Onions Bolted - April 2016

Awhile back I was “Tagged” to do a Q&A video answering 10 questions. I’ll answer one of those questions today. Visit the Bayou Gardener, Avoyelles Parish Louisiana @ www.thebayougar...
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• Garden Video 1

[@frankpalermo2429]

I farm in Texas, Cantaloupes, Cushaws, and Watermelon. We also grow a home garden, Lettuce and cabbage this year all went to seed. A&M said to hot.. and we are closed to Galveston and it was warm this winter.

[@webcajun]

+Frank Palermo I agree, it just didn't get cold long enough.....Donald

[@jimbos.online]

What an honest and straight forward gentleman. Thanks for your video. I grew three type of onions this year. Two types of Potatoe onions from Kelly Winterton, Coral Mountain, and Green Mountain. They only had a few to bolt. I also grew yellow bunching onions from the local hardware store. They bolted near every one of them. I'm with you, pull them all up and replace them with something else. My thoughts are variety, time of year, weather fluctuation. Thank-you !

[@webcajun]

I’ve had “Candy” onions bolt one year and not the other. I agree with you, the weather is a factor, time planted and variety…..Donald

[@michaelplesch]

Donald, Happy New Year to you and your entire family this 2017. You are and have been only one of a few of you tubers that I truly enjoy watching. Thank you for the many year of gardening expertise and enjoyment. I hope someday we'll meet to shake hands.

[@webcajun]

We had tornadoes touch down recently and my internet was down for about a week and a half which is why I’m so late responding to your comment. Thanks, glad you enjoy the videos, it’s folks like you that kept me going. Hope y'all have a great year as well…..Donald

[@rubbernecker13]

I'm over near you in east Texas and all mine bolted too. I expect it may be the warm winter. I never even fired up the stove in the greenhouse and all my starts look fine. Thanks for sharing Donald, I thought I goofed up. Better luck next year.

[@webcajun]

+Leon Barlow After hearing from quit a few folks, I think we just didn’t get a cold enough winter this far south…..Donald

[@Budro4764]

+webcajun We did get a cold winter early in Oct and Nov, Dec was cold but it warmed up to be a very short winter. My Candy's are doing great also. Some of the Eggplants that Ben Brought me to The April get together last year at my house are still growing. I just let them go and got flowers galore on them. Also I had plants come up in Jan also ~!~! Plus Tard Mon Ami !!

[@TexarkanaPrepper]

It's a coincidence (or maybe not), but I had that same question on my mind tonight. I am growing the Texas super sweets in northeast Texas. Mine are bolting. I watched a video tonight by Texas Prepper and his wasn't bolting so I wondered why are mine bolting?. I planted onions sets in the middle of January. Like you said, we had a very warm spell in January where it got up above 80 Degrees at one point. Like you, I had volunteer tomatoes come up in my raised bed. I too have some of those plants growing and blooming in my garden right now. After my onions started to grow, it got cold, and we had a hard frost at about 26 degrees. It then cycled between warmer than normal and colder than normal through February and March. I'm not sure, but I suspect that this probably caused my onions to bolt. This is my first year to grow bulbing onions. Thanks for letting me know that I shouldn't expect them to bulb, so I don't waste my time waiting and waiting and waiting. My garlic is bolting also, so I guess that means the same thing. Thanks for the timely information. Your videos are awesome, please keep 'em coming.

[@webcajun]

+TexarkanaPrepper From what I’m hearing the red creole onions were the worse for bolting this season. Other varieties, not as bad…..Donald

[@czyhrs]

Mr Donald , thank you sir for another good video.I hope the rest of your garden does good.

[@webcajun]

+czyhrs It looks good so far. Birds topped a couple of my pepper and squash plants, hoping they recover......Donald

[@bobbytexasgardener8867]

Here in Texas the winters are also pretty mild. If there happens to be a cold snap, where the onions seem to stop growing, that's when my onions tend to bolt. As soon as it warms up into the 60's again. I grow the 1015 supersweets.

