Planting Egyptian Walking Onions

I can here my friends saying, but Joe you don't live in Egypt, why would you want onions that walk there? :) Cause they're cool that's why.

What is an egyptian walking onion?
It's basically an onion that grows tall, and then grows bulbils (see my posts on garlic, bulbils are nearly seeds, but not :)) on it's scape (that's a garlic term, hopefully it's right for these too).  These bulbils get pretty large, the size of small marbles is what the pictures make them look like.  As these bulbils start to grow, right on the top of the other onion, they get so heavy that the onion falls over allowing the bulbils to get roots.  So they travel by growing tall, falling over, and growing their own bulbils, and on and on.

What are they good for?
EWOs are extremely hardy, they'll often grow in the dead of winter, frozen ground, pushing up through the snow even.  They make a slightly strong green onion basically.  As they get big enough, you can pick the bulbs which sometimes become as big as a shallot.  Also the bulbils can be used like pearl onions in soups and what not.  So why have them?  Because the provide lots of hardy onions that continue to grow without your attention, rain or shine, snow or heat.

This post will be where I keep my log.  I started the small bulbils (i was surprised at how small they were, we'll how :)) indoors, and I'll keep a log here of their growth, with pictures.

I bought them on ebay, of course, and they arrived on 12-05-12 and were promptly planted :)

Log:
12-05-2012: Planted 54 walking onions
12-09-2012 (day 4): First tiny sprout
12-10-2012 (day 5): #2
12-11-2012 (day 6): #3
12-14-2012 (day 9): #4, 5 and 6

Pictures:

Taken 12-14-2012
This is #2 (and you can almost see #4 below it)

Planting Multiplier or Potato Onions INDOORS

First, here's a link that people should read if they don't know what potato onions are.  It's a bit long, but it explains how the particular breed i'm trying to make came from.  This is Kelly Winterton's onions that he's been putting together.

Here's a google doc that Kelly is keeping up to date

On 12-03-2012 I planted 36 Multiplier Onion seeds, in a small seeding tray, and many of them are starting to show signs of life.

This is the post i'm using to keep track of the entire growth.  I'll show all pictures here and a log from day to day of what has done what.

Pictures (i'll keep these up to date, hopefully at least weekly)

Right now they look like normal onions :) just wait a couple of years.

Log (i'll keep this up to date):

12-03-2012: Planted 36
12-09-2012 (6 days): First sprout (this one since isn't doing so hot, too bad), later that night, #2 and 3 came
12-11-2012 (8 days): #4, 5 and 6
12-12-2012 (9 days): #7
12-13-2012 (9 days): #8, 9, and 10
12-14-2012 (10 days): #11

Soil Blockers - Test 1

What are Soil Blockers?  Why would you use them?  How do they work?

Those are all the questions I had when I first heard of them, and being who I am, I wasn't able to leave it at that.  The people who sell them, swear by them.  So I was at least mildly interested.  Soil blocks are supposed to work by allowing the roots of the plants to be "pruned" by the air rather than to fill the entire space available and cause a big block of roots, like what happens when growing transplants in the little black plastic egg carton things :).

Pros:

• Transplanting shock is supposed to be non existant
• You don't have to pay for new transplant containers each year (or sterilize the ones you used this year).
• Very very easy to move a transplant up to the next size (repotting).  Soil blockers are built to just dump one block into the next step larger block (which is what talked me into them).
• Buy the blocker once, and use it for thousands of blocks
• Enjoyable to do with kids

Cons:

• $30 for the 2" model, $30 for the 3/4" model, and $100 for the 4" model. 
• Watering isn't a walk in the park
• kids like soil blocks :), and they're easy to drop on the ground

I read up on them, and decided to buy the 2" model.  It's the most popular because it's small enough to be good as a seed starter, and large enough that with most plants you won't need to repot them to the larger size.  If you get the 3/4" model you'll want the 2" one as well.

Using the Soil Blocker

There are several resources on the internet on how to use the soil blockers, but I figured I'd give my own experience as a new gardener.  I tried several different techniques, and still have 1 left to try.  I made the blocks out of normal potting soil from walmart, I used soil to cover the seed, I used vermiculite to cover some of the seeds, and I used seed starter soil and vermiculite for another set.  So here are my findings :)

• Soil wetness

My first problem was getting the proper amount of water.  Very little was actually needed, and I went way over board :).  I was trying to get a peanut butter consistency, and as such there was water everywhere :).  Fun for the kids, but not the best to make actual soil blocks.  I also found that just using the soil without water didn't work well either.  There is a middle ground, and you simply have to slowly add water to figure out what it is.

Notice the healthy root coming out the side

• What to top the seed with

I've seen 1 video that I still want to try out about using a plastic sack, and checking it regularly until the seed has sprouted.  But I tried a few ways myself.  At first I was just using potting soil for my blocks (not the best answer at all), and I just used a little more soil to plug the seed in.  From my tests this was by far worse than any other method :).  Some of those seeds never made it out.  Instead I used vermiculite to cover the seeds, and then used a tsp of water to wet the seed, and this worked wonders.  The seeds have had a really excellent germination rate (except for the cantelope which never did come up) and they come out very very quickly.  

Notice the vermiculite

• What type of soil to use

You want light fluffy soil.  When I got the seed starter mix from walmart I was surprised at how light it was, the potting soil felt more like normal dirt.  I have lettuce growing in each, and the difference in size is astounding.  For my next set I'm going to try the mix from the websites, but just normal seed starter soil from walmart will work and is much better than potting soil.

Plants growing, week 1

Conclusion

I just got the 3/4" model and will be testing them out as well.  So far I'm impressed by the growth of the plants, and we'll just have to see how they do in the ground.  One thing is sure, it's nice to not have to thin out plants or use multiple seeds per spot.  Instead I can just plant my small transplants into the soil, and keep a few extras in case they don't take.