Onions – Cutting Off The Flowers?

Q: I started some onions from seed this fall. They are Red Delicious Hybrid from Burpee. They are doing well, however I now see them beginning to form flowers. Should I cut off the flowers at the bottom of the flower and have the plants continue to grow?

A: Did you note on the Burpee label “Well suited for the northern gardener.”? The number of daylight hours is critical to the development of onions. It tells the onion when to begin producing a bulb. Varieties with certain day length characteristics grow well in certain areas of our country. Long day varieties are best in northern areas. I think yours is a long day onion that has decided to go to seed early. Short day varieties grow best in southern areas. If you like red onions, ‘Red Creole’, ‘Southern Belle Red’ and ‘Red Burgundy’ are best for Southern gardeners. At this point, cut off the flower stems and chop the leaves for scalllions.