Compare to most onion varieties, the
Egyptian walking onions actually set bulbs at the top of the plant, each of
them with numerous small onions that you can be easily harvest for planting or
eating. The Egyptian walking onions really taste much like shallots, but they
are slightly more pungent.
As soon as the bluish-green stalk gets top-heavy,
the stalk fall over, creating new roots and a new plant where the bulbs touch
the ground. A single Egyptian walking onion plant can travel twenty-four inches
(61 cm.) each year, resulting to about 6 new plants. The Egyptian walking
onions are actually known by several names, including top-set onions and tree
onions.
Steps on how to grow Egyptian Walking
Onions
Though it is possible to plant Egyptian
walking onions in spring, you won’t be able to harvest the onions until the
following year. Actually the ideal planting time for growing Egyptian walking
onions is between summer and the first frost for a harvest the next growing
season. You can set the onion bulbs in the soil about two inches (6-8 cm.)
deep, with six to ten inches (15-25 cm.) between each bulb if you really like
big, pungent onions. Alternatively, if you prefer a steady harvest of green,
milder onions, or if you want to use the stalks like chives, you can plant the
bulbs two to three inches (6-8 cm.) apart. Like all their onion cousins, the Egyptian
walking onions don’t actually appreciate heavy, wet soil. Though they are easy
to grow in full sun and average, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.2 and
6.8.
How to care for Egyptian Walking Onion
The Egyptian walking onions are perennial
and they will eventually walk across your garden. Though they are easy to
control and they are not invasive. You can really leave a few plants in your
garden every year if you want the plants to keep walking for decades to come, however
pull any that walk where they are not welcome. The Egyptian walking onion care
is uninvolved and basically just requires keeping the soil lightly moist, but
never soggy or drenched. If not, you can thin the plant as needed and divide
the mother plant whenever it becomes overgrown or less productive, usually
every 2 or 3 years.
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