What Does it Mean When Your Onion Bulbs Grow Flowers?

Onions are a cool-season vegetable and are successfully grown in most areas of the United States, according to the University of Illinois Extension. They are grown from either sets, transplants or seeds. Sometimes onion bulbs will spontaneously sprout flowers due to temperature fluctuations.

Temperature Fluctuations

Onions are typically biennial plants and take two years to go from seed to seed. However, if the onions are exposed for too long to alternating cold and warm temperatures, they go from dormancy to growth and back to dormancy again, and this confuses their internal clocks.

Results

When onions go through periods of dormancy and growth fluctuations in quick succession, they get confused and think they have completed their two-year cycle and begin sprouting flowers to complete the cycle.

Solution

To counteract this phenomenon, plant only the right kind of onion at the right time and only use transplants that are smaller than pencil-size in diameter. If flower sprouting does occur, leave the flower stalks alone and use the onions as soon as possible, as the stalks will make storing them hard, according to the Texas A&M University Extension.

References

• Texas A&M University: Onion
• University of Illinois Extension: Onion