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Post by templeton on Oct 9, 2016 0:53:16 GMT -5
had a quick look at mine this morning, i think a few are flowering. will report after i weed the patch.
t
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Post by richardw on Oct 9, 2016 14:15:10 GMT -5
Yours should be ahead of mine
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Post by richardw on Oct 21, 2016 23:29:33 GMT -5
Seeing a clear segregation with some now throwing to the Welsh onion while the rest are showing signs of a walking onion scape. A question for the panel- would i be best to leave the welsh onion type to use for cross pollination with flowers on the more walking onion looking clumps, or, should i pull the welsh onion types out and only work with the others?? Developing flower head (welsh type)  A standard walking onion scape developing  |
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Post by philagardener on Oct 22, 2016 12:17:31 GMT -5
I'd be tempted, if you have the time and room, to select toward both ends. You have unlocked the genetics and there is a lot of diversity in this generation. Exciting to see!
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Post by richardw on Oct 22, 2016 13:07:33 GMT -5
To select towards both end would mean separating, or keep mixing up the genetics by keeping the two types close together which they are right now?. By separation i would have to remove the flowers off one of the two types within the next month so then save those bulbs to the following summer, either that or i call on another gardener for help. If all were kept together and i carry on continual mixing would they eventually become homogeneous.
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Post by shoshannah on Oct 22, 2016 13:53:14 GMT -5
What are your goals, uniformity for market, or something with a lot of diversity each year? If you wanted to avoid homogeneous can't you
just add some Welsh and Egyptian seed back to the mix to keep it mixed up? If you want some mixed up plants separate them from your uniform
plantings. I really like the idea of shuffling up the gene pool every year. I would love to see some pictures of the various grow outs of
the next generation.
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Post by richardw on Oct 22, 2016 15:40:24 GMT -5
Yes i'm leaning towards leaving them all together and keep mixing them up as i dont really have a longer term goal, more 'see what happens'
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Post by templeton on Oct 22, 2016 16:08:28 GMT -5
Richard, I reckon you might have two goals, if I could be so bold.
1. flowering for genetic mixing - an ongoing project, re-seeding a diverse mix every year looking for something interesting,
2. selecting out top-set onions that are different to what is already available.
There are already lots of onions we can grow from seed - for me the 2nd goal seems more interesting.
I have the dilemma at the moment of wanting to grow out the
Mills Creek onions for a seed crop, and wanting to collect some fresh seed from my Green Mountain potato onions...as well as looking for seedset on my various top set onions - all growing next to each other...Gee, I thought that through, didn't I?
T
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Post by richardw on Oct 22, 2016 18:02:15 GMT -5
At the end of the day i really dont want to head down the Welsh onion type but to the top set, so, i really should pull the WO types. I thought selecting towards an onion that grew topset bulbils as well as producing flower/seed on its second tire. This year templeton i'm fortunate this summer not to end up with your problem, ive got no other onions due to flower, next year i will though, and the Green Mountain potato onion seed i give to copse to do. |
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Post by philagardener on Oct 22, 2016 21:46:13 GMT -5
Interesting see if the WO types really go entirely to blossom or if they have heads that make some bulbils too.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Oct 22, 2016 21:51:56 GMT -5
I grew out a packet of onion seed a couple years ago that someone sent me which was labeled something like: "Egyptian Onion???" I planted the bulbs this year. Some of them didn't produce a flower stalk and looked more like shallots. Some of of them flowered and looked like regular onions. Some of them flowered and had bulbils on them.
My strategy for dealing with them was to add the seeds from those that looked like onions to my landrace onions, and the shallot-like and tree-onion-like got replanted as bulbs or bulbils.
About 25% of my onion bulbs this year grew like potato onions instead of making seeds, so I planted them as if they were potato onions. It will be interesting to see if they continue to act like potato onions, or if they will flower next year.
A selection trait that I started paying attention to this year, is whether the flower stalk exits the center of the bulb, or around the outside of it. I've started selecting for flower stems outside the bulb. That lets me harvest the onion for food, even after it has flowered.
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Post by richardw on Oct 22, 2016 23:23:25 GMT -5
Interesting see if the WO types really go entirely to blossom or if they have heads that make some bulbils too. Yes good idea. |
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Post by richardw on Oct 22, 2016 23:33:38 GMT -5
I grew out a packet of onion seed a couple years ago that someone sent me which was labeled something like: "Egyptian Onion???" I planted the bulbs this year. Some of them didn't produce a flower stalk and looked more like shallots. Some of of them flowered and looked like regular onions. Some of them flowered and had bulbils on them. Thats interesting, sounds like that someone must has done pretty much the same thing, whither they intended to or not though.A selection trait that I started paying attention to this year, is whether the flower stalk exits the center of the bulb, or around the outside of it. I've started selecting for flower stems outside the bulb. That lets me harvest the onion for food, even after it has flowered. Thats been my selection process over the last 20 years with my walking onion line, i'm now getting 95% of the flowers stalks on the outsides of the bulbs |
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Post by matermark on Oct 25, 2016 17:12:17 GMT -5
They look just like the onions that were given me years ago and the lady who gave them to me called them "Forever Onions". Yes, I suspect they are Egyptian Onions (Which have went by many different names). I like to take the bulbils and replant them. They make nice scallions shortly. What's the difference between typical Egyptian and Catawissa onions? I thought it's how many layers of topsets but can't remember... |
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Post by paquebot on Nov 3, 2016 22:44:30 GMT -5
Mark, difference between most walking onions and Catawissa indeed is in the topsets. Most have only one set of topsets. Catawissa will stack a second tier above the first and sometimes a third. At a time when spring onions were very important in our diet, more topsets meant more onions in the following spring.
Martin
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