How do onion bulbs grow more bulbs?

[Montray Davis]

Hello, and thanks for reading .

I hope this makes sense:

I have a large red onion which had roots growing, so I decided to plant it in a clear container.
The roots are growing a LOT. However, my question is how will this onion bulb produce more onions?

As far as I am aware, the actual onion grows underground .... Wil the shoots create more bulbs or what?

 

[Chuck]

Hello, and thanks for reading .

I hope this makes sense:

I have a large red onion which had roots growing, so I decided to plant it in a clear container.
The roots are growing a LOT. However, my question is how will this onion bulb produce more onions?

As far as I am aware, the actual onion grows underground .... Wil the shoots create more bulbs or what?

A single shoot, different from the "leaves" will grow much taller. On top of this a flower will form which will produce seeds. These seeds will produce next years onion bulbs. In your case about all you will end up with is a rotten onion as the onion you have planted is already mature and has had the leaves removed. You can only grow onions from seeds, sets or transplants.

 

[Montray Davis]

A single shoot, different from the "leaves" will grow much taller. On top of this a flower will form which will produce seeds. These seeds will produce next years onion bulbs. In your case about all you will end up with is a rotten onion as the onion you have planted is already mature and has had the leaves removed. You can only grow onions from seeds, sets or transplants.

Thanks!
Can I clone the single shoot to create more onion bulbs?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks!
Can I clone the single shoot to create more onion bulbs?

no

 

[Montray Davis]

no

Alright. And last but not least, does the same concept (more or less) apply to garlic? In that you cannot get more garlic from cloves?

 

[Chuck]

Alright. And last but not least, does the same concept (more or less) apply to garlic? In that you cannot get more garlic from cloves?

No. You plant either garlic seeds or the cloves to reproduce. A clove of garlic is more or less the same thing as an onions set except the clove of garlic is mature and the onion set is a small immature onion. Growing garlic from seed is a VERY LABOR INTENSIVE and more or less a hit or mis proposition.

 

[Montray Davis]

No. You plant either garlic seeds or the cloves to reproduce. A clove of garlic is more or less the same thing as an onions set except the clove of garlic is mature and the onion set is a small immature onion. Growing garlic from seed is a VERY LABOR INTENSIVE and more or less a hit or mis proposition.

Great info! While I have you here instead of creating a new thread, maybe you can answer this:

Can asparagus be grown from store-bought crowns?

 

[Chuck]

Great info! While I have you here instead of creating a new thread, maybe you can answer this:

Can asparagus be grown from store-bought crowns?

Sure. It is the best way. It saves at least a year.

 

[Montray Davis]

Sure. It is the best way. It saves at least a year.

Awesome!! Damn, I knew I should have grabbed that asparagus at my local mart this morning
I have a thing for growing fruit from fresh fruit ^_^

Thanks for your help, Chuck -- as always.

 

[Chuck]

Awesome!! Damn, I knew I should have grabbed that asparagus at my local mart this morning
I have a thing for growing fruit from fresh fruit ^_^

Thanks for your help, Chuck -- as always.

A crown isn't a part of the asparagus that you eat. It is the "root system".

 

[Montray Davis]

A crown isn't a part of the asparagus that you eat. It is the "root system".

:'(

That's a bummer. So can I grow it from the part eaten?

 

[headfullofbees]

The bulb can split the way shallots do, (There really is no difference between an onion and a shallot, other than size.)
Each division can grow into an onion, send up shoots which eventually bulb up, and if allowed, grow more seed pods.

 

[Chuck]

As @headfullofbees stated you can but the onion will not be of the same quality. I have done it but the center of the onion turned black every time. As for asparagus, no I don't believe you can. You might try to root an asparagus spear but I don't know if it would ever be viable as a starter.

 

[RamblingChicken]

Normal grocery onions will indeed bolt and put out a flower shoot that will produce seeds, which you would then have to plant to produce more onions. However, there are a number of uncertainties. The original onion might have been a hybrid, so that its offspring will have unknown characteristics. And you won't know which "day length" type it is, or when you should plant it.

However, shallots and multiplier onions reproduce from bulbs--in theory, you can save a few bulbs every year and replant them to keep the onions going You'd likely be better off getting the original bulbs from a nursery/seed supplier than the grocery, but if you're eager to experiment with planting from the grocery--I can see how it could be fun--I think that shallots would give you better odds of success.

Similarly, you can plant garlic cloves and get garlic. Depending on your climate, you might plant the cloves in fall for overwintering garlic, or you might plant them in spring.

It's unlikely that you'd be able to grow asparagus from asparagus shoots purchased at the grocery. I won't say it's impossible, because I don't know, but it's very unlikely to work.

 

[Montray Davis]

Normal grocery onions will indeed bolt and put out a flower shoot that will produce seeds, which you would then have to plant to produce more onions. However, there are a number of uncertainties. The original onion might have been a hybrid, so that its offspring will have unknown characteristics. And you won't know which "day length" type it is, or when you should plant it.

However, shallots and multiplier onions reproduce from bulbs--in theory, you can save a few bulbs every year and replant them to keep the onions going You'd likely be better off getting the original bulbs from a nursery/seed supplier than the grocery, but if you're eager to experiment with planting from the grocery--I can see how it could be fun--I think that shallots would give you better odds of success.

Similarly, you can plant garlic cloves and get garlic. Depending on your climate, you might plant the cloves in fall for overwintering garlic, or you might plant them in spring.

It's unlikely that you'd be able to grow asparagus from asparagus shoots purchased at the grocery. I won't say it's impossible, because I don't know, but it's very unlikely to work.

Great information! Thanks -- it's much appreciated !