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first time growing onions and garlic

18 years ago

I planted garlic and onions last year, but then had to move house before it was time to harvest anything other than the scapes from the garlic (yum).

This year I planted three types of garlic - two sent up scapes about a month ago, which we ate and enjoyed, and the third variety seems to be just starting to do the same - around the same time that the onion starts I planted are starting to go to flower.

My question is whether or not to remove the flower stalk from the onions before they open in order to get bulbs in the ground (same as taking the scapes off the garlic)?

If I let them flower and go to seed, then plant the seeds the following year, am I correct in thinking that these plants wouldn't send out flower stalks in their first year? Would they produce bulbs to dig up, or are they supposed to be left in the ground for the second year?

Thanks folks,

- Kenn / faerie

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Comments (3)

Lanabeth
18 years ago
Hello Kenn,
My very beloved partner in life says ,"oh, I know the answer to that" You will get nice onions but they will not flower the first year.
We want to know when is the proper time to plant the seeds?
It's such a hot climate here, probably not the month that you will plant.
Happy Gardening!
Lanabeth
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gardenlad
18 years ago
Kenn, if you want bulbs, then clip those flower stalks. Even so, it's best to eat those bulbs first, as they won't keep as long.

Lanabeth, wish I could give you a definative answer, but I don't know your weather patterns. Onion seed is set, indoors, about two months before planting. Here in Kentucky that means seed set in January, for a March plant out.

Maybe one of our California members has a better answer for you?
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marti8a I set my three varieties of onion transplants out (in containers) on March 7. They had general DTMs of 100 and 110 days, but they didn't last quite that long! I have begun harvesting them from the containers where they all have fallen over, even though some of the tops are still green. I think you can just leave them there longer than that but need to pull them when the neck right next to the bulb is still solid to feel but above that, it's soft. Below is a picture of about half the onions I planted, curing out on the deck under an overhang. They still have a way to go for the leaves to become all brown. And they sure have lots of roots! I also plan to spread them out more today after I find something else to set them on under the overhang so the air can reach all of them. I'm leaving the others (yellow onions) in the soil for now since not all of them have fallen over and the tops haven't started browning. They're much larger than these, most double this size.
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Socalgirl, While I don't know a thing about onions my best advice to you about the garlic is to Google "how to grow garlic" you will find umpteen different sites telling you what you need to know about when and how to plant them. Seed bulbs are just like the bulbs you eat...the only difference really is the size of it. People grow big garlic bulbs just to sell to others like yourself. There are many different outlets for planting stock out there and is easy to buy online. Ebay is a good source for garlic bulbs in September. A local farmers market is another. I would not go to the big seed retailers your first year growing though..they're pretty expensive. You can go to your local grocery store and buy some bulbs in October-November and plant those is you want to play with the idea of growing garlic without a big outlay of cash. Hope this helps
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That is a long time for bunching onions to mature. They may have used a generic onion maturation time on the packet. I checked a couple online seed vendors and they said 60 days and 75 days for evergreen white. Usually bunching onions are planted densely and used many at a time. If you direct sow it will be much less work, and since bulb formation is irrelevant you can harvest them at any point in the season and their eating quality will be the same. If they aren't giant at the end of the season you can still eat them, or let them winter over and they'll be back bigger (and in larger numbers). I overwintered about half a dozen of them that were planted last summer, a couple divided in two, and several are now in the process of flowering. I was hoping they'd split into 5 or 6 like shallots do, unless they divide several times per year they don't seem particularly 'bunching'.
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I have relatives who have used Preen for years and swear by it; I have never used it and do mulch but not constantly. Best results come from years of weeding the same garden space and so reducing the weed seed load being carried there. The younger you get the weeds out, the fewer seeds they produce and the sooner the weed load goes down, but be aware that some weed seeds can lay in the ground 50 years and still eventually germinate. There really is no easy answer. Just be as thorough as you can the first time and then every time. The garden my parents had on the farm had been garden for nearly a century by the time they sold the farm and they still had to do some regular weeding. The best fertilizer you can put on your garden is the lubrication of the joint between your upper and the lower arm, that and as much care as possible in how you apply it.
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coho
18 years ago
Here that would be the 1st of September and transplants set out Nov 15, just before the rains start. Harvest around the 15th of June. Temps are usually 2.2C to 43.3C. If you are not in this range, adjust accordingly.
Absolutely the best would be to ask some one who grows onions in your area. Perhaps call one of the Israeli research stations listed in the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: research stations and other regarding onions
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