I am looking for the white potato onion as well---not the bunching onions---did anyone find them? I am looking for the one that makes a decent size onion that keeps for months. I have been doing some research, and these MAY be available in both India and China---have an intern coming over---maybe there is hope yet.......also , I think these are still grown in Wales and England, and may have found a source there. I got wiped out by armadillos while I was gone for a few days. Anyone out there have extras now or in the fall of any alliums to share? I will have lots of other types of heirloom seeds to share..

Bill, I don't reckon they'll behave like walking onions because there are no topsets. Just thin leaves, only slightly thicker than chives for the most part. But I wouldn't surprise me to find that they act like bunching onions. My guess is, however, that if left in the ground they'll form a great many bulbs, but much smaller than usual, because of the crowding. Let's say overall there is an average of 5 bulbs per division. That means the second growing season you get 25 bulbs in a rather tight area. Will they have room to grow? My immediate gut feeling is that they won't. However, normal division is in nests of two or three. That is, if you get five, three will be joined at the base, and the other two joined at their base. But all five grow full sized. So, just maybe, the same would happen in a second year bunch? Somebody did suggest that if left to grow a second year you get rather large bulbs. But I don't know if that was experience, talking, or just supposition. So there's another what-if to be answered. I've never eaten the green leaves, come to think of it. But, again guessing, I bet they'd make an intersting green onion, with the leaf and undeveloped bulb making a spicy accent to salads, stir fries, and such. Maybe even add the whole thing to soups? You don't even have to peel them, when freshly harvested. Just scrub them, and the outer layer comes away with the dirt. But those outer layers do dry rather quickly, so I don't know how long that effect lasts. One correction to my first post. While lifting them my impression was there were fewer undersized ones. As I started tying them to hang, I realized that the proportion was about the same as usual. My conclusion from the three different planting times used so far is that, like with all alliums, bulbing is keyed by day-length, and has little to do with actual time in the ground.

I doubt that is the rich soil, full sun, ample water preventing you from getting seed. My bed for alliums have those conditions and I was able to grow the bottle onions to seed. A couple years ago I received sets through seed savers. I was told it would take several seasons to grow to seed. As I reoffer everything I request through SSE my goal was to grow these to seed. The first year the sets grew to full size with a couple of the larger sets dividing into doubles and a couple sets that split into 4+ onions. I currently do not know enough about alliums genetics, but I wonder if you were to continuously select for those 4+ dividing onions if you could develop a strain that performed more like a shallot or a potato onion? Anyway the multiplying sets were harvested and sampled. I read somewhere that bottle onions were very hardy and stored well. As a test I planted several of the harvested onions in the fall. The rest remained inside through the winter for a spring planting. All the fall planted onions survived the winter, produced no doubles+, went to flower and are producing seed. The spring planted onions produced about 10% doubles, the smaller onions grew to maximum size and the largest onions only slightly increased to maximum size, and only 2 out of 30 sent up flower stalks. My guess would be if I saved and replanted these spring planted onions in the spring most if not all would produce flowers and seed next year and I would also have a larger percentage of doubles+. Anyway I should have enough seed to offer through SSE and to continue to perpetuate this variety in my garden. In summary my first experiment with growing bottle onion to seeds found: Year 1 - Spring Plant Sets "" August Harvest "" Storage Fall Plant Year 2 - Spring Plant All Survived Winter August Harvest All Producing Seed Year 3+ -Hopefully Produce Done Seed Also this year I planted bottle onion seed. Out of around 300 plants about 40 grew to the maximum size, with best coloring, tight wrappers that should allow for long storage, and bottle shape. I plan on fall planting these to see if they produce seed next year. If they do I will continue this selection to see if choosing for the above traits results in a higher percentage with the traits I desire. I'll let you know how it works out. I planted some seed last week to try to grow sets although we are having a stretch of 100 degree days so I may need to replant. I think I also will try to experiment to see if I select for doubles+ without flowering if these in turn produce onions with a greater propensity to divide.

You may want to try Kitazawa Seed Co in Oakland. They specialize in Asian seeds as well as some rare Asian vegetables you cannot find anywhere else. You can visit them at www.kitazawaseed.com Their 2007 paper catalog lists Rakkyo bulbs on page 32 and they are shipped in September. I have ordered seeds from them and they are one of the best companies I have dealt with in both customer service and results. Definitely worth checking out.