[@webcajun]

+Bobby Texas Gardener I think the unusually mild winter was the reason all of them bolted….Donald

[@amishcraftbarn9981]

miss this guy

[@williameasterling6721]

hello webcajan.A few of my granex white onions have bolted .like you ,I was very surprise to see this. this has got to be weather related .[ days warming up- raining atleast once aweek--ect] may be mother nature throwing us a curve ball haha. always take care . my friend and god bless william

[@webcajun]

+william Easterling Normally I do have a small percentage of onions that bolt, but nothing this bad…..Donald

[@bobstanton9567]

I believe it's just that variety. I tried Red Creole two years in a row and did poorly both years while the Yellow Granex planted along side of them did fine. I had a lot of doubling and bolting, plus, even the best ones weren't very big. I am looking at other red ones to plant in October here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

[@webcajun]

+Bob Stanton Think I’m going to move away from the red creole too. Just not worth taking a chance on em…..Donald

[@FensterfarmGreenhouse]

Just goes to show you that anything can happen when it comes to gardening. That is why we call it gardening and not growing. I consider you the Onion king Donald and even you have challenges with them once in a blue moon! Chuck

[@webcajun]

+Fensterfarm Greenhouse I’m no stranger to crop failures, I just pull em up and plant something else. Just wish they wouldn’t happen so often. :-) …..Donald

[@DeepSouthHomestead]

I live in south MS and the mild winter messed up several things we had growing.

[@webcajun]

+Deep South Homestead I've since pulled those onions to make room for another tomato plant and a hill of cucumbers.....Donald

[@DeepSouthHomestead]

That is what we have done here, too.

[@JessRaeEth]

Here in petal ms! I came here to find out why my onions are bolting!

[@angelamaro1693]

I planted my candy onions around November just like I do every year .I did plant them in a different area of the yard and the seeds were from a new pack .I planted about 200 seeds .we had worm then cold then warm again and did have any good rain until march . I went to water this week and saw that some of my onions had bolted .Ups man retired Teamsters local 63 California SOCal.

[@webcajun]

+Angel Amaro I've had some Candy bolt in previous years but never this bad.....Donald

[@keyplayr61greenhousehydrop14]

I can't help you with the onion problem, since I have crappy luck growing them at all for some reason ; ) Good to see you, my friend!

[@webcajun]

+Keyplayr61 Greenhouse Hydroponics And Gardens Normally I have very good results with onions. This year was a bust.....Donald

[@limesquared]

Hello! Yep- my collard greens and cilantro bolt fast. Butterfly food! As for my walking onions, I just ignore or cut off the stalk the flowers are on.

[@webcajun]

+limesquared Cutting off the flowers just doesn't work for bulb onions. I do cut the seed heads on my green onions though.....Donald

[@limesquared]

+webcajun Will not work for bulb onions...will keep that in mind...

[@ebbygal1111]

Cilantro doesn't like heat at all. I don't even bother growing it because it bolts so quick. Even the slo-bolt variety of seeds that I brought didn't work. Either plant it when the weather is cooler or do like I do and buy it from a farmer's market. It's so cheap that I just buy a lot of bunches and dehydrate it. Then I'll have a bunch on hand for when I make salsa and can it. Collards don't like heat either and prefers cooler weather. I also plant it in the fall. I live in Mobile, AL by the way so it gets very hot down here and we have very mild winters also.

[@carlaw2661]

Hello as I was watching your video I thought about my garden. I planted White Snowball , Red Baron and Yellow Spanish onion. All my onions are doing great, except my Red Baron's are the only ones to bolt. Why? I have know idea. Just thought I'd mention it.

[@darkwood777]

I had onions set seed this year. I'm down here in St Tammany. I think it was the mild winter.

[@webcajun]

+darkwood777 Yeah, me too.....Donald

[@DesertDigger1]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Donald. My onion situation is much like yours right now.

[@webcajun]

+DesertDigger1 I've had some bolt in previous years but never this bad.....Donald

[@Tappedline]

I say it was just to warm. Here in the Piedmont of NC, we are very dry, No rain for two weeks, and in fact really no good rain for the last 4 weeks. I say 2016 is going to be a hot dry one.

[@webcajun]

+Tappedline I agree......Donald

[@mrelectron6220]

+Tappedline I hope your wrong but I'm seeing the same thing thinking a hot dry summer here in NC. Looks like I'll be giving the well a work out this year.

[@mday1416]

Because you are "Tagged", doesn't mean you have to do anything!

[@WeatherNut27]

Man I miss you and the videos Donald

[@HWhit9000]

My guess is that it's a combination of the early planting and the mild winter that caused the bolting. I believe the red creole onion is an heirloom onion so, I'm thinking that since they did bolt and started going to seed, I would let them keep developing the seed so I could collect them for planting again in the fall.

[@webcajun]

+HWhit9000 Thinking of doing just that.....Donald

[@mlowhorn]

Hey Donald, I have about 30% of my Vidalia onions bolting this year over in N. Florida too. Usually only have 1 or 2 out of 150 bolt. Has to be the weather.

[@webcajun]

+Yellowhorn I think you are correct.....Donald

[@vincentlanoiselet4243]

Hmmmm.... My first thought was day length but it can be ruled out since you planted them at the same time as previous years. My bet would be on the unusual warm winter you guys had this year.

