Thanks. Good read
2 Likes
im going to make a bed of them from the bulbils in late summer. i have so many i might as well put them to good use. ive just been letting the clumps fall and root where they may. i can freeze a bunch of them chopped up in the green stage to use in recipes. old timers used to salt them in mason jars but too much salt to remove for me.
2 Likes
I will probably do the same. Walking onions are new to me so I donât know yet what my plans for them will be.
3 Likes
when left in clumps they grow but dont grow very big. i think separating them they will do much better. ive read that if you want big onions of any kind , just harvest some of the stalks off, it so im going to do that with these and see what happens.
2 Likes
I plan on just leaving them in the ground and using the greens and topsets. They say the topsets taste just like the bulb. They are new to me as well.
3 Likes
we have a small patch and so far we ate greens, some bulbs from the tops roasted, and one big guy I pulled up to find out. tastes like a dull white onion, not very big base but still edible and good if you need em
2 Likes
Everyone was right about Walking onions. You can mostly plant and forget. They all look healthy and a few already have bubils (4)on top. I counted and there are 10 more heading to the top. Iâm guesstimating that each set will have 5-10 bulbs to increase my number of plants. Next year I should have enough to sample.
5 Likes
Do you have a pic of white walking onions?
I have the red Catawissa walking onion if youâd like to trade.
4 Likes
@Gardenista âŚ
Best I remember I got these from @DennisD last fall⌠in a trade. They look great.
I have not eaten any yet but when I get some squash and okra ⌠i will have to eat a few with that.
Dennis or others⌠some of mine are forming little onions in the tops now.
I would like to move some of these new small ones to another bed to spread them around some.
How exactly do you propigate these from the new little onions that form in the tops ?
Do i need to wait for those to develop more ?
Or can i just cut them off now and plant them in another bed ???
Thanks
TNHunter
1 Like
Usually mine have small bulbs at the base of the top sets - but when they grow up multiple tiers sometimes those donât bulb up as much. Thatâs the best stage to detach and plant elsewhere. They are pretty tough so as long as you water them as they are getting established you should have good success - and the parent bulbs will put up more in case you run into any issues.
2 Likes
Encouraging to see those producing! I have usually just let them drop off and resolve them when they overcrowd in the bed, but you could experiment by replanting those now, plant should produce some more later this season
Congrats!
Dennis
1 Like
ive spread mine all over under my fruit trees to deter bugs. these and chives are almost invasive in the yard. they have even out competed the weeds in some areas .as a bonus, i never need to buy onions again.
3 Likes
Hey @TNHunter. They do get woody when they send up that âflowerâ ( ie topset) stalk, so I usually eat them early in the season before that happens. Propagating them is almost too easy. They âwalkâ by planting themselves when the stalk falls over or when the topsets drop off. They do tend to crowd themselves out doing that. Not a big deal by any means but youâll get much nicer scallions by planting the biggest topsets individually at reasonable spacing. Over time theyâll tend to make bigger and fewer topsets if you do that. Its also possible that in the right climate (not mine) theyâll actually bulb up. i read this in an antique agriculture book I picked up. It said you could spring plant the topsets for bulbs, I guess because vernalization triggers flowering/topsetting so âfirst yearâ plants (like buying onion sets) dont âflowerâ ie topset. I tried it a few different ways but didnt have luck, maybe due to day length or length of my season. I even have a white topset onion called âfleemerâsâ or âfleenerâsâ topset that is supposed to be for that purpose. It has sweeter milder bulbs too that are harvestable later into the summer.
3 Likes
Itâs curious that theyâre not bulbing up for you. Mine do, although theyâre seldom large enough to bother with. I usually pull a few the size of larger shallots in the summer as a way to thin the patch. Not a particularly refined flavor, but good enough and itâs a nice bonus.
I mostly think of them as green onions, best enjoyed in early spring and fall, and in mild winters. Perennial A. fistulosum onions fill the summer niche.
2 Likes
Agreed, theyâre basically green onions. The red Catawissa aka âEgyptianâ walking onion does sort of bulb up, but like you say, too small to bother with. The old book I read said they could get quite large if spring planted though and be useful as a true bulbing onion. If have to go back and try to find the passage in question
1 Like
I will give these more time⌠perhaps more bulb will develop in the tops. Will wait untill those tops fall over to collect bulbs and plant them in other locations.
I have a dozen or more in that bed and only 2 of them are doing that so far⌠they are the ones on the south end of the bed⌠getting the most direct sun.
I would really like to get these growing and multiplying all over and never buy onions again. That would be ideal.
Thanks
4 Likes
theyâre small root onion, mild flavor. I eat those sometimes. the little bulbs I fry, theyâre tasty. and the greens
once the plant starts to bend over and âwalkâ, the bulbs can be planted. like once they touch the ground just pull them off and plant the bulbs anywhere, itâll make a new plant. mine donât have tops yet, thatâs usually in June or July.
Iâve got 3 patches now in one year
4 Likes
I have plenty of Walking onions so I decided to harvest a few blades to freeze and cook. The one on the right was cut off about 2" from the soil. It has already grown back to about 8-10". I cut up all of the plant and plan to cook them with roast. The stalk with the top set had a stronger onion smell while chopping it up.
3 Likes