Potatao Onions

[macmex]

Back in the early 80s I inherited some potato onions from my wife's grandparents and shallots from a friend at work. I thought these multiplier onions were the greatest! They multiplied easily, were hardy and delicious. When we left to study Spanish, and ultimately left the country, we had to leave them behind. I send what I had to a seed saver friend, who, alas, lost them. At least he took them and tried.

Potato onions are generally larger than shallots. That's the best I can do, off the top of my head, for a definition. Let me say, however, that potato onions were once a mainstay in pioneer gardens, in much of the United States, and, I imagine, Canada.

I got some potato onions and shallots back around 2003, while we were living in NJ. I lost them when we moved to Oklahoma. I've tried two or three times, while in Oklahoma, to get them going. For one reason or another, in each case I've lost them. It may have something to do with Bermuda grass. But I also think they tend to cook in our July/August heat.

Last year I ordered a start of potato onions from Southern Exposure Seeds. I planted them in my garden at the end of November. Last week I went looking for them. I had an "okay" harvest. One plant, in particular, did extremely well. The whole cluster, minus the roots themselves, was above the ground. The ones which died or did marginally were buried more deeply. I am excited to try this again!

The advantage of a multiplier onion is that it is MUCH MUCH easier to plant. One plants an onion to get multiple onions. In the case of the Potato onion, one plants a small onion and gets a large onion. One plants a large onion and gets multiple small onions. So it is good to plant an assortment.

Later I'll post a picture of my potato onions. In the meantime, here's a link to a fantastic paper on potato onions. I really appreciate the experimentation of this author. Keep in mind that this person is in a different climate than what we have in Oklahoma. So some adjustment may be necessary. However, it's worth it if we can arrive at a workable system to grow these. I harvested all of mine and intend to keep them in the house until fall. This way, hopefully, I can bypass the "cooking in the soil stage."

George

www.cultivariable.com/instructions/others/how-to-grow-potato-onion/#storage

[macmex]

Here's a picture of the potato onion which did best for me. You can see why shallots and potato onions are sometimes called "nesting onions." You plant one, and you get "a nest" of them.





In Appalachia, and probably other areas as well, for centuries it was customary to present new bride and groom with seed for their garden, as they established their new home. Potato onions were an important part of that gift.

[john]

Interesting to hear about the potato onions and that they were even given to newlyweds. I have never grown potato onions. I do have these, I believe they are called walking or egyptian top-set onions. I got them many years ago when my wife and I were first married. We lived in this two family apartment and I was allowed to have a garden. Anyways an old man who claimed to be a neighbor came by one day and said he noticed that I had a garden and he brought a few of these onion plants to give to me. He told me that this onion had been grown in the neighborhood since horses went up and down the streets and the lawns had cowpaths going through them. I didn't think to much about them, I just quickly transplanted them into my garden. Later that fall we were looking to move so I dug up the onions and planted them in my fathers garden. I had completely forgotten about them until about ten years later my Dad brought some of those onions back to me. He said he didn't know how they got into his garden. I remembered and told him I planted them. (I still don't know if he believes me.) I took the onions and planted them in my new location and have had them here since. Ironically I have never used them for anything as the onions themselves are only about the size of a dime. I rarely even think or pay any heed to these onions. I probably should, I guess they have sentimental value. So I will keep them going.

[macmex]

John, there a a number of different multiplier type onions. I'm sure there are several, just of the Egyptian walking onions. I've heard of one kind of Egyptian multiplier onion which has larger top sets than most others. The Egyptian walking onions are not the same as the potato onion. Egyptian walking onions make onions on top, as well as on the bottom. Their onions tend to be  smaller and stronger in flavor than the potato onion. Egyptian walking onions are renowned for their hardiness. Here in NE Oklahoma, I've pulled them up and thrown them on top of mulch, to roast in triple digit temperatures and blazing hot sun. They sat there for over a month, with little sign of life. Yet, when the rains came, they sprung to life and rooted again! I've heard that sometimes one can find Egyptian walking onions on the sites of old, abandoned homesteads, where there is little else, than, perhaps a chimney standing in the brush. The weakness of these, is that they are small, as you mentioned. Yet, they will get you through when onions are hard to find. I've used the green tops in stir fries and soups, in the middle of winter, here. I remember, one summer, when I was about 13, and my dad and I bached it for a week. Almost every evening I went out to the garden, picking various peppers and Egyptian multiplier onions. I'd dice them up and sauté them with cubed steak. We had that almost EVERY night! I still remember that week fondly!

Basically, the potato onion is much like a shallot, only larger. My experience is that the shallot is the better keeper of the two. The potato onion that I had in the 80s grew to about the size of a duck egg. Its flavor was very similar to a regular yellow (Spanish) onion. I dug them in the fall and stored them inside almost all winter, planting more in the spring.

The shallot I grew in the 80s was called Burkhart's Yellow shallot. I received a start of it from Kathleen Burkhart, who worked at Owens Supervalue, in Warsaw, Indiana. It was her family heirloom. This shallot was slightly more elongated than the potato onions we had. It kept super well and the flavor was that of a typical onion. It multiplied very rapidly.

One thing I like about the online booklet, "Resurrecting the Potato Onion," referenced at the top of this thread, is that the author has experience growing multipliers by seed, which introduces more variability. Apparently Kelly Winterton also developed potato onions which grow REALLY large. This is marvelous! For the average home gardener, I'd suspect that potato onions could be much easier to grow and MAINTAIN than regular onions, which must be grown by seed.

[john]

Here is another article about potato onions. uplandgardener.blogspot.com/2016/08/potato-onion-harvest-2016-or-these.html

[hmoosek]

I was curious. Do they have long day and short day varieties? I read about The Green Mountain ones.

[macmex]

You know, that's a really good question. I know that, here, the ones I have, bulb up in June, just like Spanish yellow onions. We do best, here with long day or intermediate day length onions, as a general rule. 

It is my impression that most of the multipliers, like shallots and potato onions, do better a little to the North of us (North of Oklahoma).  However, that may be more due to the climate than the day length. It's a little hard to believe, but Tahlequah is about the same latitude as Central New Jersey, where I grew up. Yet the climate is quite different. It seems more "southern" here.

When my family and I lived in South Central Mexico, I tried a number of multiplier onions, from the USA. Most refused to bulb up, in that short day length environment. Then I found "Atlas" a hybrid shallot, one could raise from seed. It did quite well in the State of Hidalgo. Unfortunately, I couldn't convince any of my Mexican friends to grow it. Spanish onions generally grew superbly there, so why would one want to grow a multiplier with little bulbs?! When we left Mexico, I lost my Atlas shallots. I'm sure they would have been good for Oklahoma as well as the North, in the USA.

My main challenge with any multiplier, except Egyptian multipliers, is that they tend to cook in the ground, if they are not harvested before the middle of July. In 2017 I was successful with Potato onions because I harvested them in June and kept them on the kitchen counter, out of the sun and extreme heat, until the fall, when I replanted them. Time will tell if I can make them practical for Tahlequah.

George

[heavyhitterokra]

I just use my walking onions for the greens in winter. I cut them like chives, but have never dug any of the bulbs. They were given to us as a house warming gift by an elderly lady in the Church, who has passed on now. They will always be special if nothing more than for that reason.