JenJen, I know someone who has a few pounds of Heritage Sweet bulbs. He dug up one cluster and it had 208 bulbs! Just planted some back a couple weeks ago and they are all up about 3"! He just sent 4 ounces to Missouri last week. They are probably up already! He hasn't made a GW offer yet since he was waiting for cooler weather for mailing.

Martin, the "He" above!

LOL.
I will have to keep an eye out for "his" GW posting.
Wow that's amazing that you got so many from one cluster. I had no idea they grew so well. Definitely sounds like something I want to grow. Our family uses a lot of onions.
Jen

Jen, take a closer look at that MEN article. Those aren't seeds being offered, they're sets---from Jeptha Yoder, who is the source we've discussed here in the past.

Problem is the postage, nowadays, is more than the cost of the sets. Last batch I bought, two years ago, cost me almost $6 for a half pound, by the time they were delivered.

Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't realized they were sets but I guess that isn't a problem. Those would just be allowed to bolt and set seed, right? Has anyone gotten sets from him recently? I don't want to write to him if he is no longer offering them.
Jennifer

They should yield small clusters of bulbs if they survive. My fisrt year they did rather poorly with only 2 out of that first $6 half pound surviving. The following year each cluster yielded about 40 onions.

And Yes I am back.

Wart

Jen, The only time I ordered, I got nearly 200 tiny sets. All that I planted did quite well. If you like unusual onions, I don't think you will be disappionted, even with the S&H costs. I know I wasn't.
Here, the bottle onions don't bolt. You have to replant the bulbs to make seed. We had a somewhat unusual season and most of the seed I got was tiny and likely not viable. Much too hot, too early. Even Martin's Heirloom Garlic partly cooked in the ground before matureing.
Not sure what kind of onions Warthog is talking about. When replanted, one bottle onion will divide into 2 to 4 seed stalks and one bulb to replant next season.
Heritage Sweet White will also divide in the ground and give you 2 to 4 nice smallish bulbs. You will get lots of top sets to plant and I think these are best for green onions.

Thanks so much for your reply. I think I will write to him today and see what his current cost is.
Jen

I heard back from Jeptha Yoder yesterday. The current pricing for the bottle onion sets is $4 a pound plus $4 for shipping if anyone is interested. Yes it is a bit high but I do enjoy growing unusual veggies in my garden. So I figure I will give them a try. Just thought I would post in case anyone else was interested in ordering from him.

For anyone who has grown these, the sets get put out in the spring like regular onions, right?

Jen

That's correct, Jen. You plant them in the spring, as early as the ground can be worked.

By me (90 minutes south of Cincy) that means March. Your mileage may vary.

You can also fall plant them to encourage bolting. But, as Coho indicates, it's better to grow them out one year, then replant some of the bulbs to produce seed.

Why are they called "Bottle onion".
Does anyone have Jeptha Yoder email.