[@webcajun]

+Vince 6424 I’m thinking the same thing Vince…..Donald

[@wwsuwannee7993]

Hello Donald, I'm in zone 8 too. Here's a question......do you think the major battle of keeping the bugs off your collard greens during summer is worth the trouble?

[@webcajun]

I’m not a big fan of collards but it’s my understanding they taste better in cool / cold weather. If it were me I’d just replant em in the fall….Donald

[@Growveguk]

Having a mild winter even here in the UK causes the plants and trees to get awful confused.

[@webcajun]

+Andy Mahoney If I had to bet I’d say you are correct…..Donald

[@rwglavin3794]

This is my last year messing with onions. I've never been able to grow an onion with a girth larger than two inches. Last year a third bolted. A third split. And the last third just grew greens and no bulb at all. Over water? Under water? Take your pick. Thanx for the vid.

[@webcajun]

+R W Glavin Find yourself some "Candy" onion seeds and plant em this fall. They produce a large, sweet onion.....Donald

[@tanyawalton9910]

I cut the onion bolt.. xan I put it in water for continued growth?

[@kane211]

Some of mine are bolting I believe it’s something to do with the weather going from warm to cold then so on or so many others have said 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@webcajun]

I too believe the weather has a lot to do with it.....Donald

[@joegunderman8258]

Donald, I am curious and I have to ask this. How do you keep deer, rabbits and so forth out of your garden? Rabbits in my area (Arkansas) are smart enough to get thru dang near any fence I put up. What is your secret?

[@webcajun]

No secret Joe, the coyote keep the rabbit population down and us Cajuns keep the deer population in check. Have you tried an electric fence for the rabbits? One wire a few inches off the ground and another a few inches above it would probably discourage them…..Donald

[@joegunderman8258]

+webcajun I did an electric fence, 2 inches from ground and did 4 runs of it, spaced 3 inches apart. Didn't stop em. I did end up putting up 7 ft. welded wire fence, and then put 2 ft of chicken wire along bottom. All but one rabbit has been stopped. I see him at least once a day. he gonna be stew next time I see him.

[@Elinor0987K]

I read that with garlic, they cut off the scapes to prevent flowering and make the bulbs grow larger. Couldn't the same be done with onions?

[@webcajun]

+Elinor 0987 I don't think so.....Donald

[@Elinor0987K]

+webcajun Celery will bolt if it doesn't get enough water. I'm not sure if the same applies to onions, but right now I'm just speculating. If you do find out what caused it, please let us know. We're all curious now.

[@billking5407]

i had some bolt to . i though i started putting 28 on to soon. good to see you are doing good.

[@webcajun]

+Bill King It seems like the weather was to blame.....Donald

[@Opiateoftheone]

Having same on my Shallots in NW Georgia.

[@webcajun]

+Opiateoftheone Appears lots of folks are having the same problem this year.....Donald

[@TheBr20042003]

I had one onion that bolted out of about 12 this year. I noticed that all the tops had been bent except for that one. I don't grow many onions so I don't know. I decided to leave it to see the bolting process.

[@webcajun]

+TheBr20042003 Normally I do have a small percentage of the onions that bolt, but nothing this bad…..Donald

[@andresraygozaramirez4533]

I hear about takes 3 years to make good good seeds

[@webcajun]

I don't think it takes that long......Donald

[@kschambers70]

cool video thx for sharing..hello from Sulphur la

[@webcajun]

+drummerman79 Hello Sulphur......Donald

[@mikerosner]

My grandpa had always said u gotta hold your mouth right or it won"t work

[@webcajun]

+mike rosner Maybe that was it.....Donald

[@OldTimerGarden]

Did you start from seed on the red creole like the other one you mentioned? If you started from an onion plant maybe it was in it's second year which can cause a bolt.

[@webcajun]

+R. Toney Both were started from seed on the same day......Donald

[@scottlafosse4317]

temperature fluctuations loose soil or over fertilization will cause a onion to bolt

[@webcajun]

+scott lafosse Thanks.....Donald

[@gardeningplus7271]

HELLO now here is my question how the person knows how old is the seed packs we buy from home depot or other greenhouse I don't believe after the summer over they garbage all the seed packs and start all over next year,I think it comes back with new package to stores I bought 5 packs of onion seeds only 5 come up,also bought rosemary seeds 4 packs and all I got was one plant,i don't think is the way we sow them I think is the old seeds we buy.thx,,Bob

[@webcajun]

+GARDENING PLUS I know the Candy seeds were old because I didn't order new ones, used a package from 2-3 years back. I knew better but just had to try em. :-) ......Donald

[@Budro4764]

+webcajun My last video I made were from old seed stock and had a very good germ rate. I kept them on top of my PC desk for a year. Morgan County seed stock ~!~!

