In Bulgaria we call them just onions. It is what every village house here grows. It tastes much better than the onions you buy from shops. Just chop them with bunch of tomatoes, cucumber and some red paper and some oil it is the best salad
@@SkillCult I must say it is just the yellow one.I am not really an expert on these but it seems it is the dominant type here. We use it for everything, it is the go to onion and i am not aware if someone i know makes experiments to make it better. After all good enough is good enough
@@mapleenderson8541 Thanks, just curious. That classic yellow one seems to be popular the world over and not a lot of other ones. I have grown seedlings and many seem promising, but they tend to flower more.
I was today years old when i learned about this onion type. Still trying to wrap my head around why no one talks about this type. Seems like a win win for gardeners!!
I live in Maine and I plant my yellow multiplier onions in the fall with about 99% survival. I tried spring planting with similar results. I prefer fall planting for an earlier harvest and more time in spring for planting everyuthing else. I'm typing this in the last week of October while I take a rain break from planting multiplier onions, shallots and garlic. When bulbs are in the ground I'll mulch with 6" of straw and cover that with fir boughs to keep the straw from blowing away. 20 bulbs 4 years ago has multiplied into a full year supply of onions.
+The Garlic Farm Awesome feedback. Thanks for sharing. I know a guy who grows them in alaska near the treeline. Amazing. 20 is actually a lot to start with. At about 6 harvested per one planted, the math adds up pretty fast even if a person only starts with a few! The older accounts sometimes say to hill up the bulbs in cold areas and pull the dirt away in the spring. I prefer to spring plant, but I do both. I have never noticed any real harvest advantage to planting in the fall.
+SkillCult I have read that there is less bolting with spring planting but I didn't notice any difference in two years of split planting. When I plant in the fall they are already 6" tall before the ground is thawed and dry enough to work. My biggest reason to plant in fall is less work in spring when there isn't enough time for all the rest of the garden work.
+The Garlic Farm I do get less bolting when spring planting for sure, but my climate is very different too. I have never really noticed any real difference in yield as long as the spring planted bulbs are put in reasonably early. I do both. I fall plant bulbs that don't look like they'll make it through the winter and save some for spring too.
Hello! I haven't looked at your full channel yet, so I don't know if you are still around, but I did want to pop in and say Experimental Farm Network is selling (true) seeds for potato onions in a breeding mix called "Andy's Green Mountain Multiplier", and we're going to give them a try in Georgia this year! Not sure if it will be too hot/humid for them, but we'll find out!
My potato onions are more red and look like your yellow. Always flowers and divides like mad. Seed heads seeds will sometimes sprout flower again and again before weighing the plant down to the soil. Great information thanks !
Might be one of the shallots. Not sure there is much difference. Most shallots now are actually seed grown, so those will flower a lot. Best one I've tried is the Seeds Blum pink shallot if you can find it.
they almost look like the wild leeks/ramps i have growing in the woods,, they go to seed so i harvested some seed to try in the garden,, they also look like the onions you have except a smaller version,, they bunch up and spread out forming patches .. thank you for giving me ideas about tameing/bring into domestication these. thank you for the video. have a blessed and safe day
that doesn't sound like what I know as ramps, but that's the problem with common names. There are a lot of onion species that will escape cultivation too and grow wild, like leeks, garlic, elephant garlic and various species of small onion.
I couldn't tell you what variety of onions I have, but they seem to be a red&white onion. They were spread everywhere when we bought the house. The lady that owned the place was a flower nut. If you would like some, I have some sets still on the stalks. They do seem to flower and set a lot, but some are strictly straight growers. :)
Sounds like egyptian top set or walking onions (same thing) thanks for the offer, but I don't need any more of those. I have few varieties in the garden.
My new apple and cherry trees are budding. Garlic is up. Took a little straw off the strawberries. High tunnel is hot! Still could have some freezes. My multiplying onions are not bothered bybfreezing temps.
I planted some online bought potato onions last year and the first year they bunched. But when I replanted some of the bulbs this year they just grew into one bigger onion. (???)
I'd say the longer that Green Mountain is vegetatively propagated the less prone it will be to flower so regularly. I definitely saw that when I was growing it. Fall planted GM always flowers, spring planted doesn't. Spring planted gives you much better, larger onions. With regard to flowering, most alliums have a semi-perennial bent, with vegetative propagation happening simultaneous to seed production, and lots of the cultivated allium species have versions that are essentially completely shifted to vegetative propagation/cloning, garlic and elephant garlic being the most obvious, but potato onions and shallots aren't far behind. The longer you clone something, the more viral contamination it gets, and the more genetic anomalies build up like chromosome deletions etc. There are guys working on breeding true flowerin garlics, but they have to work with really primitive garlics from Kazahkstan etc where garlic was domesticated. You didn't mention shallots in this video, but in my experience a shallot is a potato onion with better marketing hype, they are both vegetatively propagated A. cepa. I've read that Griselle Shallots are A. oschianii, but I was never able to get my hands on them to try them. I had a bad outbreak of Botrytis leaf rot in 2015 so I burned all my allium stock and am starting over from scratch in 2017 with everything. I was bummed because I had finally built up enough stock of GM to start eating it in the fall of 2015 before it turned to snot.
