My stored onions are growing sprouts

[vegetable-gardener]

Why do onions grow sprouts - they are winter onions. This year they are much worse for growing sprouts then last year. I am keeping them in the potting shed which is cool. Any other ideas?

[Lesley Jay]

Hi VG,

Onions are biennial so they naturally want to sprout and regrow to produce a seed head. It could simply be caused by the unseasonally warm weather that we have had during October and November.

I hope that helps!

[airconednightmare]

sets/seeds sold as winter or japanese onions tend to store badly, thats according to a few books i've read rather than first hand experience.

advice is to use them as required from spring until the main crop is available in mid-late summer.

[Lesley Jay]

Oh..oh....I read VG's post wrong! I thought the onions were the spring planted sets ready to harvest in September for storage over winter. Sorry!

[solway cropper]

I've just had to throw out the last few of my stored overwintered onions as they were rotting. The sack of maincrop spring sown are all firm and should last us through the winter. As airconed says, the idea with overwintered onions is to give you a crop before the spring ones are ready for lifting. And they definitely don't store as well, usually not more than three or four months.

[vegetable-gardener]

Thanks - we just sort through them and throw out and sprouting ones or soft ones. Hopefully they will keep us going to February.

[Rudyard51]

Late in the year I take all my stored onions and saute them for soups and sauces. They freeze well like this and there is less waste.

[Peapod]

That's a great idea Rudyard. I've been composting mind, but there does tend to be quite a bit of waste. I think I'll try this saute business.

[Louis James]

I've used my onions before in tomato sauces etc to freeze, but never just by themselves, good idea