Welsh Onions

I bought a potfull of these and have put a row on the allotment and pricked out a tray also.
What now? They are about the size of straws but healthy enough. I was going to prick out a load more - there are hundreds- but the roots are about 5" long so it didn't seem a good move unless I use my entire supply of roottrainers. I think I'll have to find more room on the lottie.

I gather they are perennial but TBH I can't see the advantage of that once they have been caramelized, so to speak. Maybe I'm missing something? When should they be harvested? What happens if you just leave them in the ground?

A potfull of leeks would have been far more useful.

 

They are perennial @Madahhlia , you can leave in place and just pick as required, also they increase with offsets, so the picking is also the thinning to make room for the offsets.

 

Sounds good, what size should I be aiming for when harvesting? So I leave the row in situ for, basically am byth?

 

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,32665.msg325189.html#msg325189
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,17969.msg185410.html#msg185410

Found this info, I think if you need to thin now use as young onions, then when fresh in short supply, winter, start harvesting.

 

I've had some of these for a few years, cant work out what they are for?
They are covered in seed heads at the moment.
But there never seems to be a RIGHT time to harvest them.

 

So do they produce a crop of flower heads every year? What do they do in the winter?

 

yes, in my experience, flowers every year.

"What do they do in the winter", nothing much.

 

Seed heads? I had some Scallions (same thing?) and never got any seed heads. I found them quite useful. Just hacked out a few when I needed some. A slightly different flavour compared to spring onions, more like Shallot flavour.

 

They just drop off and try to walk away from where you plant them, must be the Celt in them.

 

Sounds a bit like what I used to grow.
I thought I was getting something similar when I bought the welsh onions, but its different.

 

Can you eat them while they are flowering? Do they die back to nothing in the winter?
They are showing the beginnings of forming bulbs. Will they form a big bulb in the end?

 

No bulbs as such, they just keep forming a clump.
Nothing much bigger than a spring onion as far as I've seen.

They actually look pretty awful at the moment, all dead seed heads and the slugs appear to like them also.

 

I'm just imagining being snogged by a slug with onion breath. Ah, happy days!