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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 21, 2010 11:59:26 GMT -5
Perhaps I just never noticed before but a group of my topsetting onions have 3/4 topsets and 1/4 flowers on the same scape. Normal?
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jun 21, 2010 22:20:18 GMT -5
Telsing, I have some wild onions here that are doing that.
Don't recall the Egyptian onions doing that, but perhaps other varieties do?
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Post by stevil on Jun 22, 2010 4:59:03 GMT -5
It's not uncommon, but the flowers are as far as I know sterile. Hope to compare different varieties for this trait.
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 22, 2010 7:32:45 GMT -5
I'm fairly certain this is on the red skinned topsetters that I got from Heritage Seeds in the prairies but I'll have a look and get back to you.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jun 22, 2010 14:39:35 GMT -5
Perhaps I just never noticed before but a group of my topsetting onions have 3/4 topsets and 1/4 flowers on the same scape. Normal? In my walking onion patch... Some onions have only bulbils, and some have a half dozen bulbils and one flower, and some have 50 flowers and only one or two bulbils. Clumps of plants tend to share common traits, so there are clumps that have mostly flowers, and clumps that have only bulbils, and clumps that have some of each. The flowers contain an ovary/pistil and filaments, though the anthers are very small and only once in a while does one seems to contain pollen. The insects don't seem to be interested in them. I have never tried to collect seeds. My patch has been growing semi-wild for many years, so I wonder if some of the differences are due to genetics because of some small amount of seed being produced. (I harvest in the spring, and weed about once a year, but pretty much leave it alone other than that.) Regards, Joseph |
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Post by mjc on Jun 22, 2010 16:18:09 GMT -5
The flowers contain an ovary/pistil and filaments, though the anthers are very small and only once in a while does one seems to contain pollen. The insects don't seem to be interested in them. I have never tried to collect seeds. My patch has been growing semi-wild for many years, so I wonder if some of the differences are due to genetics because of some small amount of seed being produced. (I harvest in the spring, and weed about once a year, but pretty much leave it alone other than that.) Regards, Joseph Yes...some small amount of viable seed...the flowers are practically sterile, but not quite. Hand pollination will improve seed production, especially if you can get pollen from another (not the same 'mother' bulbil that started that patch) source. |
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Post by stevil on Jun 23, 2010 3:39:08 GMT -5
Interesting - I'll be on the lookout for flowering on different plants - have some 25 acquisitions (named varieties and others collected from old gardens in Norway), so there should be some scope to try...
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Post by PatrickW on Jun 23, 2010 10:25:36 GMT -5
Something similar happens with garlic when the scapes form bulbils. There are often flowers mixed in with the bulbils, and it is possible to get seeds, but it's very difficult and tedious work, and the seeds are usually sterile. The plants are usually either male sterile, female sterile or completely sterile, so you nearly always need to hand pollinate.
You can help stimulate flower development by removing immature bulbils with tweezers or similar tool, and I assume this would be the same with onion topsets. With garlic, it's always a problem getting the seeds to mature before the tops of the plants die off, and foliar feeding can help with this.
All of this is second hand, I've never done this myself.
If you get this to work, you might get some interesting crosses out of it!
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Post by stevil on Jun 24, 2010 3:32:26 GMT -5
I've yet to see a flower on my garlic. I have about 80-100 plants each year and 10-15 varieties... I remember "Toad" telling me about this. Perhaps they're less prone to produce flowers in a cold climate like mine?
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Post by atash on Jun 24, 2010 19:15:28 GMT -5
I had an ostensibly "topsetting" variety that made both flowers and topsets, and the flowers are FERTILE. But, the onion itself was almost worthless because the topsets were too small to use, and the ground bulbs not particularly good. I think the idea was to harvest them early spring as "green onions", but I already have plenty of those.
It's a particular strain from the southeastern states. They were sold to me as Egyptian onions but they are a different, related variety. So yes, Ottawagardener, its' normal for some types of topsetters.
Stephen, unless you open up the flower clusters early and cut out the bulbils to keep them from squashing the blossoms, the blossoms abort before the cluster opens. And then as Patrick noted, it's still not easy to get them to set seed.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jun 24, 2010 20:19:25 GMT -5
the onion itself was almost worthless because the topsets were too small to use, and the ground bulbs not particularly good. I think the idea was to harvest them early spring as "green onions", but I already have plenty of those. It's a particular strain from the southeastern states. They were sold to me as Egyptian onions but they are a different, related variety. I market them as "strong onions". For me they are ready to harvest within a week of the day the snow melts, several months before spring planted spanish/yellow/white/purple onions produce usable greens. Regards, Joseph |
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Post by galina on Jun 25, 2010 7:13:40 GMT -5
I garden at 52 North and do a lot too at my parent's garden at 46 North. In my garden no flowers, at the more southerly location flowers develop frequently.
Both were grown from topsets from the same parent plant.
Could this be a latitude thing?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jun 26, 2010 0:07:49 GMT -5
I garden at 52 North and do a lot too at my parent's garden at 46 North. In my garden no flowers, at the more southerly location flowers develop frequently. Both were grown from topsets from the same parent plant. Could this be a latitude thing? This time of year there is an extra hour of daylight at 53 North compared to 46 North. And I bet Norway has a couple hours more than either. |
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Post by stevil on Jun 26, 2010 5:33:18 GMT -5
This time of year there is an extra hour of daylight at 53 North compared to 46 North. And I bet Norway has a couple hours more than either. A few more than a couple, as it doesn't get dark properly for 3-4 months around mid-summer and I can now garden all night (don't sleep much at this time of the year)  I will be paying special attention to the garlic topsets this year... |
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 26, 2010 19:36:51 GMT -5
Garden all night. Wow, good thing I don't live there as I bet that I"d try to make up for lost daylight.
We had a milder than normal winter and this is the first time I"ve noticed the flowers.
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