I know Kelly Winterton thinks it will start flowering less over the years. I've culled my potato seedling onions pretty ruthlessly to see if I can select for low or no seeding, but this year they sat over in the ground and sprouted with the fall rains, so I think they will probably all go to flower. If they don't, that certainly would be interesting. I could also see doing an experiment where the same 50 or 100 seedlings were grown year after year, but followed for seeding frequency to see how much of the trait is transmitted. I can even get yellow potato onions to flower much of the time if they are planted in the fall or early winter though. I usually wait till after the winter solstice now.
I'd expect it to flower less over a fairly long time span, more like a generation or two. There are almost certainly climate factors involved, I've NEVER had yellow potato onion flower, for example, even if overwintered in the ground. Could be photoperiod thing.
You know what is interesting actually is that I have suspected that having my YPO's flower once has made them more likely to do it again. I'm not sure, but I have a suspicion.
i bought all 3 of the "potato onions" from canada on ebay. those are just boiling onions. and they sell tons of them. but it takes the buyer a year to find out what they got stuck with.
Thanks for saying that. I wish there was something we could do about it. At least let them know we're on to them. I guess I feel hesitant to say much since I sell on ebay too. That sort of calls my credibility into question, though I'm also a victim since I bought some too.
SkillCult How do i find you on ebay? I just clicked "unwatch" on that seller from ontario canada when i heard you say that their onions are just bogus. Thanks! 👍
Some of the potato onions I got from you last fall look like they might flower. And my shallots, right next to them, will too. I think I'll let them cross pollinate and grow out the seeds. If my iitoi onions flower too it could be very interesting. My first attempt at plant breeding and trialing. Fingers crossed.
Well this is great information thank you I am receiving some of these onions from southern seed and they are in a combo set. I have no idea what to do with The potato onions. So I’ll give those a shot and see how I feel about them. If I like them I will order some of the green mountain ones off of Esty for next fall.
I got seeds potato onion ,I plant them ,just start coming up. Soon get warmer I will plant them in ground. I see this onion before in Russia they call them family onions. I hope my onions make it to the ground and grow.
Do you think I could grow some indoor in my growing tent? I bought some from McKenzie Seeds, most grew well but then we got hit with a lot of rain and in one my garden the bulbs barely formed and some even shriveled (empty inside?) . I saved the best bulbs, replanted them a bit deeper for winter (I'm in Quebec, Canada "south)" but I also saved a singular (quite big) bulb to plant somewhere else. Could I grow that during the winter in my growing tent? Do I need to simulate a frost for the bulb to grow more onions?
I have seeds from a 80 year old lady that is seeds from 1800....kate...mustard....beans I have tomato seeds when the chemical treated ever started, I am seeking corn seeds back from years ago....do you know where I can find an elderly person that kept seeds from years ago?
+TheEmptynester Yeah, that's probably them. If they look super uniform, similar size and perfect shape. I ordered the yellow a while back and they never even put out any roots. Then I talked to someone on the east coast that bought them and same thing. then I asked a guy who sells multiplier onions and he said they are onion sets and I was like, oh, that totally makes sense. I've never seen any multiplier onions that is that perfect in shape and uniform in size. This really pisses me off. I"m sure they have sold hundreds upon hundreds of orders. I don't know what to do about it except to mention it when I can. I'd be interested to see what you get and if any of them grow and what they produce. Please report back.
+SkillCult I was worried about that. I did a video on them when I got them. And left the feed back of they were quit uniform. Some of the red ones shrunk up to nothing fast. I had to get the rest in the fridge right away. Now I am shaking my head. I put the worst that looked savable in a grow bag. A few have sprouted. But I now am back to wonder if they are multiplier. The seed I ordered on ebay for Green mountain say they are mixed with 2 other. But I threw away $27 if the 3 color ones are not real or bad sets. Thank you for your time. E
+TheEmptynester Well, see what the ones that grow produce. I think they will produce large single bulbs, but I don't have any proof since mine didn't grow at all. I sell a mix of 4 multiplier varieties with green mountain in the mix, so maybe that is what you bought. Hopefully you can get that information out if they are not what they are supposed to be. Again, I'm pretty convinced, but as someone who also sells potato onions, I might be considered lacking in credibility or having conflicting motives. And that's good, people should be critical of that sort of thing. I hesitated to say anything, but I'm just really pissed and don't want people to waste their money. I also sent them money.
+SkillCult I just ordered from you. But the other order I have is for True potato onion Seed. Not bulbs. I received your email from subbing your blog too. I am not going to request the free from there. Missouri is my location so you will know who I am from the new ebay order.
LOVE your series on potato onions ! You are my inspiration to grow them ! I do need to ask though - I mixed up potato onions and regular bulbing onions in my back yard - now I can't tell which is which..... how do you tell them apart ?? Thanks
the potato onions should eash divide into a cluster of onions. If they don't, you may have been scammed. there is someone on ebay that used to sell onion sets as potato onions.
@@SkillCult I bought mine from a reputable source. Problem is, I grew regular onions in clumps of 3 or more seeds and they look just like the ones that I am sure are potato onions ! Thanks for responding
@@SkillCult Oh wow, how interesting and thank you! I'm in Idaho where it's not allowed to bring in any kind of alliums so I called the Dept of Ag and they said it's okay to bring in the seeds, just not the bulbs. (I don't drive so can't get them locally). Wish me luck with the seeds, I'm gonna need it. I should've made my internet name "Brownest Thumb on the Planet". ☹️
@@lesliekendall5668 true potato onion seeds might be hard to find, but someone just posted on a video in this series that thiers went to seed. maybe you can message them and get some.
