Does anyone get seeds off their walking onions reliably, or is it only known from a few cultivars?
This variety was rescued from a dump, literally a place where the townsfolk dump leaves, plants they donโt want, sod, tree limbs, etc.
This variety was rescued from a dump, literally a place where the townsfolk dump leaves, plants they donโt want, sod, tree limbs, etc.
Are you referring to seeds, or bulbils? The bulbils are clones. I was under the impression that walking onions donโt make seeds.
1 Like
I mean from true seed, Iโve heard of it but arenโt sure how common it is.
2 Likes
Never had any of our three varieties of walking onions go to seed. Occasionally potato onions go to seed and very rarely the everlasting onions.
1 Like
Mine make a variety of bulbils. Big bulbils, that are few ,1 to 3 bulbils or smaller ones with many, 3 or more bulbillettes. The smaller ones sometimes have flowers. Iโve taken good care this year to take them off when they looked ready.
i dried it, but they didnโt have those typical allium black seeds in them. At least, not as far as i know, because they turned to dust when i squeezed them. I had a hundred or something, so i though to plant them out anyway. Give them a chance.
from a thread on Permies iโve learned that the flowers usually dry out, probably to favor the bulbils, but i think maybe i must squeeze out the bulbils next year to favor maturing flowers. And add more diversity as sometimes plants are self sterile.
So here goes. Who wants to exchange bulbils in Europe? The smaller ones and medium ones I planted out in balcony trays. I think theyโll not survive drying until rains return in September or so.
2 Likes
Flower-producing varieties are definitely out there. This is the third year Iโve been growing a walking onion variety that often grows flowers along with bulbils. I lost most of my population to a flood. I havenโt been able to tell yet if they tend to produce seeds but I have hopes.
4 Likes
Mine have only ever made bulbs that Iโve seen. But Iโm interested!
Mine sometimes grow flowers along with the bulbils, but very few, and Iโve never seen those flowers make seeds. Moreโs the pity!
Yes, you can get seeds from them.
The approach I used was to find a variety that had both flowers and bulbils, then flick all the bulbils off without damaging the flower buds. then hope. Similar approach to getting true seed off garlic. Unfortunately other projects took over and I canโt remember the results.
I did get topsetting emerge from some seedling potato onions, but again, neglect kicked in. I seem to recall that the replanted bulbils didnโt go on to continue the topsetting growth form, but it might be a way to get different genetics into topsetters.
I might try again this coming austral summer
gm
1 Like
@Joran knows best! Wait for it!!
This is very interesting. I wonder if it might be good for me to remove the bulbils from some of my walking onions โhere and thereโ in the garden to help facilitate some seed production in a relaxed way. Then if I was going for a specific cross, I could be more methodical.
We just had this discussion about walking onions seeds on Permies. @Joran is a specialist of Alliums. I mentioned him, but him being very busy probably, i take the liberty to copy paste his Permies answer for the sake of the discussion.
A. x proliferum are sterile.
I have eight accessions, and none have been even partially fertile.
However, you can easily create them, as Allium cepa is mostly self-incompatible.
They have staggered flowering periods, but fistulosum has the particularity of producing inflorescences over a long period after its flowering peak.
And otherwise, there are now sexually fertile Allium x proliferum.
But these donโt produce bulbils.
Iโll simply copy and paste my Facebook post:
๐๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ:
๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ is the name of the hybrid obtained between the cultivated onion (๐ด. ๐๐๐๐) and the fistulous onion (๐ด. ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐).
It is known to gardeners as the Walking Onion.
These natural hybrids are sterile and can be recognized by their bulbiferous inflorescences.
But these are different!
They are sexually fertile hybrids obtained artificially!
๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ is a very interesting genetic resource for the cultivated onion (๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐), both for its resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses: resistance to pink root (๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ) and leaf blight (SLB) caused by ๐๐ก๐๐๐โ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐, among others.
However, it remained unexploited for a long time due to the sterility of its offspring.
The first hybridization attempts to produce fertile hybrids date back to the 1950s, but it wasnโt until the 2000s that the techniques were truly mastered.
Since 2020, some cultivars have become available.
I was able to obtain 10 of them.
A few are intended for mass distribution: private gardeners and small farmers.
But the majority are developed for professionals and are sold in batches ranging from 50g to 1kg of seeds.
Some cultivars are never even mentioned online, and it was only by contacting Argenta Seeds that they were introduced to me.
This collection of 10 lines represents a very significant research effort and a large financial investment.
These 10 cultivars were planted simultaneously and in close proximity during the spring of 2024.
They are:
-
๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: Developed by Starke Ayres, a South African seed company.
-
๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง F1: Developed by Tozer Seeds, a UK seed company.
-
๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง F1: Developed by Tozer Seeds, a UK seed company.
-
๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ (formerly Hi 08 527): Winner of a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit for its reliability and good performance.
-
๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
-
๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ: No information.
-
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
-
๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ณ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
-
๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
-
๐๐๐๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
This composite population is designed to be used as a pollen donor for backcrosses with ๐ด. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐.
Therefore, it is desired to be as genotypically heterogeneous as possible, to maximize my chances of obtaining sexually fertile hybrids.
This spring of 2025 was the year of their first flowering!
Iโll tell you about the various projects related to it later, so be patient! 
2 Likes