[Christine]

I've just been given some by someone who's clearing out his excess of "stuff" as he's got to start a proper job (oops, not a good thing for a happy gardener) and he gave me some "walking onions".

Glad he did as there only seem to be a very few on sale in the UK and I'm glad he explained what they are all about. I've split the clump and popped them in a seed tray on the window ledge to get roots down.

Anyone got any experience with these walking onions? Like when they should be planted out, how to care for them? Totally new territory here.

[compostqueen]

Yes, I have some on my plot and eat them regularly. They are strong!  They do tend to spread like wildfire though as they "walk"  I've just tidied mine up and given some away.  They are very hardy

[Christine]

Sounds good to me. If I can get this lot going, in the end I shall have reproducing onions then rather than having to go for seed and sets.  Could be a good gift.

[DD.]

A friend of mine gave me some bulbils a few weeks back, which I just popped in the soil. That after all is what they'll do naturally

I put about 40 in, they may take over the world. I wonder if he knows that company charge £1.75 for just 4?

[Kleftiwallah]

When I read the title,I thought someone had the same problem as me.  Three rows went "walkabout" last year.   Cheers,   Tony.

[zazen999]

Just plant them out when they have roots and leave them be. They pretty much care for themselves and will fall over when ready and root again, when ready.

[Trillium]

Mine just drop their bulbils wherever they feel like it, and all I do is thin them wherever they get in the way. No need to fuss, and they're always the first up and last down. And yes, they're strong. With these, don't pinch off the flower unless you need to control them.

[Christine]

Thank you people. All sounds good to me. 

[Pip Judgeford]

Christine, if you like walking onions for short-circuiting the seeds thing, look out for multiplying leeks. 

They are a smallish diameter leek, which throws lots of smaller leeks around it.  I pull up a clump, take the big ones for the pot and push the little ones back in to the soil.  Not quite the same flavour as leeks, but very nice.  No working out when to plant seeds, and no "oh a had 8 leeks left but they have bolted" either. 

Pip

[Zippy]

Any problem with white rot with walking onions with them being planted presumably in a permanent position?

[neal]

Would expect them to suffer from the same problems as the other Alliums

[operabunny]

Are these the same thing as tree onions/Egyptian onions?

[zazen999]

If you clicked on the link in the first post you would see that yes, they are the same thing.

[Trillium]

Zippy, walking onions are much like strawberries in that once they deplete the nutrition of their current area, they move to somewhere else with more to offer, hence the 'walking'. So don't try to limit them to just one spot unless you're replenishing nutrients. If you have rot problems, then let them travel so they don't become rot victims as they are onions and will succumb. They're hardy things but not invincible.

[Pip Judgeford]

Thanks Trillium & Neal,  I had vaguely wondered about disease and nutrient depletion - kind of hard to think about when the fresh bed is doing so well - but such a good reminder to me not to get complacent.  At last walking onions and multiplying leeks are easy to propagate, so I'll put these 2 in my crop rotation planning.

=  Pip