Onions

[Big John]

I have been growing a bed of 'Bedfordshire Champion' since last November and they looked to be doing very well. Until today, I noticed a couple are forming flower heads. Is this ok or have they bolted? If I cut the flower stems off will the onion bulbs still form ok? Or have I lost them?

[rustylady]

Nip off the flowering heads as soon as you spot them. The onions will still form bulbs, they can be used in the kitchen as soon as they are big enough, but they won't keep well. This often happens with onions when growing conditions are a bit erratic (e.g. cold and wet, then dry and warm - or any combination of strange weather)

[vicki lorraine]

Yep i agree with rustylady,
i am experiencing bolting too. Pulled the first two today, and used them on our homemade pizzas. they were great, mild to taste so great for salads. They were just bigger than a golf ball.

[Big John]

Many thanks for your replies. I have cut the flower stalks out but haven't pulled them yet as the bulbs haven't grown very much.

[northepaul]

Had this problem with my spring onion sets - firstly they started rotting in all the wet weather, then as soon as it was sunny, they bolted! The biggest one I had was between a golf and a tennis ball size.
:S