I saw your video about a year ago tried them and not impressed with ease of growth. I grew them from seed sources from restoration seed. I'm going to have to stick with my walking onion because they are like weeds border line annoying. I do live in a totally different climate so thats probably the reson.
It sounds to me like there should be 3 varieties of potato onion rather than 2. The Kelly Winterton has enough differences that it could probably be considered a "green" potato onion variety rather than a white or yellow. Just a thought. No offense intended.
Oh yes, they are quite excellent. I often cook them whole, or cut up, either way. They are certainly more time consuming to dice up than a large onion, but they have other advantages. I'll do a short video on cooking with them sooner or later, but they can just be used like a yellow onion or any other onion.
I am having great luck with I'itoi multiplier onions. This looks like something I would grow well here. Do you have a supplier of these that these can be bought from?
Be careful buying on ebay. Some are real and some aren't. Reputable seed houses like fedco or southern exposure should be fine. You can find other sources with a web search.
You might be able to drastically increase the size by watering with urine. Mix it 1 part urine to 10 parts water. It sounds gross, but I use it to one degree or another on almost all of my plants. Produces the best peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes hands down. This is one of the reasons old timers complain about the tomatoes now, coupled with the fact that we use a different tomato variety now. It used to be the Rutgers, but now I have no idea what it is. There was also a study that showed tomatoes have a much better flavor with a small amount of sodium in the water and soil, along with boron, ammonia, iron, zinc, and numerous other micronutrients.
I'm a big fan and proponent of peerigation! You're right. It has most of the plant macronutrients that leave our bodies and tons of minerals. It's use should be widesprread. I started using it about 30 years ago when I noticed the grass growing like crazy where I pee off the porch. I had heard all the time that is was too strong and would kill everything etc., but fortunately, I went with my observation. it's finally gaining some traction now.
@@Appophust One way I try to describe it to people is that throwing it out is like mining the soil for nutrients and not putting them back into the cycle. Not sure how much it gets through though. It doesn't help that those crazy biodynamic people think it's bad to use it on crops for humans due some kind of thing about pooping out the ego.
@@SkillCult that's really odd. The ego is just a construct described by Freud as more of a visual aid. It doesn't exist as a physical thing, and our minds aren't really divided into 3 separate parts. Ergo, one cannot "poop out" the ego. 🤣
just an update from potato onions i got from you last year.they all grew well and produced.i planted these back to expanding my amount. i just noticed that several are putting on a seed head. do you recommend letting those go to seed to expand? will i get some varied genetics by doing so? i have no other onions in garden other than walking onions so cross pollination should be none. they are growing near garlic.thanks for any advice.
They actually seem to throw a very diverse seed crop. I have a blog post on it and you can read about Kelly Winterton's potato onion seedling project. They come out all colors. I started a small project growing the seeds, but they all died eventually, basically from neglect and inattention. Or are those the same!?
@@SkillCult i went and read about the white variety but wasnt sure how that translated to these yellow variety.i got the feeling the white bloom more easily than the yellows? i will go read more as i am sure i missed gold nuggets there.
@@elkhound25 He grew some white varieties from the yellow potato onion, and others as well. I think they all flower more easily, but I can't even recall what I used to know about that. He says they will flower less and less over the years if treated as a multiplier. I have no idea if that is true. I'd just grow some out and see what happens. I got various colors when I did, but could have had some crossing with other bulbing onions.
They are quite different. Potato onions have much larger bulbs and the don't set bulbs at the top like walking and egyptian onions do. I think they are probably a different species even, but I'm not sure. Potato onions are the same species as our common bulbing onions and also shallots.
A neighbor just gave me a bag full of dried bulbs, they seem small but he said they were sweet multiplier onions. Not sure of anything more then that. They were stuck together in clusters of 6-8 bulbs. Hope they do well and grow bigger. Told me to plant them now and they will overwinter for spring harvest. Any fertilizer suggestions ( organic).
FYI - they did awesome. I don't get to eat any this year, trying to build a larger population of seed stock, but they look great. We'lol see if they cure out and store without the mold issues you have. scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13654285_1183268218360410_755134642699184119_n.jpg?oh=ea7089c9638c25db44f072d7cf79b960&oe=582D430D
Depends on who you ask. They are the same species and basically grow the same. I don't think there is any significant difference. Very likely they are just a separate "evolutionary" line, more like breeding line.
Wondering how far south these can grow? I live in Florida and have had the hardest time growing onions. I have some garlic and that is fine. My chives bunching onions do fine but can't get any big bulbs (might be nutrients though) so curious about planting these. I found them on some websites but can't find much information on the USDA Zones and would love any feedback! Here in humid Florida zone 9
+addictedtoelf I have heard a few times that they don't do well way down south on the Gulf, but as you've found out, a lot of onions don't. Check out David the Good's stuff on youtube or on his blogs. He may know what will do well down there in Florida as that was his home state until just recently.
SkillCult yeah as far as I know he is still here I think he moved even further south though lol. I will check out to see if he has experience with them though I didn't even think to look! I appreciate it.
