onion seed pods???

Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:46 pm

I found these weird bulbs on top of the green sprouts coming from my onions. I looked it up and I think they are seed pods?

What should I do with them????

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Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:01 pm

>seed pods

not exactly - it's a "bud" - onions produce a globular "flower" - then seeds develop from the flower.

Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:13 pm

oh ok... so I should just leave it on there then?

Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:19 am

leave it and enjoy the flowering.

when onion and kin flower and set seed, it is at the expense of the bulb - you will not likely find the bulb useable. clipping off the flower does not "stop" that process - so may as well enjoy the flowers.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:26 am

awwww so I am going to lose those onions huh? ok thanks

This is my first year growing anything so its all a learning process for me !!!

Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:01 am

>lose . .

likely. onions are bi-annuals - one year they bulb, next year they flower.

cultural / climate conditions can 'fool' them, and they can be 'manipulated' to a degree (i.e. onion sets) -

Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:05 am

ok one more question about onions... if I cut off the green sprouts, would that help the bulbs get bigger (not talking about the ones with the flower starting but the others I have in my garden)

I bought a bunch at a nursery and planted them and some are getting so big while others are super small still. And only 3 have started to flower.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 12:24 pm

perhaps we should start at the beginning . . .

from what is posted so far, I have the impression you bought onion "sets" from the nursery - looks like little bitty onions...?

as to cutting off the green sprouts - don't do that. those are the "leaves" of the plant. the little sets will all send up tubular "leaves"

sometimes a seedling / "set" gets fooled into thinking it's the second season and it blooms. sometimes it's a smaller set, sometimes a bigger set - difficult to "predict"

all the onions I've dealt with - the bulb gets soft and mushy and goes off-taste when it starts into the blooming cycle.

onions can pout for a while as they develop their roots - if the set is still firm, (i.e. not rotted) it will grow.

Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:14 pm

ok thank you so much. Yes I bought little bulb things from a nursery. You answered all my questions ! :-)

I am really getting hooked on gardening, it is so much fun. Already getting to eat a lot of tomatoes that I planted only 2 months ago. May need to move somewhere with a lot of land if I get any more hooked on it haha

Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:52 pm

Cut that leaf the bud is on and eat it. Eat the bud too.

When the onion plant sends up a seed leaf and it flowers, the bulb development stops and the plants energy goes to the flower to make seed.

Sometimes plants that have sent up a seed leaf will produce a bulb too if the bud is plucked, but it is never as nice a bulb as from those plants that do not flower. The flower leaf comes from the root up through the center of the bulb and makes the center of the bulb open and sometimes soft. These bulbs do not store as well.