[Mbmyco2]

growing my garlic and onions in 3 litre pots/bags and lots of them are bolting to seed any suggestions on why and what to do?

thanks

Mike B

[fatbelly]

Hi Mike,
In my experience Alliums bolt when they are not happy, to hot or dry or wet or not enough nutrients, or all of these.

A picture might help then people could comment further. But if you cant take a Piccie then it will probably be under watering. Or at least that's what has happened to mine tin the past.

[Ivor Backache]

I concur with fatbelly. Growing anything in pots requires extra care with nutrients and especially watering. I grow new potatoes and then carrots in pots, and constantly monitor moisture.

I develop brassica in pots to establish strong plants to combat clubroot.
Pots are good as intermeditaries but sometimes  you have to use them:

With onions/garlic I always grow in the open ground. 3l pots seem to be small but that depends on how many plants you have in them.
If you have prepared a good soil beforehand, nutrients should be OK, maybe a little nitrogen when they are growing. Another aspect is location(no need for heat). The big one to repeat myself is watering. If you think moisture is the issue, consider a covering of sawdust or grass cuttings to reduce evaporation.

Onions are basically be-annuals. They grow big bulbs to seed the following year.

[JayG]

Might not be quite as bad as you think - hardneck garlic usually produce curly scapes as a matter of course (they can be picked young which helps conserve the plant's resources and can be eaten - even if removed they still leave a tough stalk in the middle of the bulb but that doesn't affect storage or eating qualities (it's how they got their name.)

[gavinjconway]

Today a few of my hardneck garlic have some tiny scapes showing... perfectly normal.  Some onions will bolt - it's just what they sometimes do!! Break off the tops and use those onions first.  When the garlic scapes go into curly pigs tails I cut them off and eat them..

[3 allotments]

Yes the scapes are actually a delicasey  expensive don't worry if that's what your garlic is doing its normal for only hardneck /porcelain garlic, eat them or freeze them only hardneck produce scapes