I bought a few egyptians this year. Do you need to let them flower to spread?
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id imagine so but i only put the bulbs in last september. im watching to see what happens with them this summer. from what ive read they form bulbils that grow and weigh down the tips that then bend over and root wherever they touch the ground.
I only clip the tops on green onions and they just keep coming back. Never noticed any flowers. Also, put in garlic chives this year. They have some nice garlic flavor fresh. Have not tasted a walking onion yet.
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regular onions rarely survive winter here but sometimes do. i have regular chives growing wild here and use them in dishes regularly sometimes as a substitute for green onions.
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@Robert , @steveb4
Walking onions …
I will start say fall in their life cycle…
So if planted in the fall , they will come up and make a usable green onion before winter sets in.
Often dying to the ground mid winter, then very early they will grow , making nice green onions , late spring they will form top sets , which fall over and will grow where they land in the late summer / fall. These top sets , should be harvested for new starts.
The main plant goes dormant mid summer. Will come back up in the fall.
Can be 5- 10 top sets per stalk , the main bulb will also divide, becoming ~5 by the next year. So can multiply quickly.
Need to grow in a perennial bed , somewhere that won’t be plowed as part of the main garden , so off by their self.
Some strains are hot , others mild good.
One of the best things I grow , really easy
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Yeah, I have been narrowing everything I grow into that category.
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They are really easy ,you can literally throw the top sets somewhere. And they will grow , about anywhere !
As long as you don’t mow them down .
I have had large patches suddenly die , for unknown reasons.
But I keep spreading them around , keeping several patches growing for back up.
Have some persisting in deep woods , un mowed sod , garden , greenhouse ,garden ,
You can mow over them mid summer when dormant.
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Have you ever noticed deer or other thieves touching the onions? I have them unprotected. Not really trying to build any extensions to the prison.
The deer don’t bother them here. And yes I have deer.
Never noticed them bitten by deer.
A few pics .
One in sod .
And a exceptional 4ft. Specimen.
Mine are approaching 2ft. Tall now . Excellent eating.
Have been eating them since February, from outside .
Most all winter in greenhouse
Some have more top setts than others.
Some top sets are small but more , others large fewer.
Wish I knew what takes out a large patch some years ?
Onion maggot ?
Never really figured it out.
They multiply faster than they die for sure.
I do recommend keeping some in different places , so as to keep them going . It seems like a row can die one year, 50 ft. Away another row still going strong . Anyone know what this could be ?
Photo of them growing in sod , I think was early March last year, so much bigger now … April…
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Another allium I grow as a perennial is garlic.
I have grown garlic for the bulbs for many years.
One year I did not top ,remove the scapes from a patch.
They made top sets .
Now that’s mostly what I use . I harvest the top sets, leaving the bulbs in the ground .
patches I now don’t harvest the bulbs at all , just top sets.
I take these clusters of top sets , rub them between my hands , blow away the chaff , and put on any food you want garlic on .
So much easier than peeling , cutting garlic. Nice bite size pieces, with very little effort.
I don’t weed , dig , these patches , leave the main bulbs in the ground. All I do is pull off the top sets when ripe, store in a paper bag. Last all winter. Can throw them some where to start a new patch. Been doing this for several decades. Works for me .
To grow nice size bulbs of garlic the traditional way , requires significant effort.
I can grow semi wild patches, of garlic for top sets in places you could not grow good bulbs. With very little effort.
All I do is pick these top sets .thats all ! Just pick .
Have several patch’s like this . Some 20-30 yrs old.still productive.
I also harvest garlic greens from these patches
.
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That’s a great idea. I stayed away from garlic because of all the digging and hassle to propagate. Might not be as much, but sure is easy. I use the poor parts of my land for things like this and just let it run wild.
Is it the same flavor? Does the variety matter?
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Yes good garlic flavor , same as the bulbs.
I have several types that will make these top sets .
The varieties are unknown at this point.
I believe one is rocambole ?
I assume some varieties would be better than others for this method . So I don’t know a variety name .
What I can say is a small bag of these sets will seed a large area.
Takes 2years to get top sets from top sets as seed. One year from cloves . A hand full goes a long way thrown in odd places around the farm,
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So they would have to be a hard neck type to have top sets
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great advice! i like easy. have a doz Georgia fire cloves im going to do this with. theyre starting to sprout in the cupboard right now. ill put them in around my trees and bushes under the mulch with the Egyptian onions and let them do their thing. 
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My friends mom does this with her garlic and flower bed but she spends so much time peeling those little bulbils and we all think she is crazy (we are all definitely crazy so we know 
)
Do you peel them or just cook them with the skin?
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No, i don’t peel them.
I just rub firmly between my hands, blown away the chaff.
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Neat my perrenial garlic area is out of space and i have been continually spreading the bulbils in fall hoping for some nice cross pollination and improvements but will start doing this as i like a reason to let the garlic flower since its always loaded with trichogrammas!
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I have watched eat the weeds Green Deane for years and absolutely love him. Thanks again for the great information and I will look into the Allium Canadense. I also love the society garlic as anything that is pretty and edible I am going to plant. Happy Gardening from Texas!
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Just be careful if you are picking wild onions. There is a look alike plant that grows with it that is poisonous. If it smells like onion/garlic it’s safe. If it doesn’t it’s poisonous. D
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Thanks for that information. I only eat the onions that I have planted such as egyptian walking onions, society garlic, garlic chives, and I’itoi onions, but to the foragers that is great knowledge to have.