Cutting the buds off when they first appear slows down the bolting a bit. You still don't get first class onions as that flower stem extends into bulb. If they have actually flowered, it mau be too late to do much with them except save seeds.

Hello farmerdilla,
Thanks for your response but now I'm even a bit more confused.

The onions aren't good for eating now that they have flowerheads on them?

Thanks again for your time,
Michelle

You can still eat them, but they will not keep as long. Just make sure that the ones that flower are the ones you eat first.

The flower stem extends down into the onion and has an off taste as well.

I try to just leave those to flower, because I don't like the taste.

Thank you all for responding but I have one more question.

Sorry, this is my first year at onions....so is there a way to keep onions from going to flower in the first place if it impacts taste and storage time?

Michelle

Thanks all who responded. I did a google search as to why onion plants flower. It would appear that widely fluctuating temperatures is the main cause. Not much I can do about that one.

Michelle

This was my first year, too, Michelle, trying onions again after giving up on them years ago. I had the same problem - about half of mine bloomed. I used them anyway, removing all of the bloom stalk as I cut them up. I did try using that stalk like garlic scapes, but it was really VERY fibery - yuk.

To try to avoid blooming next year, I'm thinking I'll get them in earlier, when I first see sets on sale instead of when they're almost gone. I might even try to mail order some earlier than that.

But I did learn something important this year that gave me bigger onions than I've ever grown - they need lots of nitrogen. I'd always thought they needed phosphorous & potassium for the bulb, but since the bulb is actually made up of leaf layers they need nitrogen instead. I mulched them with turkey compost - voila! They still weren't huge, but I was happy with them. Next year - turkey compost AND fish emulsion.