On 11/3/2025 8:37 PM, T wrote:

Hi All,

Any of you grow "Egyptian walking onions"?

Fun, Wonderful, to be avoided?ÿ Your thoughts.

I like the "perennial' part and the cold-hardy
part.ÿ Plus they seem fun to grow.

Best grown from sets or seeds?

-T

https://search.brave.com/search?q=egyptian+walking+onions&spellcheck=0&source=alteredQuery&summary=1&conversation=114c7e504fbd95bc41274e

Egyptian Walking Onions, scientifically known as Allium ?
proliferum, are a unique perennial onion variety that
propagate by forming clusters of small bulbs, called
topsets or bulblets, at the top of their stalks. These
topsets grow heavy over time, causing the stalk to bend
and fall to the ground, where they can take root and
grow into new plants, giving rise to the name "". This
process allows the plant to spread across a garden,
typically moving 1 to 3 feet per year.

Growing zones (I am 6B): https://search.brave.com/search?q=growing+zones+for+egyptian+walking+onions&source=web&summary=1&conversation=44129fb659f31dcdb2834f

Egyptian walking onions (Allium x proliferum) are hardy and
an be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 10. They are
exceptionally cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures as low
as -24øF (-31øC), which makes them suitable for a wide
range of climates

They WILL spread if you let them . I had some growing out in the yard purely as an ornamental , never tried eating them as the bulbs remain
kinda small .
--
Snag
I appreciated foreign cultures more
when they stayed foreign ...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 11/3/2025 10:25 PM, T wrote:

On 11/3/25 7:12 PM, Snag wrote:

On 11/3/2025 8:37 PM, T wrote:

Hi All,

Any of you grow "Egyptian walking onions"?

Fun, Wonderful, to be avoided?ÿ Your thoughts.

I like the "perennial' part and the cold-hardy
part.ÿ Plus they seem fun to grow.

Best grown from sets or seeds?

-T

https://search.brave.com/search?
q=egyptian+walking+onions&spellcheck=0&source=alteredQuery&summary=1&conversation=114c7e504fbd95bc41274e


Egyptian Walking Onions, scientifically known as Allium ?
proliferum, are a unique perennial onion variety that
propagate by forming clusters of small bulbs, called
topsets or bulblets, at the top of their stalks. These
topsets grow heavy over time, causing the stalk to bend
and fall to the ground, where they can take root and
grow into new plants, giving rise to the name "". This
process allows the plant to spread across a garden,
typically moving 1 to 3 feet per year.


Growing zones (I am 6B):
https://search.brave.com/search?
q=growing+zones+for+egyptian+walking+onions&source=web&summary=1&conversation=44129fb659f31dcdb2834f


Egyptian walking onions (Allium x proliferum) are hardy and
an be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 10. They are
exceptionally cold-hardy, tolerating temperatures as low
as -24øF (-31øC), which makes them suitable for a wide
range of climates

ÿÿ They WILL spread if you let them . I had some growing out in the
yard purely as an ornamental , never tried eating them as the bulbs
remain kinda small .

With my black thumb, I am use to small.ÿ How small
is small?

Around golf ball size or slightly larger . Let the bulblets on the
tops root in flower pots . Transplant later or give as gifts .
--
Snag
I appreciated foreign cultures more
when they stayed foreign ...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Mon, 3 Nov 2025 18:37:44 -0800, T <T@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

Best grown from sets or seeds?

Since they don't bloom, there are no seeds. You can plant
bulbils or divide existing clumps.

They called them "winter onions" when I was growing up,
because you get scallions as soon as you can dig them up. I
ate some on New Year's Day last year. Then no more until
the last day of February.

Everybody had a neglected patch when I was growing up, but I
couldn't get them to thrive without planting them in a row
and weeding them. Since I didn't have time to harvest and
eat all the bulbils this year, I have scallions all over the
garden. I hate to just plow them under with the cultivator.
The large-enough-to-mess-with onions in the row are still
producing, but I have to pull a lot of weeds to dig one up,
and I'm still short on time. (I should be in bed instead of
typing this.)

You get scallions until they start making bulbils. The
bulbils can be cooked without peeling for a while; when

Thursday, November six 2025 -- going to bed.
Saturday, November eight 2025 -- got a quarter hour to play
before bedtime.

When the bulbils get tough, you can cut each one in half and
pop it out of its shell -- helps if you don't quite cut
through the shell, so each half can be used as a handle for
the other -- that's rather tedious if you want more than a
garnish, but along about then they start making bulbs at the
base. You have to throw away an entire plant to get a bulb,
and it's sometimes very small, but it's not tedious to clean
enough to make a mess of stew.

The bulbs sprout as soon as they are fully formed, but
remain good and crisp for weeks after they sprout. When
they do spoil, you've got scallions again.

3 November 2025

Looks as though this was finished when my fifteen minutes
were up.

--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.1
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 03 Dec 2025 01:28:56 -0500, Joy Beeson
<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:

you get scallions as soon as you can dig them up.

Thursday, 17 December 2025

I forgot that it isn't enough for the soil to be soft enough
to stick a trowel into. You have to be able to *find* the
thing you want to dig up -- and for a while, finding soil to
stick a trowel in would have involved a lot of digging.

I was hoping the snow would stick to the end of the year,
but we've struck a rainy spell. (Northern Indiana, USA)

I dug up a few scallions yesterday. I've figured out how to
clean them after disconnecting the hoses: Put a bucket in
the sink to catch the dirt and trimmings, and work inside in
comfort. I may continue that after the weather warms up. (I
have rectangular Rubbermaid mop buckets that fit into the
sink.)

I dug up a clump of scallions yesterday. Since the sprouted
bulbils were easiest to get at, they are wee tiny things but
so sweet and crisp that they are worth the effort when I can
spare the time. Most of the greens have to be thrown away.


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)