Onion with wierd flower like bulb on top

hello932 · 20-08-2010 5:45am #1

I put a supermarket onion into the ground a few weeks ago and it sprouted garlic like leaves and now has a white bulb on top of the stems in the center. Is this a flower-can i propagate the seeds from this?

looksee · 20-08-2010 9:46am

Leave it a bit longer and it will open into a globe shaped flower, very pretty. It might set seed, if it does you can plant them.

TheFatMan · 20-08-2010 10:54am

Growing onions from seed in Ireland is way too much work. Buy Onion sets and plant them at the end of March with spuds.

hello932 · 20-08-2010 1:00pm

TheFatMan wrote: »

Growing onions from seed in Ireland is way too much work. Buy Onion sets and plant them at the end of March with spuds.

why so? do onions take long to mature from seed?

John mac · 21-08-2010 11:40am

looks like this eventually

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looksee · 21-08-2010 1:33pm

That is lovely - I would love to grow the Christophii but I keep losing them in the weeds

OP it takes a long season to grow onions from seed and its a bit fiddly, worth a try though if you like a challenge!

flutered · 21-08-2010 10:23pm

the old boys in my area used to put the onion sets down in early febuary, they lifted them on st andrews day, then put down garlic.

doctor evil · 22-08-2010 1:04am

flutered wrote: »

the old boys in my area used to put the onion sets down in early febuary, they lifted them on st andrews day, then put down garlic.

What day is St. Andresw day? If growing from seed when should you start. Are they a good companion plant.

hello932 · 22-08-2010 1:59am

doctor evil wrote: »

What day is St. Andresw day? If growing from seed when should you start. Are they a good companion plant.

Onions are a member of the allium family and so yes they are a companion plant. I cant remember the specifics but i think they repel greenfly and slugs. Can someone else confirm this?

johndoe99 · 22-08-2010 2:18am

hello932 wrote: »

Onions are a member of the allium family and so yes they are a companion plant. I cant remember the specifics but i think they repel greenfly and slugs. Can someone else confirm this?

dont know about greenfly, but slugs will not touch any member of the onion family

flutered · 22-08-2010 10:19am

doctor evil wrote: »

What day is St. Andresw day? If growing from seed when should you start. Are they a good companion plant.

if i remember correctly st andrews day is the 21st june, it was always this date that they lifted them, as for the rest of you query i do not know.

qzy · 22-08-2010 4:59pm

johndoe99 wrote: »

dont know about greenfly, but slugs will not touch any member of the onion family

...but snails will

johndoe99 · 22-08-2010 6:51pm

qzy wrote: »

...but snails will

ive been growing onions, leeks and scallions for over 25 years and snails will not touch them

TheFatMan · 23-08-2010 5:11pm

My suggestion to avoid the seeds is its fiddly and you loose a lot of them along the way (or I did at least) always have much more success with the sets.

Nothing eats my onions except my father in law but I'm not allowed classify him as a pest as he does a lot of odd jobs around the house.

Late Feb seems very early to be putting things in the ground here, but I might give it a go.

I pulled the last of mine this weekend and hung them to dry out. They taste amazing. We've been eating fried onions off the grill all summer.

doctor evil · 23-08-2010 6:44pm

I don't mind fiddly too much as long as the seedling aren't insanely fickle.

KAGY · 23-08-2010 7:36pm

johndoe99 wrote: »

dont know about greenfly, but slugs will not touch any member of the onion family

Except mine, I've had slug eat through the stem of my onions. In fact I had a few resting inside the stem. Won't touch the bulb tho.

doctor evil · 24-08-2010 8:23pm

How long does it take to dry when they are hung, is it ok to do this under a leanto?

TheFatMan · 25-08-2010 9:42am

Hi Dr. Evil

Takes about a 4-10 days to dry out depending on where you have them.
Wherever you put them they should have plenty of air cirulating around them, if left touching anything damp they may go soft and mouldy. I try trim them of the bulk of the green parts before I set them to dry, this speeds things up and means I dont trim them again once they are dried out.

Drying out really intensifies the flavour. Straight from the ground mine are really sweet and fragrant. Once dry they make you cry like a 4 year old lost in Arnotts.

This year I hung mine on my pea frames and left them out in the air for nearly 2 weeks. They go the occassional shower fall on them but they still dried out well and I didnt loose any, except a few to the father-in-law.

Cheers

Onion with wierd flower like bulb on top

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