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Post by raymondo on Dec 7, 2012 15:53:28 GMT -5
I was given four potato onions and put them in a pot. Two have flowered. Fingers crossed that I actually get seed.
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Post by 12540dumont on Dec 9, 2012 16:31:28 GMT -5
I’itoli’s onion Bulb that keeps filling the pot (the smaller onion) The fatter one on the left is from Leenstar, a walking onion. Keen, I know I'm still supposed to send these to you, they're on my list! Attachments:
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Post by circumspice on Dec 10, 2012 1:54:24 GMT -5
And lotsa mint!!! ;D
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Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 10, 2012 7:51:12 GMT -5
A brief googling of shallots comes up with a couple other putative Allium species- Allium oschaninii , Allium scorodoprasum, and Allium stipitatum. Has anyone tried any of these or know of a source? Might be some interesting germplasm to have kicking around the place.
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Post by raymondo on Feb 27, 2013 1:38:18 GMT -5
I ordered 400g (a little under 1 lb) of brown potato onions for an autumn planting. Most are pretty small. I wouldn't bother with them to eat. Hopefully they're like shallots - little bulbs sown producing large bulbs to eat!
I also have some TPOS (thanks to a generous board member) which I'll sow along with garlic and onions around the autumnal equinox.
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Post by 12540dumont on Feb 27, 2013 12:38:53 GMT -5
Tim, I'm about ready to divide...you want some?
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Post by Drahkk on Feb 28, 2013 16:21:23 GMT -5
Very interesting thread. Wish I'd read through it earlier. I kept skipping over it because I had no idea what potato onions were. Should have googled earlier. Now that I know they're the same as bunching onions.... There is a long row of clusters at Mr Prince's place that are just beginning to send up flowers:  They take care of themselves; all we do is pull what we need. I know he got them from someone on the coast, around Biloxi. At one point uncle Johnny told me who, but at the moment I can't remember. No idea what variety, or even species (didn't know there was more than one!). If someone knows how to tell the difference I'll be glad to check, and will definitely be watching to see if they make seed. MB |
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Post by caledonian on Feb 28, 2013 18:04:58 GMT -5
Very interesting thread. Wish I'd read through it earlier. I kept skipping over it because I had no idea what potato onions were. Should have googled earlier. Now that I know they're the same as bunching onions.... Wait, what? Bunching onions are either normal onions picked before they've formed bulbs, or onion species that don't form bulbs at all and often reproduce by splitting. Potato onions form bulbs that split, rather the same way shallots do. |
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Post by Drahkk on Feb 28, 2013 20:05:02 GMT -5
Oops. Bunching ≠ multiplier?  . Told you I didn't know much about onions. Going back to my corner now..... MB |
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Post by ilex on Mar 2, 2013 18:46:39 GMT -5
Potato onions are A. cepa, like normal onions, bunching onions are A. fistulosum. Potato onions are like shallots with a traditional onion shape.
They usually don't flower, and when they do, they can have sterility problems as they've been propagated vegetatively for many generations. Similar to garlic but the situation is not as extreme.
Having perennial onions capable of setting seed easily would be very good.
Quite a few regular onions will divide and become perennials if allowed to. Now they are usually culled. In fact I'm trying just that ... create a potato onion from regular onions. For me the tricky part is to fix how much they divide to make asexual propagation interesting, without overdoing it an ending with onions that are too small.
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Post by raymondo on Mar 3, 2013 3:40:33 GMT -5
... Quite a few regular onions will divide and become perennials if allowed to. Now they are usually culled. In fact I'm trying just that ... create a potato onion from regular onions. For me the tricky part is to fix how much they divide to make asexual propagation interesting, without overdoing it an ending with onions that are too small. How are you going about it? Just leaving onions in place? I've done that before though not intentionally and ended up using the tops. |
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Post by oxbowfarm on Mar 3, 2013 5:31:26 GMT -5
Having perennial onions capable of setting seed easily would be very good. Quite a few regular onions will divide and become perennials if allowed to. Now they are usually culled. In fact I'm trying just that ... create a potato onion from regular onions. For me the tricky part is to fix how much they divide to make asexual propagation interesting, without overdoing it an ending with onions that are too small. That is a very interesting idea. Definitely worthy of experiment, especially since all you need to do is drop a couple stored onions in the ground to see what happens. You realize ilex that you are spitting in the face of all those taxonomists who designated that potato onions and shallots are Allium cepa var aggregatum? How dare you question their sub-classifications? |
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Post by lieven on Apr 5, 2013 7:03:47 GMT -5
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Post by templeton on Apr 5, 2013 8:53:23 GMT -5
my Green Mountain potato onion seed have just sprouted. 3 cheers for Mr. Winterton! T Attachments:
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Post by billw on Apr 5, 2013 11:31:55 GMT -5
All (well, I haven't checked carefully, but substantially all) of my potato onions set seed every year. I didn't realize that there was anything unusual about it until I kept reading about people with their unusual flowering potato onions.
Maybe it takes a lot of water to make them flower?
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. Told you I didn't know much about onions. Going back to my corner now.....
