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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Bolting Onion Sets

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  • From: "William H Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Bolting Onion Sets
  • Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 06:45:57 -0500

Cutting off the flower tops on onion sets will divert energy from the
flowers into making bulb tissue, increasing the size of the bulbs. We have
quite a few old-time growers here who use sets to grow green bulb onions.
They let the bulbs form onions a little larger than golf balls then pull and
bunch them, 3-4 in a bunch. They work well because they are so early and
other kinds of local onions are not yet in the market. I think it's the best
use of onion sets, other than early scallions.

William H. Shoemaker
Sr. Research Specialist, Food Crops
University of Illinois - Crop Sciences
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road, St Charles, IL, 60174
630-584-7254, FAX-584-4610
wshoemak AT illinois.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Allan
Balliett
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 6:17 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: [Market-farming] Bolting Onion Sets

Sorry to ask this, but, I forget (must be all this rain pounding on my
head has knocked something loose!)

Onion sets I planted early in the spring have started to go to
blossom. Just small buds now, but the stems are up there.

Is there any point in cutting these off? WIll I save anything by doing that?

I'm asking because they were planted for a CSA that doesn't start for 2
weeks.

In a normal year, the sets make it into June without problems. My
garlic scapes are coming on, as well. Usually, that's a mid-June thing
here.

I have a few other crops bolting, such a cauliflower (as they say:
only an idiot would try to grow cauliflower in the spring in the
Mid-Atlantic) Strange since temps have been fairly reasonable and on
the low side, at that.

Thanks

-Allan in West Virginia
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