Yellow Potato Onions

[VA_LongBean]

I got my yellow onions from an eBay seller last fall and planted half then and half in spring. A couple of them never came up, oddly they were spring planted ones, but most did. They were harvested when I got home from work today and noticed that I could not see them. Most were being pushed down by other plants and many were mature or past mature.

The fall planted bulbs made nests with the largest bulbs (about 2 inches across) and some of the spring planted ones were more like pearl onions. Nests ranged from just 2 bulbs, to 6 to even 10 in one of the spring planted nests.

The onions are curing in the enclosed bed of my truck. My basement has been known to promote mold as it is somewhat cool down there for me to risk curing them inside. Stupid split foyer houses!

 

[digitS']

So, the potato onions grow much like shallots but may be large.

Have I got the right, @VA_LongBean ? How would you compare the flavor? Or, have you gotten that far?

Steve

 

[VA_LongBean]

Haven't tried shallots before so I'm not sure how they compare in terms of flavor or size.

 

[baymule]

I planted potato onions this spring too. Haven't dug them yet, but it looks like they have multiplied.

 

[digitS']

Here is the University of Maryland on shallots with a picture of the plants (link). Especially grown from sets, they are in clusters like that.

Two inches would be a very, very large shallot.

I should have said does the flavor of potato onions compare with other members of the onion family? They are nearly a complete unknown to me. I have seen a few seed companies advertise them but never read anything on potato onions. Internet searches turn up potatoes and onions ...

Steve

 

[VA_LongBean]

Well . . . I'm actually not a big onion fan and will not eat them raw, period. If they are chopped finely or pureed they make a nice addition to the flavor of a dish, but I don't even like they cooked whole. For flavor comparisons you may want to ask a less biased judge than me. But they did do a nice job in spaghetti sauce.

As for size, I am eyeballing/measuring the base at the widest point. From what little I have seen potato onions are only round if they are young or growing by themselves. Most are somewhat ovoid and have multiple lobes that in time become new potato onions.

 

[Mauldintiger]

I'm bringing this back up to talk about perennial onions. I ordered potato onions from southern exposure and from Kelly Winterton, check out Kelly's garden. I also put in white multiplier onions and Eygyptian walking onions from eBay, along with some short day onions from Dixondale for insurance. Hopefully I can eliminate the Dixondale onions after this year. We use a lot of onions! I'll bring this up again in July with my harvest, or lack thereof.
Also, glad to be back, been checking out other forums and distracted by Clemsons football season. Most other forums seem to involve only 8-10 personalities, so lots more diversity here.

 

[VA_LongBean]

I didn't cure the potato onions very well and lost a lot to rot, but saved enough to replant a very large bed. I got Green Mountain from the same eBay seller, and red and grey shallots and white multiplier from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. They went straight into the ground once I got the garden ready for them in October. All seem to have made it through the really horrible winter we have been having near DC.

I have more allium experiments I'll talk about later.

 

[Smart Red]

@Mauldintiger, good to see you back! Yes, we are a diverse bunch and proud of it! But more then that, we are a family of gardeners. Love this site!

 

[Mauldintiger]

I should have mentioned that about 1/2 of my fall planted potato onions and shallots came from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. As of today none of the SESE potato onions have sprouted, so I rooted around and found a couple that were still firm. I guess they are waiting on some condition they like, or maybe just need a longer dormancy period? About 1/2 of the Green Mtn. Potato onions sprouted and they were planted December 1, about 30 days after the SESE onions.
I have read that some folks plant in the fall, while others primarily in the northern states plant in the spring, so I held some of both varieties back for spring planting and started some GM onions from seed.
I also learned that these are technically the same as shallots, so of course I had to have some shallots as well.
Right now I probably have $150 invested in various alliums and I should have enough for fresh eating and for replanting. If that works out I'm OK with the investment, if not I'll be ticked off!