Onions, flowering???

[Meat Hunter]

Ok, have lots of onions planted. A few of them however have the big white flower heads at the top. Why do a few of these have them and is it good or bad?

[ALX]

Onions are biannual...Meaning they seed second year....If they were little onion bulbs "sets" you planted from store,expect most to get seed stalks/pods...It reduces the storage time greatly as the middle of onion were seed stalk was gets hard and tends to rot in storage....I cut it off immediately....I prolly have 100 i didnt use as scallions and they last a bit,but i grow from seed for storage to avoid the seed stalk/pod...

I grow both sets and onions from seed(bigger for storage)....Even my transplants from seeds i started can flower if exsposed to very cold weather in early growth faze...The cold can trick them into thinking its second year....

I grow sets(second year bulb) for scallions and start 200-300 seeds to transplant for long term storage and bigger onions like seen in stores...Going to cure about 200 hundred from garden this weekend....They will last 4-8 months easy....

[Meat Hunter]

Thanks ALX. I bought those little a bit larger than a marble onion bulbs and that is what I planted. So you say cut off the flower heads on any that are flowering to reduce the chance of rotting?

[ALX]

Thanks ALX. I bought those little a bit larger than a marble onion bulbs and that is what I planted. So you say cut off the flower heads on any that are flowering to reduce the chance of rotting?

Yes...I cut the shoot off immediately at base of onion....You will notice it right in middle and its solid compared to other shoots even before the seed head starts to form....I do the same with my hardneck garlic...It forces more energy to bulb instead of seed head...

I have had yellow onion sets store awhile,but most sets come from similiar seed on the market....I am using my sets now in dishes,but have to cut the middle of bulb out on alot of em from where seed shoot/stalk was......Before it rots it can be very hard in middle...

Not hard to grow onions from seed and transplant into garden as i do if you want big,long term storage...Its the way to go....Much better variety...I grow long day onions as you would in minnesota...Means they start to bulb from 14-16 hours of sunlight..

I actually dehydrate alot of my sets before they seed for onion powder/salt etc....

[Meat Hunter]

Cool, thank Alex. Ok, while we are talking veggies here. I looked for the post here and at smf but could not find it. A while ago, you talked about trimming off stems from your tomato plants? I forget the reason why, but what parts do I cut off?

[ALX]

Cool, thank Alex. Ok, while we are talking veggies here. I looked for the post here and at smf but could not find it. A while ago, you talked about trimming off stems from your tomato plants? I forget the reason why, but what parts do I cut off?

I grow INdeterminates mainly..Meaning they grow and produce all season....A Determinate is bushy and sets fruit only a determinate amount of time(no need to sucker)...

On my indeterminates i sucker them the first 3 feet and then i let the suckers grow and i get 4-5 tops on my plants that produce tomatoes at top of my 5 foot cages(kinda like growing weed ) .....Really helps with airflow around bottom of cages....Very humid here....My plants take on more of a mushroom look with tops flowing over and down cages and loaded with maters...


I also trim/prune my branches up 2 foot or so on main stem as they begin to die off and the growth begins to focus on top of plant....


Fire It up posted a search on suckering tomatoes with good pics(You can find pics on internet if your not sure what a sucker is)...Some do it others dont...I do it for air circulation and i like to force my plants energy to the main stem and top at beggining of plants life(first 3-4 feet).....Most of my canners have 60 plus tomatoes on them at moment using this technique.

[Meat Hunter]

Oh man, thats right, FIU posted that thread. I remember know. I am growing the ones you recommended, little mama from Burpee. I will look for his post. Thanks Alex.

[ALX]

Oh man, thats right, FIU posted that thread. I remember know. I am growing the ones you recommended, little mama from Burpee. I will look for his post. Thanks Alex.

It was in the gardening forum here....I think in the middle of another persons thread.... It wasnt a thread so much on suckering as just a link to the pros/cons of doing it....

My little Mammas are 7 foot and loaded....I definetly sucker them first 3 feet etc...

Reminds me...I havent posted any garden pics in a month or so....Freaking 2 inch rain last 7 weeks...Garden doing great....

[Meat Hunter]

My little Mammas are 7 foot and loaded....I definetly sucker them first 3 feet etc...

7'??? WTF, is your garden sitting on top of an old nuclear waste dump LOL.

Mine is starting to set fruits, still small, about 1" long. Is it too late to trim some suckers or should that have been done during the growing stage?

[ALX]

7'??? WTF, is your garden sitting on top of an old nuclear waste dump LOL.

Mine is starting to set fruits, still small, about 1" long. Is it too late to trim some suckers or should that have been done during the growing stage?

Took some pics....This is near top of cage....The suckers are growing at a 45 degree angle upwards from the branch....Eack sucker will flower and produce more maters....









I have 20-30 large tomatoes ripening for canning below this.....I use top of cage to prop up the 4-5 tops that will produce maters....If mine didnt gently come down cge the plants would be 12 foot plus.....

This is a 7 footer bending down under weight of the maters....4 tops on this plant...I will get another 2 dozen maters easy for canning....

[SMOKE FREAK]

I havent suckered my plants in years...More foilage means more protection from the blazing Kansas sun and wind...And more maters means happy me...

I know what you mean about plants trailing down the cages...A couple years ago I put two cages together...10' tall...to see just how high one plant would climb...It made it out the top of the cage...strange to see...impossible to harvest

[curious aardvark]

another reason for pinching out the flowers on onions is to prevent the plant putting all it's nutrients into the flower and none into the actual onion bulb.

[smokemania]

I always step on the onion to stop the plant from flowering and then the onion itself grows much faster. Cutting off the flower is doing the same thing thooo