+addictedtoelf I couldn't figure out if he moved out of the country or into south florida. Either way, I have serious climate envy. I'm thinking about ways to grow tropical fruit here in some sort of greenhouse. Fresh ripe tropical fruit year round just seems amazing. Check with these guys heirloomonions.com they have the biggest selection of perennial onions and probably have some idea of what will grow down there.
Hi, I've been watching you on Roku a while now, but just came here to comment and subscribe. You've got me very interested in those I'itoi onions, because I live in a climate with a long growing season, but extreme temps of 120 to 20 below. Since I am disabled, I need plants that can stand a little neglect once they've gotten established and these look workable. I checked out your ebay page, but didn't see any for sale there. Any chance of buying some? I'll probably just tuck them here and there in containers and put in a special bed in fall (it's been 107 since early May and will be up at 120 by the look of it soon). Thanks for the info on these. Also loving those apple butter vids! Talk about some awesome research!
I think I've actually lost that variety. I pulled them all stupidly except a few and some rodent wiped them out. I think there are people selling them on ebay on and off if you subscribe to a search on ebay, they'll send you emails when new items come up. I doubt they are that hardy, but you could try. yellow potato onions are extremely hardy and much more practical than i'itoi's onions. They are easy enough to get now. I'm not selling them anymore. Just don't buy the ones from canada. that is a scam selling seed onions.
Thanks for the info. I may try the potato onions now. The thing that interested me in the I'itoi besides them being so tough is that they are supposed to taste a bit like shallots. Are the potato onions anything like that? I love shallots, but they cost about 3.00 each here, and I can't get them to grow at all (they either fry or I end up over-watering to keep them from it). Have you been into homesteading your whole life? You give the impression of someone who has.
I'm not sure I can tell. I cook all of my onions, so it's harder to tell a lot about flavor. I haven't. I grew up in cities when I was a kid, then my mom moved us to the country for a while, but it was really interest, intent and immersion that got me where I am now.
Skill, Just got your onions in the mail. Should I plant them out now? It has ben pretty mild here in the north east. Or should i plant them come spring? And if so where would the best place be to store them until spring? Thanks for the video btw.
+mark desrochers (Gardenman101) I would probably plant them now, but consider hilling them up. Read some of the stuff on growing in the North here: skillcult.com/blog/2012/03/14/402?rq=potato%20onions I know people grow them in places like maine and alaska, but some of those northern accounts still recommend hilling up. I you store them all the way till spring, there is a good chance a few of them won't make it. They store well, but there is just a certain rate of attrition. If you want to though, a cool and fairly dry room should be good.
Walking onions are different. They grow new onions at the top of the stalk, which can fall over from the weight and root on the ground. They are also called egyption onions. These are a larger as well.
are you saying egyptian walking onions actually larger than potato onion ? how come from all the youtube video, even from your video.. i see potato onion are slightly bigger then walking onion ? walking onion dont even look like onion,.. more like bunching onion..
No, Unfortunately I actually lost all my stock. This next year I'm going to try to get some back from someone I sent them to. Look on ebay around late summer and fall. But don't by the ones from Canada. That's a scam.
In Bulgaria we call them just onions. It is what every village house here grows. It tastes much better than the onions you buy from shops. Just chop them with bunch of tomatoes, cucumber and some red paper and some oil it is the best salad
Thanks for sharing. They are quite good. Do you have different varieties, or mostly the yellow one that is common here?
@@SkillCult I must say it is just the yellow one.I am not really an expert on these but it seems it is the dominant type here. We use it for everything, it is the go to onion and i am not aware if someone i know makes experiments to make it better. After all good enough is good enough
@@mapleenderson8541 Thanks, just curious. That classic yellow one seems to be popular the world over and not a lot of other ones. I have grown seedlings and many seem promising, but they tend to flower more.
Како се виче тај лука на бугарски?
I was today years old when i learned about this onion type. Still trying to wrap my head around why no one talks about this type. Seems like a win win for gardeners!!
Maybe because they are small and hard to peel. I don't know. They should be grown more though.
I live in Western NC. And when I was growing up this was the only onion we had. But we planted them in the fall and gathered them up around June.
I live in Maine and I plant my yellow multiplier onions in the fall with about 99% survival. I tried spring planting with similar results. I prefer fall planting for an earlier harvest and more time in spring for planting everyuthing else. I'm typing this in the last week of October while I take a rain break from planting multiplier onions, shallots and garlic. When bulbs are in the ground I'll mulch with 6" of straw and cover that with fir boughs to keep the straw from blowing away. 20 bulbs 4 years ago has multiplied into a full year supply of onions.
+The Garlic Farm Awesome feedback. Thanks for sharing. I know a guy who grows them in alaska near the treeline. Amazing. 20 is actually a lot to start with. At about 6 harvested per one planted, the math adds up pretty fast even if a person only starts with a few! The older accounts sometimes say to hill up the bulbs in cold areas and pull the dirt away in the spring. I prefer to spring plant, but I do both. I have never noticed any real harvest advantage to planting in the fall.
+SkillCult I have read that there is less bolting with spring planting but I didn't notice any difference in two years of split planting. When I plant in the fall they are already 6" tall before the ground is thawed and dry enough to work. My biggest reason to plant in fall is less work in spring when there isn't enough time for all the rest of the garden work.
