Last year, I planted onions very early in the spring, and most of them bolted. I planted onions later in the spring, and had a fairly good crop. The local extension service says to plant onions as early as January, but I'm afraid to do it again this year for fear of having them all go to seed again. Is there any general consensus about when onions should be planted, and when they should not?
It depends on the variety planted and on your weather. One way that I have found to get around the bolting problem is to grow varieties that mature early. For example, for yellow onions I like "Candy Hybrid" and for red onions I like "Giant Red Hamburger". I plant them as soon as the ground is workable. They are ready to harvest in a little over three months.
Ask your extension service what varieties that they recommend for your area.
Thanks for the advice. I always chuckle at the phrase "as soon as the ground is workable". Unfortunately, that doesn't happen until it quits raining, which is usually May or June. If I'm lucky, I can till the ground towards the end of May. Some years, it's mud until June.
Out of desperation, I end up planting some cold weather stuff in the mud. Surprisingly, this usually works fairly well - radishes, onions, lettuce, peas. They all happily start growing in March or so, even if everything is mud.
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