[@dellrand3628]

Mr Donald do you have satsumas and what kind I live in ms.east of you in Frankllin County.

[@webcajun]

We haven't tried satsumas here, we may be too far north. My son has a tree just below Lafayette which is a little farther south of here......Donald

[@wcfdemt]

where do you find your water soluble 20 20 20....

[@webcajun]

+wcfdemt If your local feed and seed can't or won't get it for you, you can order online from Morgan County Seeds.....Donald

[@TexarkanaPrepper]

Tell me a little about red creole. Have you ever grew them? Are they good?

[@webcajun]

+TexarkanaPrepper Can't remember ever growing them so I don't know the size or the flavor. I did grow some red onions one year but not sure the variety....Donald

[@wcfdemt]

hows.the spring garden lookin'...time for a field trp

[@webcajun]

+wcfdemt It won't be long.....Donald

[@wcfdemt]

how's the crops looking....mr.donald...

[@webcajun]

+wcfdemt The raised beds are doing real well this season, picked my first 2 cucumbers Thursday evening. Got lots of green tomatoes and small peppers are starting to form. Will be getting summer squash in about a week or so. Really looking good......Donald

[@Z71Ranger]

Leave a few for seed... You can't get any fresher onion seed than those...

[@webcajun]

+Z71Ranger Too late, already pulled em and in the compost pile......Donald

[@MsKipper42]

Have u overwintered onions???? I want to try some but not sure how to plant for winter

[@webcajun]

Don't know where you live but here in Louisiana I plant my onion seeds around October 15th and let em grow through the winter. I then transplant some time in January-February......Donald

[@MsKipper42]

+webcajun im in southern Indiana almost Kentucky.. do u start them in a seed tray or direct sow.... what varieties??. I'm gonna try keepsake and top keeper which are both for overwintering.... but I'm not sure where to start the seeds.... in seed trays/jugs. or direct sow

[@webcajun]

I plant the “Candy” variety. In an unused section of the garden or raised bed I sprinkle the seeds (thick) like I would be putting salt on food. Cover the seeds with about 1/8 - 1/4 inch of soil. Gently water them in and keep em watered until they come up. When it’s time to transplant dig them up, separate em and plant with the bulbs about 1 inch deep. Come June - July you’ll notice the tops falling over meaning it’s time to harvest. You’ll have sweet onions the size of softballs…..Donald

[@aturner2080]

hello, do you have an email address I have a couple of questions about my Covington planter I would like to ask you. Thanks.

[@webcajun]

+A Turner Click on the link (in the video description) to my website. You can contact me there.....Donald

[@MrCntryjoe]

cold. 2nd year bulb will bolt faster. usually cold.

[@webcajun]

+J Merritt That wasn't the case here.....Donald

[@angelasheppard7197]

could you use them for seed?

[@webcajun]

Yes you could.....Donald

[@andresraygozaramirez4533]

How that works get regular from the store put on ground will comeout sprout wich will be your first seeds keep them seeded again will be just green onions small heads and blooming again keep those seeds it will be the real seeds so what's it is all about takes 3 years to make perfect onion seeds ho well in a year 2 it will be green onions no more then that Hopely everyone understand what I am saying or i try to say

[@webcajun]

Thanks for the tip.....Donald

[@rickeydesi8237]

cant you save the seeds and try again

[@webcajun]

+rickey desi Sure could but they'll probably get pulled up to make room for the summer vegetables.....Donald

[@rickeydesi8237]

thanx mr Donald our 1st year of planting onions and the did great picking big ones now we planted them on black plastic 1st time to witch sure makes tending to the garden easy and clean no grass no hoe also stops to much rain

[@darylvanness9889]

)

[@David-fv7zg]

Why not just let them bolt and save the seed for next year. Make lemonade with those lemons.

[@webcajun]

+Dave Pruitt They'll probably get pulled to make room for the summer garden.....Donald

[@pinevalleyfarm4941]

my red creoles bolted well 1 of them it just started . usuly it lots of water but not sure what is is this year. check out my channel . thanks and~God bless~

[@webcajun]

+Logans Homestead Mine started bolting over a month ago. No onion crop for me this year......Donald

[@pinevalleyfarm4941]

had to pull 2 of my crole today . was starting maybe that will be all . still have a good 3 weeks until they are ready to pull. I also planted texas legend they are doing wonderfuly. not a sign of blosssoms . thanks for putting so much time and effort in the channel. thanks and ~God bless~

[@webcajun]

+Logans Homestead It's usually late May - June before mine are fully grown.....Donald