+The Garlic Farm I do get less bolting when spring planting for sure, but my climate is very different too. I have never really noticed any real difference in yield as long as the spring planted bulbs are put in reasonably early. I do both. I fall plant bulbs that don't look like they'll make it through the winter and save some for spring too.
cool
I live in zone 6a-6b! (Northern climate)
Do they survived snow ??
I just got my first potato onions from Southern Exposure and I'm looking forward to trying them. Thanks for the videos!
Hello! I haven't looked at your full channel yet, so I don't know if you are still around, but I did want to pop in and say Experimental Farm Network is selling (true) seeds for potato onions in a breeding mix called "Andy's Green Mountain Multiplier", and we're going to give them a try in Georgia this year! Not sure if it will be too hot/humid for them, but we'll find out!
I'm glad to hear that. I people are growing out potato onion seeds. I'm sure many new varieties could be created.
I got some of the Green Mountain seeds from a friend. Looking forward to giving it a try. I've never tried multiplier onions before.
that should be fun. I have a few seedlings on trial for the past 3 years.
Cool, better than regular onion sets, you get more! 5 for 1, like potatoes. I’ll look out for those someday, cheers.
I just got mine (Yellow Potato Onions) today from Filaree. Very excited! Thank you for the knowledge and experience. Very valuable!
My potato onions are more red and look like your yellow. Always flowers and divides like mad. Seed heads seeds will sometimes sprout flower again and again before weighing the plant down to the soil. Great information thanks !
Might be one of the shallots. Not sure there is much difference. Most shallots now are actually seed grown, so those will flower a lot. Best one I've tried is the Seeds Blum pink shallot if you can find it.
they almost look like the wild leeks/ramps i have growing in the woods,, they go to seed so i harvested some seed to try in the garden,, they also look like the onions you have except a smaller version,, they bunch up and spread out forming patches .. thank you for giving me ideas about tameing/bring into domestication these. thank you for the video. have a blessed and safe day
that doesn't sound like what I know as ramps, but that's the problem with common names. There are a lot of onion species that will escape cultivation too and grow wild, like leeks, garlic, elephant garlic and various species of small onion.
I couldn't tell you what variety of onions I have, but they seem to be a red&white onion. They were spread everywhere when we bought the house. The lady that owned the place was a flower nut. If you would like some, I have some sets still on the stalks. They do seem to flower and set a lot, but some are strictly straight growers. :)
Sounds like egyptian top set or walking onions (same thing) thanks for the offer, but I don't need any more of those. I have few varieties in the garden.
My new apple and cherry trees are budding. Garlic is up. Took a little straw off the strawberries. High tunnel is hot! Still could have some freezes. My multiplying onions are not bothered bybfreezing temps.
Thanks for the great info! I just got some potato onions here in Massachusetts.
+Brian Great. I'm sure you'll have them for many years. Share them! They are still rare.
I planted some online bought potato onions last year and the first year they bunched. But when I replanted some of the bulbs this year they just grew into one bigger onion. (???)
Really interesting. Just not a ton of info on these online but this really helps!
I'd say the longer that Green Mountain is vegetatively propagated the less prone it will be to flower so regularly. I definitely saw that when I was growing it. Fall planted GM always flowers, spring planted doesn't. Spring planted gives you much better, larger onions. With regard to flowering, most alliums have a semi-perennial bent, with vegetative propagation happening simultaneous to seed production, and lots of the cultivated allium species have versions that are essentially completely shifted to vegetative propagation/cloning, garlic and elephant garlic being the most obvious, but potato onions and shallots aren't far behind. The longer you clone something, the more viral contamination it gets, and the more genetic anomalies build up like chromosome deletions etc. There are guys working on breeding true flowerin garlics, but they have to work with really primitive garlics from Kazahkstan etc where garlic was domesticated.
You didn't mention shallots in this video, but in my experience a shallot is a potato onion with better marketing hype, they are both vegetatively propagated A. cepa. I've read that Griselle Shallots are A. oschianii, but I was never able to get my hands on them to try them. I had a bad outbreak of Botrytis leaf rot in 2015 so I burned all my allium stock and am starting over from scratch in 2017 with everything. I was bummed because I had finally built up enough stock of GM to start eating it in the fall of 2015 before it turned to snot.
I know Kelly Winterton thinks it will start flowering less over the years. I've culled my potato seedling onions pretty ruthlessly to see if I can select for low or no seeding, but this year they sat over in the ground and sprouted with the fall rains, so I think they will probably all go to flower. If they don't, that certainly would be interesting. I could also see doing an experiment where the same 50 or 100 seedlings were grown year after year, but followed for seeding frequency to see how much of the trait is transmitted. I can even get yellow potato onions to flower much of the time if they are planted in the fall or early winter though. I usually wait till after the winter solstice now.
I'd expect it to flower less over a fairly long time span, more like a generation or two. There are almost certainly climate factors involved, I've NEVER had yellow potato onion flower, for example, even if overwintered in the ground. Could be photoperiod thing.
You know what is interesting actually is that I have suspected that having my YPO's flower once has made them more likely to do it again. I'm not sure, but I have a suspicion.
i bought all 3 of the "potato onions" from canada on ebay. those are just boiling onions. and they sell tons of them. but it takes the buyer a year to find out what they got stuck with.
Thanks for saying that. I wish there was something we could do about it. At least let them know we're on to them. I guess I feel hesitant to say much since I sell on ebay too. That sort of calls my credibility into question, though I'm also a victim since I bought some too.
