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Post by zeedman on Aug 26, 2016 21:38:47 GMT -5
There has been a lot of interest here in growing alliums from seed that are usually propagated from clones, so I thought I would post this here. I grow Pearl Onions (a.k.a Pearlzweibel), A. sphaerocephalum. Although they occasionally flower, they have never produced seed. This year, though, I grew a new Allium from SSE, which appears to be the same species & flowered at the same time... and now the Pearl Onions have produced a small quantity of true seed. If anyone is interested in trying to grow it, send me a PM.
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Post by steev on Aug 26, 2016 22:59:53 GMT -5
I'd be interested, but given my drought conditions, I'd not want you to waste seed; in hopes of your continuing success with this, if rain returns to Cali, I'll get back to you.
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Post by richardw on Aug 27, 2016 14:36:06 GMT -5
I would be interested, PM sent...
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Post by Al on Nov 24, 2016 5:24:49 GMT -5
Like Zeedman my Pearl Onion flowers do not appear to have produced any viable seed, a few very tiny black specks in the capsules. Not nice plump onion type seed so I doubt they'll germinate. I'm very interested to hear there are strains which do produce seed. Would like to try some alongside the Babington's Leek, Elephant Garlic etc. Always hopeful sowing seed from these reluctant germinator will throw up good strains. My Perutile Onion had a once in 20 year flower 2014, mixed assortment of offspring still surprising.
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Post by richardw on Nov 24, 2016 12:57:53 GMT -5
Thats a shame both of you didn't get viable seed, sounds like its a tricky onion to get set seed.
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Post by zeedman on Nov 24, 2016 17:22:59 GMT -5
I actually ended up with a fair amount of seed - but not from the Pearl Onion. SSE had sent me an allium cultivar ("Truepear 1") which appeared to be the same species, and the two were planted about 10 feet from each other. Given that there was a ground bee nest between them, crossing is likely. Two seed heads formed on Truepear 1, and once cleaned, they held a lot of what appears to be viable seed. Samples will be sent shortly to the two who had previously contacted me.
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Post by galina on Nov 30, 2016 4:18:48 GMT -5
Perlzwiebel Minogue seeds were given to us from the seed circle. Robert Brenchley got the Minogue onions that I had given him years ago to flower and set seeds.
This spring I sowed the seeds and followed up the plants. Have now replanted the largest. Some stems are very much fatter than my Minogue onion stems and I have replanted the bigger ones. Normally Minogue is propagated vegetatively. And there has always been a maximum stem thickness however well spaced I planted them. But this year, grown from seed, I have several stems which are 3 times as thick, yet they have retained their ability to multiply profusely.
I got Minogue as Multiplier Onion, but these bigger ones from seed are halfway between multiplier onions and multiplier leeks. Looking forward to following them up further.
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Post by robertb on Dec 2, 2016 8:10:15 GMT -5
Glad you've still got them! Mine are going strong despite not being able to get to the plot all summer due to illness.
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Post by galina on Apr 26, 2017 9:11:01 GMT -5
Oh they survive any sort of neglect Robert, hope you have a better gardening year in 2017
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Post by silverleaf on Apr 28, 2017 9:48:04 GMT -5
Perlzwiebel Minogue seeds were given to us from the seed circle. Robert Brenchley got the Minogue onions that I had given him years ago to flower and set seeds. This spring I sowed the seeds and followed up the plants. Have now replanted the largest. Some stems are very much fatter than my Minogue onion stems and I have replanted the bigger ones. Normally Minogue is propagated vegetatively. And there has always been a maximum stem thickness however well spaced I planted them. But this year, grown from seed, I have several stems which are 3 times as thick, yet they have retained their ability to multiply profusely. I got Minogue as Multiplier Onion, but these bigger ones from seed are halfway between multiplier onions and multiplier leeks. Looking forward to following them up further. My Minogues (also from you Galina) flowered last year - I got 4 flower heads and all of them have produced seed. I haven't sown any yet but if some of them are going to be bigger then it sounds like it's very much worth trying! |
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Post by galina on May 13, 2017 17:39:45 GMT -5
Yes and I really wonder now where the borderline between Perlzwiebel Minogue and the Perennial Leek is. Yes the leeks are a bit bigger, but not an awful lot. And with a bit of extra breeding ........... who knows. I will let you know how my largest Minogues fare and how much they split and whether the splits are as big as the plants they split off from. At the moment they are struggling a bit with not enough rain and the soil around them is cracking. Must seriously improve that part of the garden. If they do well there, they will anywhere.
Hope you will sow your seed and looking forward to compare results, Silverleaf.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Nov 23, 2022 1:19:39 GMT -5
I am starting gardening and hopefully breeding pearl onions this next year. Got into eating French food and discovered the wonderful world of pearl onions. True seed would be even better.
If you are still working on this I am interested.
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Post by galina on Nov 23, 2022 12:47:41 GMT -5
Yes I am. After our move there is new soil, new climate and I am struggling to get them to adjust to their new homes. At least I haven't killed them yet and even got a few to go from my dwindling seed stock. But keeping them alive is a long way from being able to breed. We will get there. Now I just need a few flowering again for proper adaptation to this new location. At the moment they multiply very sparingly and don't flower at all.
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