Gary~ I am wondering whether you or anyone else has any extra yellow Dutch shallots this year. Mine were accidentally destroyed last year and attempts to replace them earlier this year were not successful as everyone was either sold out or I could not afford them. I was going to get some at a garden fair last weekend, but Hanna canceled that! I have red potato/hill onions and red walking onions to trade. I am also interested in other potato onions. Thanks. Maggie

I wish Photobucket hadn't changed their policy and dumped free users. I can't edit my 2012 comment, in order to update the picture either. Here's the picture which I can't fix in the post above. In this post I'll include a picture I took of potato onions in 2017. This is the only one, out of about a pound of potato onions, which I had planted, which produced well. But it was also the only one which was planted correctly, according to the comments above, made by more knowledgeable onion growers. I've replanted all of these onions in December and mulched them. So, I hope to get some real multiplication in the coming year. In our climate it seems extra important to harvest them before July. Otherwise they rot in the ground. Also, I believe they store better, until planting, on my kitchen counter, than in the refrigerator. The fridge is too cold and provokes sprouting. These were purchased from Southern Exposure and the instructions they send with them have been very helpful.

Top setting (Allium cepa (proliferum group)) and multiplier/ potato onions are unique (Allium cepa Aggregatum group). The other category is somewhat ambiguous, sometimes called bunching onions, shallops, salad onions etc. They may be Allium cepa( the common onion), Allium fistulosum, Allium cepa Aggregatum group. Their common trait is that thier use is as small non bulbing green onions. The topsetting/Walkin/Tree/Egyptian onion is a perennial onion whose main characteristic is that it sets little onion bulb where the seedhead would form on the other types. Allium cepa Aggregatum group do seed but are noted for dividing into multiple small bulbs, which are then replanted in the subsequent year. The larger bulbing types are commonly called potato onions altho the term shallot is often applied to the whole group.. Allium fistulosum often known as Welse onions also divide into clusters of little bulbs. Some of them are also perennial. Used as bunching onions Topsetting onions are extremely pungent, the others will compete with a common storage onion. Sweetest would be the shallot. But a cured potato onion is pretty pungent. If you really want sweet onions, stick to the sweet varieties of the common onion. Candy, Granex types, Bermudas etc. Here is a link that might be useful: Egyptian Onion

Thought I'd report the disaster of the potato onions which dutifully fell over at the tops but revealed all rotten onions ( plenty of them) when dug. I suspect the place I had them was a bit heavy with my clay, I'd previously not used that section for anything and won't again inless its celery. Also they may have gotten too wet at the crucial no watering period, but with the late rains we've had not much I could do about it. Will try again next year in a different bed. How are yours going Ray? Hopefully thing will dry up a bit now and the other onions will come on OK. Cheers Linda - who meticulously made and decorated 48 gingerbread men instead of gardening, only to have them snaffled by the big kid for the grandies birthday party and the patients on night shift.....off to the salt mines.......