Got some, they are growing but like you, think they may be just regular onion sets.
SkillCult
How do i find you on ebay? I just clicked "unwatch" on that seller from ontario canada when i heard you say that their onions are just bogus. Thanks! 👍
Hi, I don't sell onions anymore, but there are other legit sellers selling yellow potato onions now on ebay.
SkillCult Like who?
Some of the potato onions I got from you last fall look like they might flower. And my shallots, right next to them, will too. I think I'll let them cross pollinate and grow out the seeds. If my iitoi onions flower too it could be very interesting. My first attempt at plant breeding and trialing. Fingers crossed.
I think the I'itoi may be a different species, vut I"m not sure. The shallots should be able to cross though.
Well this is great information thank you I am receiving some of these onions from southern seed and they are in a combo set. I have no idea what to do with The potato onions. So I’ll give those a shot and see how I feel about them. If I like them I will order some of the green mountain ones off of Esty for next fall.
Thanks for the information....
Thanks for sharing this video - I learned ALOT had never heard of potato onions
Glad to help :). They are still not very common, but you can get them on ebay in the late summer and fall. beware of scams though.
Excellent info! Never heard of the potato onion. I am going to have to get me some......
I got seeds potato onion ,I plant them ,just start coming up. Soon get warmer I will plant them in ground. I see this onion before in Russia they call them family onions. I hope my onions make it to the ground and grow.
Good. I hope you got good seeds. I understand they are very popular in Russia and very cold hardy for early spring greens.
Great video
Do you think I could grow some indoor in my growing tent?
I bought some from McKenzie Seeds, most grew well but then we got hit with a lot of rain and in one my garden the bulbs barely formed and some even shriveled (empty inside?) .
I saved the best bulbs, replanted them a bit deeper for winter (I'm in Quebec, Canada "south)" but I also saved a singular (quite big) bulb to plant somewhere else.
Could I grow that during the winter in my growing tent?
Do I need to simulate a frost for the bulb to grow more onions?
I have seeds from a 80 year old lady that is seeds from 1800....kate...mustard....beans I have tomato seeds when the chemical treated ever started, I am seeking corn seeds back from years ago....do you know where I can find an elderly person that kept seeds from years ago?
No, I wish I did.
Thanks for making this video. I ordered 3 colors from Canada, And some Green mountain seed . So I will be growing them this year.
+TheEmptynester I should have waited till the end of the video to comment. So I guess the ones I got are the ones you spoke of on Ebay. :(
+TheEmptynester Yeah, that's probably them. If they look super uniform, similar size and perfect shape. I ordered the yellow a while back and they never even put out any roots. Then I talked to someone on the east coast that bought them and same thing. then I asked a guy who sells multiplier onions and he said they are onion sets and I was like, oh, that totally makes sense. I've never seen any multiplier onions that is that perfect in shape and uniform in size. This really pisses me off. I"m sure they have sold hundreds upon hundreds of orders. I don't know what to do about it except to mention it when I can. I'd be interested to see what you get and if any of them grow and what they produce. Please report back.
+SkillCult I was worried about that. I did a video on them when I got them. And left the feed back of they were quit uniform. Some of the red ones shrunk up to nothing fast. I had to get the rest in the fridge right away. Now I am shaking my head. I put the worst that looked savable in a grow bag. A few have sprouted. But I now am back to wonder if they are multiplier. The seed I ordered on ebay for Green mountain say they are mixed with 2 other. But I threw away $27 if the 3 color ones are not real or bad sets. Thank you for your time. E
+TheEmptynester Well, see what the ones that grow produce. I think they will produce large single bulbs, but I don't have any proof since mine didn't grow at all. I sell a mix of 4 multiplier varieties with green mountain in the mix, so maybe that is what you bought. Hopefully you can get that information out if they are not what they are supposed to be. Again, I'm pretty convinced, but as someone who also sells potato onions, I might be considered lacking in credibility or having conflicting motives. And that's good, people should be critical of that sort of thing. I hesitated to say anything, but I'm just really pissed and don't want people to waste their money. I also sent them money.
+SkillCult I just ordered from you. But the other order I have is for True potato onion Seed. Not bulbs. I received your email from subbing your blog too. I am not going to request the free from there. Missouri is my location so you will know who I am from the new ebay order.
LOVE your series on potato onions ! You are my inspiration to grow them ! I do need to ask though - I mixed up potato onions and regular bulbing onions in my back yard - now I can't tell which is which..... how do you tell them apart ?? Thanks
the potato onions should eash divide into a cluster of onions. If they don't, you may have been scammed. there is someone on ebay that used to sell onion sets as potato onions.
@@SkillCult I bought mine from a reputable source. Problem is, I grew regular onions in clumps of 3 or more seeds and they look just like the ones that I am sure are potato onions ! Thanks for responding
Since potato onions are a perennial, wouldn't having some left in the ground produce the larger sized bulbs?
What happens is they go dormant, then each bulb splits into more new bulbs. it doesn't matter if you leave them or pick them, they will still do that.
@@SkillCult Oh wow, how interesting and thank you! I'm in Idaho where it's not allowed to bring in any kind of alliums so I called the Dept of Ag and they said it's okay to bring in the seeds, just not the bulbs. (I don't drive so can't get them locally). Wish me luck with the seeds, I'm gonna need it. I should've made my internet name "Brownest Thumb on the Planet". ☹️
@@lesliekendall5668 true potato onion seeds might be hard to find, but someone just posted on a video in this series that thiers went to seed. maybe you can message them and get some.
