Onion questions the AVERAGE gardener won't care about.

[oldmobie]

I left some of last summer's onion "crop" in a milk crate on the back porch for so long I was sure they had spoiled. I've been avoiding them for months now. Today, I noticed new growth.



I only had to throw 3 bulbs into the composter. The rest were still pretty firm. There was some mold, and lots of the bulbs were tiny, so we probably won't try to eat any. But I have a half baked idea of replanting. So here's the question(s): under which circumstances will the bulbs grow larger, vs the old bulbs rotting away or being consumed in order to feed a NEW plant?

The sets I plant in the spring are just small bulbs someone else harvested. I plant them and most of them enlarge the same bulb. I harvest what seems to be the same plant, only bigger. But in the case of most of my medium sized bulbs that have sprouted, most have more than one top. In one case, 4 tops. One bulb with 2 tops was soft, so I pulled off the mushy part, revealing what looks like 2 small plants joined at the root.

If I start planting these, which ones will grow up (if any), and which ones will form new plants instead? Why the 2 different behaviors? How does each plant know which way to behave?

[darrenabbey]

The stored bulbs won't grow larger in the second year. A new plant will grow and make a new bulb (or bulbs) and they might go to bloom instead of bulbing. I've had saved bulbs fragment and make new bulbs one year, then go to seed the following year.

From the plants perspective, the only reason to bulb up is to store food to assist in blooming next year. The sets are in a different physiological state, as they haven't grown up yet.

I do have a large batch of seeds from such saved and replanted onions, which is what I was wanting to get out of the process.

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Jan 27, 2015 18:46:33 GMT -5 oldmobie said:

If I start planting these, which ones will grow up (if any), and which ones will form new plants instead?

My experience is that onion bulbs larger than 3/4 inch in diameter are likely to flower. Bulbs smaller than that are likely to form bulbs.

[12540dumont]

Don't know what kind they are. If you get them to grow larger and they are CMS, you won't even get seed. However, you'll get nice pollenless flower for your table....You can always put the flowers in a salad.

[flowerweaver]

...or in a bouquet on your table, which I discovered is a good way to keep dinner parties brief.

[RpR]

I have used that type quite often but generally harvest them as a good strong tasting scallion.

I have had one, that I remember, turn into a nice large bulb which is odd as I seem to have problems getting large bulbs period.