Cultivating and Growing Walking Onions
Walking onions put up a scape with a seed head, also called a topset, in the spring. The topset falls over and the seeds take root in the fall when the rains start, thus ?walking? the plant to a different place. Meanwhile, the mother plant also produces another plant in the original spot.
There are at least two kinds of walking onions. One type, an Egyptian walking onion, has a single mother bulb that grows larger every year. It grows approximately seven years and then dies. The topsets will have reseeded new plants by then. The topsets get up to three inches in diameter. The topsets are harvested and the mother bulb is left to grow. Every year, the topsets get bigger. There are usually three topsets on each plant but there may be as many as five topsets.
The second type of
walking onion is like a shallot, in that in the spring, the mother bulb breaks
up into several separate plants. Each plant sends up a set of topsets and the
cycle starts over again. This type of onion requires more effort to cultivate.
However, it will produce an edible onion product almost all year long.
To cultivate this onion, first separate the daughter plants in the early spring, as soon as they are broken up into separate plants. Replant them singly in a grid with a spacing of four to six inches. In a few weeks, they will produce edible green onions that are good for salads. They are also excellent for grilling and stir frying. The next product is the edible topsets. If the plants are selected for three to five large top sets, the topsets will be up to two inches or larger in diameter. These topsets are used in any regular onion way, sliced or diced, cooked or raw. Meanwhile, at the base of the plant, the mother onion will be producing another onion. If these onions had been adequately watered , the bottom onion can be as large as three inches in diameter. This onion is also used in any of the usual onion ways. If only the best topsets are replanted, the plants will eventually produce enough onion products for all year, as the bulbs store well in refrigeration.
These walking onions are rarely attacked by pests and they tolerate drought well. They naturalize quickly and can be used in permanent plantings. However, larger onions only result from proper cultivation.
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