New sub Great video very informational! Thanks for sharing!
thanks, welcome aboard!
:)
Both my Green Mountain and Yellow potato onions are bolting heavily this year (75%) with no bulb at all yet. Not sure why.
Just go with it. Good chance to grow some seed out and find out what happens!
@@SkillCult true, but most bolted stems won’t produce a usable onion.
You’re right though, I’ll see what happens.
I saw your video about a year ago tried them and not impressed with ease of growth. I grew them from seed sources from restoration seed. I'm going to have to stick with my walking onion because they are like weeds border line annoying. I do live in a totally different climate so thats probably the reson.
It sounds to me like there should be 3 varieties of potato onion rather than 2. The Kelly Winterton has enough differences that it could probably be considered a "green" potato onion variety rather than a white or yellow. Just a thought. No offense intended.
One question too. Are these decent enough to be used as a cooking onion substitute?
Oh yes, they are quite excellent. I often cook them whole, or cut up, either way. They are certainly more time consuming to dice up than a large onion, but they have other advantages. I'll do a short video on cooking with them sooner or later, but they can just be used like a yellow onion or any other onion.
I am having great luck with I'itoi multiplier onions. This looks like something I would grow well here. Do you have a supplier of these that these can be bought from?
Be careful buying on ebay. Some are real and some aren't. Reputable seed houses like fedco or southern exposure should be fine. You can find other sources with a web search.
You might be able to drastically increase the size by watering with urine. Mix it 1 part urine to 10 parts water. It sounds gross, but I use it to one degree or another on almost all of my plants. Produces the best peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes hands down. This is one of the reasons old timers complain about the tomatoes now, coupled with the fact that we use a different tomato variety now. It used to be the Rutgers, but now I have no idea what it is. There was also a study that showed tomatoes have a much better flavor with a small amount of sodium in the water and soil, along with boron, ammonia, iron, zinc, and numerous other micronutrients.
I'm a big fan and proponent of peerigation! You're right. It has most of the plant macronutrients that leave our bodies and tons of minerals. It's use should be widesprread. I started using it about 30 years ago when I noticed the grass growing like crazy where I pee off the porch. I had heard all the time that is was too strong and would kill everything etc., but fortunately, I went with my observation. it's finally gaining some traction now.
@@SkillCult yup yup. It definitely should be promoted around the world.
@@Appophust One way I try to describe it to people is that throwing it out is like mining the soil for nutrients and not putting them back into the cycle. Not sure how much it gets through though. It doesn't help that those crazy biodynamic people think it's bad to use it on crops for humans due some kind of thing about pooping out the ego.
@@SkillCult that's really odd. The ego is just a construct described by Freud as more of a visual aid. It doesn't exist as a physical thing, and our minds aren't really divided into 3 separate parts. Ergo, one cannot "poop out" the ego. 🤣
@@SkillCult although Freud did believe that not pooping enough made you extremely picky. 🤔
just an update from potato onions i got from you last year.they all grew well and produced.i planted these back to expanding my amount. i just noticed that several are putting on a seed head. do you recommend letting those go to seed to expand? will i get some varied genetics by doing so? i have no other onions in garden other than walking onions so cross pollination should be none. they are growing near garlic.thanks for any advice.
They actually seem to throw a very diverse seed crop. I have a blog post on it and you can read about Kelly Winterton's potato onion seedling project. They come out all colors. I started a small project growing the seeds, but they all died eventually, basically from neglect and inattention. Or are those the same!?
What I'm not sure of is if the non-seeding tendency is ever retained and how often.
@@SkillCult i went and read about the white variety but wasnt sure how that translated to these yellow variety.i got the feeling the white bloom more easily than the yellows? i will go read more as i am sure i missed gold nuggets there.
@@elkhound25 He grew some white varieties from the yellow potato onion, and others as well. I think they all flower more easily, but I can't even recall what I used to know about that. He says they will flower less and less over the years if treated as a multiplier. I have no idea if that is true. I'd just grow some out and see what happens. I got various colors when I did, but could have had some crossing with other bulbing onions.
What are the dif between your potato onions and my genuine ND walking onions???
They are quite different. Potato onions have much larger bulbs and the don't set bulbs at the top like walking and egyptian onions do. I think they are probably a different species even, but I'm not sure. Potato onions are the same species as our common bulbing onions and also shallots.
A neighbor just gave me a bag full of dried bulbs, they seem small but he said they were sweet multiplier onions. Not sure of anything more then that. They were stuck together in clusters of 6-8 bulbs. Hope they do well and grow bigger. Told me to plant them now and they will overwinter for spring harvest. Any fertilizer suggestions ( organic).
Can't beat urine as an onion fertilizer. Plenty of nitrogen, enough potash and phosphorous, tons of trace minerals and it's free.
SkillCult I assume you dilute? I thought about adding urine to my woodchip mulch over winter to help break it down faster.
usually I dilute 1 part pee to 2 or 3 parts water. And water it in right after too to dilute it more. Good for woodchips for sure.
I've been looking for Green Mountain Multiplier, but can't find any online anywhere. Do you sell those?
