What to do when ONIONS BOLT: Growing in the Garden

Growing onions is so satisfying. However, you may not know what to do when onions bolt. Seeing flower stalks forming on your growing onions can be disheartening.
A bulb on a top center stalk of your onion means it has begun the process of flowering and making seeds. This is called “bolting” and it is bad news for onion growers.
Introduction 00:00
Why is my onion flowering? 00:27
What is bolting? 00:50
Why do onions bolt? 01:14
What do you do once onions bolt? 01:59
How do I preserve bolted onions? 02:46
Dehydrating bolted onions 03:22
Freeze drying bolted onions 03:37
How do I prevent onions from bolting next season 03:49

#boltingonions #whydoonionsbolt #floweringonion #onions #howtogrowyourownfood

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[irenamaharani]

In indonesia, the bolted onion which not bloomed yet called bunga bawang. It taste best to stir-fry them with garlic and some Chili's. Bunga bawang tastes little spicy similar like pepper but have a nice aroma when it stir-fry. I really recommend this!

[tmontero]

...and oh! I do grow a scattering of onions throughout some of my vegetable beds, purposely allowing them to bolt -- the scent repels naughty pests and the bees love to visit their snowball blooms!

[saschadibbern]

Another tip: Use the onion flowers. Sprinkle them into salad as herb. They can also be frozen and be used later toget a summer taste in a winter salad. I recommend also using the flower in cooking as a substitute for small cut onion pieces.

[Grandma.Lilly.]

I’m in Tucson. My bulb onions are fine, but all my spring onions bolted. I’ve been pulling them and throwing them on the grill. Delicious!!

[samyoungblood]

My daughter planted my store bought green onions an they produced flowers! We thought it was so cool

[DrivingFree]

Mine are bolting right now. I have left them for the bees. Thanks for this video

[sharky]

A lot of good information in 5 minutes. Glad I saw this. Thanks

[mrshoney]

This lady knows her onions!
I'm just learning thank you for that video.

[MrMattDat]

OMG!! There are "wild" onions everywhere around where I grew up in RI and NO ONE knew what they were because of the bolting you showed. They also smelled like a mix of onion & garlic, but no one knew. They looked very much like the ones in your video. Thank you!

[liebekatz]

Not many videos for harvesting onion seeds. Thank you for this information.

[grugnotice]

I had some onions that bolted on me years ago. I got back at them by eating their flowers. THEY WERE DELICIOUS!!! Wonderful onion flavor. Great for salads or whatever you are cooking.

[ranasammani]

This video couldn’t have come at a better time. I was wondering why they were bolting so early. Thanks!

[AimeeHope]

I actually like to let some of my onions bolt. The buds are used in thai cooking, and have a really delicious mild flavor. You can include a good bit of the stalk too, but harvest it before it starts blooming. I discovered this while volunteering on a farm in Texas that was run by the sweetest man, and his thai wife. She would cook for us everyday, and it was the best food I've had in my entire life. Give it a try guys, you won't regret it! They are great in stir fries, and she used them in thai soups too but I don't know the recipe. I'm sure you can find some good ones online somewhere. 😋👍

[flutterbyebye]

You posted this a year ago, I needed it today! Thank you for all the info! 🌺

[l.goodman]

Went out this morning and 2 onions had started to bolt and then this came up on my timeline. Thank you so much for the explanation and suggestions as to how to use and store these onions. It was exactly what I needed to learn!

[garden_geek]

Here in California I always have at least 10% of my onions bolt in the spring/summer. Right now we’re at the end of a heat wave (96° today!) and on Monday it will be a high of 60°… so I’m guessing I’ll start seeing some lovely allium flowers soon. I just leave the ones that bolt because I like the flowers and so do the pollinators!

[ceepark]

I used to plant onions using the dried looking bulb type and almost always got bolted onions. I then would buy onion plants and didn't get hardly any bolted ones. Now this year I have started onions from seed indoors. They are out in the garden now and are looking great.

[tommcfarland]

Never realized why onions would bolt and when you snip it off that doesn't mean the onion bulb starts growing again. I always used sets in the past, now I will seed! Thanks for the info!!

[bigclint]

The seed slips can be thined when planting. The larger slips lead to larger onions, the smaller slips work well for barrel planting for green onions. Also planting more varieties can leave you with a stronger crop. We plant several and the weather is the uncontrollable variable. Frosty spring leaves us with a strong crop, however a warm spring causes some varieties to bolt prematurely. Thanks for the video.

[lauracarter]

Thank you for this video. This is exactly what my onions are doing and I didn't know why it what to do! I guess I will be freezing onions for the next few days.