anyone tried crushing and freezing?
Yes, we used to do that but for some reason stopped doing it, I have no idea why as I can't keep mine for those last 2 or 3 months until the new season's.
I may well freeze a few bulbs again now that you have put the idea back in my head.
We froze intact cloves which have a sort of waxy texture frozen and are dead easy to slice straight out of the freezer.
Tony

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291401Post Weedo »

Good idea Tony, I hadn't thought of freezing intact cloves; I presume peeled? The idea of crushing before freezing was so that I could just throw the frozen stuff straight in the pot. My thought was using Ice cube trays.

No GA. the oil preserved ones will still happen.
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291406Post Odsox »

Weedo wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:34 pm I presume peeled?
Yes sorry, open frozen peeled whole cloves.
You can also grate frozen cloves as well as slicing.
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Re: Onions

Post: # 291421Post diggernotdreamer »

I have been a bit busy the last six weeks or so being a suffragette sort of. I am trying to catch up, which given the weather went from flipping freezing and nothing happening to scorchio in a matter of a few weeks, things are a bit confused. Been too hot to even get into the tunnel and plant stuff out, even in the evenings when the second day starts at 5pm when the sun came out hotter than ever. Hopefully, I will get back in charge of things.

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Re: Onions

Post: # 291512Post RenewableCandy »

We're growing stuff here at Chateau Renewable, but this year's been an odd-un.

What with the drought (my back aches!) the fact I've still not got the gravel down (see 'RenewableCandy's Hardcore Challenge' thread...) so there's nowhere for salad pots... I'm NOT asking our nice nighbour to do the whacking-down in this heat, it's indecent.

Stuff we're growing: all our perennials (Rhubarb, Globe Artis, redcurrants - we've had a bumper harvest in the garden but zilch on the Plot), various herbs, asparagus. Other stuff: onions, peas, runner-beans, spuds.

The onions & peas are really suffering in this dry, but beans and spuds seem to be doing well.

The twice I've tried sowing sunflower seeds this year (2nd time with netting over) the ruddy birds have scoffed the lot.

The fruit trees, though, are looking gorgeous. Marvellous Other 1/2 got all the cherries down *before* they ripened & put them in a giant bowl on the windowsill, so we (and not the blackbirds) got to eat them :iconbiggrin: :iconbiggrin: :iconbiggrin:

Next day the tree was full of screeching birds having a good old whinge... it all got a bit Alfred Hitchcock but they've given up and bogged-off now.
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