+Jason Paul I'm pretty much done with those, but I do have a few stragglers left. email me through skillcult.com and we'll work something out.
Message sent @ your Contact page @ skillcult ...
FYI - they did awesome. I don't get to eat any this year, trying to build a larger population of seed stock, but they look great. We'lol see if they cure out and store without the mold issues you have. scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13654285_1183268218360410_755134642699184119_n.jpg?oh=ea7089c9638c25db44f072d7cf79b960&oe=582D430D
cool. It looks like you pulled them too early. I let them mostly die back before harvesting. Then again, maybe they'll cure out better, who knows?
This potato onions same the shallots onions🤔?
Depends on who you ask. They are the same species and basically grow the same. I don't think there is any significant difference. Very likely they are just a separate "evolutionary" line, more like breeding line.
Wondering how far south these can grow? I live in Florida and have had the hardest time growing onions. I have some garlic and that is fine. My chives bunching onions do fine but can't get any big bulbs (might be nutrients though) so curious about planting these. I found them on some websites but can't find much information on the USDA Zones and would love any feedback! Here in humid Florida zone 9
+addictedtoelf I have heard a few times that they don't do well way down south on the Gulf, but as you've found out, a lot of onions don't. Check out David the Good's stuff on youtube or on his blogs. He may know what will do well down there in Florida as that was his home state until just recently.
SkillCult yeah as far as I know he is still here I think he moved even further south though lol. I will check out to see if he has experience with them though I didn't even think to look! I appreciate it.
+addictedtoelf I couldn't figure out if he moved out of the country or into south florida. Either way, I have serious climate envy. I'm thinking about ways to grow tropical fruit here in some sort of greenhouse. Fresh ripe tropical fruit year round just seems amazing. Check with these guys heirloomonions.com they have the biggest selection of perennial onions and probably have some idea of what will grow down there.
addictedtoelf Did you ever find out if these guys grow in FL? I'm trying to see if any perennial onion will grow here.
you have to get a specific kind for your zone - look up what "day-length" variety grows best in your area!
Is this alo known as a shallot?
It's probably pretty much the same. they are the same species.
I’d like to order potato onions
i don't have any anymore unfortunately. You can find them on ebay sometimes, but it's hit and miss. There are scams too.
Hi, I've been watching you on Roku a while now, but just came here to comment and subscribe.
You've got me very interested in those I'itoi onions, because I live in a climate with a long growing season, but extreme temps of 120 to 20 below. Since I am disabled, I need plants that can stand a little neglect once they've gotten established and these look workable. I checked out your ebay page, but didn't see any for sale there. Any chance of buying some? I'll probably just tuck them here and there in containers and put in a special bed in fall (it's been 107 since early May and will be up at 120 by the look of it soon). Thanks for the info on these. Also loving those apple butter vids! Talk about some awesome research!
I think I've actually lost that variety. I pulled them all stupidly except a few and some rodent wiped them out. I think there are people selling them on ebay on and off if you subscribe to a search on ebay, they'll send you emails when new items come up. I doubt they are that hardy, but you could try. yellow potato onions are extremely hardy and much more practical than i'itoi's onions. They are easy enough to get now. I'm not selling them anymore. Just don't buy the ones from canada. that is a scam selling seed onions.
Thanks for the info. I may try the potato onions now. The thing that interested me in the I'itoi besides them being so tough is that they are supposed to taste a bit like shallots. Are the potato onions anything like that? I love shallots, but they cost about 3.00 each here, and I can't get them to grow at all (they either fry or I end up over-watering to keep them from it). Have you been into homesteading your whole life? You give the impression of someone who has.
I'm not sure I can tell. I cook all of my onions, so it's harder to tell a lot about flavor. I haven't. I grew up in cities when I was a kid, then my mom moved us to the country for a while, but it was really interest, intent and immersion that got me where I am now.
Are these the same as the Egyptian walking onions
No, they are very different. they are like shallots.
@@SkillCult I see, I am interested in buying seeds of these, perennial is a must
Skill,
Just got your onions in the mail. Should I plant them out now? It has ben pretty mild here in the north east. Or should i plant them come spring? And if so where would the best place be to store them until spring? Thanks for the video btw.
+mark desrochers (Gardenman101) I would probably plant them now, but consider hilling them up. Read some of the stuff on growing in the North here: skillcult.com/blog/2012/03/14/402?rq=potato%20onions I know people grow them in places like maine and alaska, but some of those northern accounts still recommend hilling up. I you store them all the way till spring, there is a good chance a few of them won't make it. They store well, but there is just a certain rate of attrition. If you want to though, a cool and fairly dry room should be good.
i think it is called also walking onion
Walking onions are different. They grow new onions at the top of the stalk, which can fall over from the weight and root on the ground. They are also called egyption onions. These are a larger as well.
are you saying egyptian walking onions actually larger than potato onion ? how come from all the youtube video, even from your video.. i see potato onion are slightly bigger then walking onion ? walking onion dont even look like onion,.. more like bunching onion..
Potato onions are definitely a lot bigger.
do you some that you can sell
No, Unfortunately I actually lost all my stock. This next year I'm going to try to get some back from someone I sent them to. Look on ebay around late summer and fall. But don't by the ones from Canada. That's a scam.
@@SkillCult thanks.. how did you lose them.. can you make video about it .. so we can avoid that.. thanks
get some walking onions!
I have some, but I don't use them much.