I recieved my order today, I am impressed. you can tell by looking at them the are real multipliers. They sold out fast too.
This person wrote this info on them. I will add what I find below the post.
A HERITAGE VARIETY ONION SETS, MULTIPLIER ONION SETS.
These are the kind your Grandparents had that makes green onions in fall and winter.
Save bulbs for next year. I paid $5.50 per pound, shipping $6.25
The paper included said. Plant them all. Large or small, all will produce green onions, or leave them to make bulbs, each cluster in this box is from 1 small set.
Look closely at the amount of green coming out of each white bulb. The difference in normal onions and multiplying onions is. 1 bulb or seed creates 1 normal onion. When on bulb of a multiplier onion creates many onions, that are full of divisions to create even more.
Planting onions
onions do best if the soil pH is between 5.5 and 6.5, a little on the acid side.
Add organic matter, like compost or dry leaves decayed leaves .it acts like a sponge, holding moisture near the surface.
That's good for onions, which have shallow roots and can't tap water or
nutrients deep in the soil.Clay soil will puddle water on top. So sand and humus/manure should be added.
I am planting in a raised bed. With lots of humus/manure. I have read, Onions like to feed 2x as much as other vegetables. If you find your onions have pale yellow or greenish yellow leaves, that would indicate that onions could lack
nitrogen. Also leaves can yellow after long, wet periods of weather because a
lot of rain washes nitrogen from the soil.
It's difficult to over-fertilize onions. They require quite a lot of nutrients.
This is from the order I bought from.. I paid $13.00 including shipping.
Green Mountain Multiplier onion
Green Mountain Multiplier onion : (Allium cepa) Large
variety recently selected by Kelly Winterton. I find that it doesn't
cure out as reliably as the yellow potato onion it was bred from, and it
has more tendency to bolt. Once cured though, it keeps very well, into
spring, and it is most definitely larger, at least twice as large on
average.
Copper Shallot
Copper Shallot..pink tint to the flesh Info from person I bought this from.
This is the old school type of shallot that does not
tend to go to seed, but reproduces like a potato onion from planted
bulbs. For each bulb planted, a cluster of new bulbs forms. Usually
the reproduction rate is somewhere around 6 to every one planted. These
form hard bulbs that store like a rock once cured. Some losses are
always incurred during curing and storage, but most will easily keep
until spring in fine eating and planting condition. It is still better
to plant this fall if you can, because they may not all make it till
spring. I have no idea how hardy this variety is in very cold climates.
The person I got this from said" Here I can grow it all winter through temps down to 20 degrees and it
won't bolt if fall planted. The bulbs are nice, with fewer divisions
under the skin than the yellow potato onions I grow. This is a great
variety of french shallot that you can grow indefinitely without ever
having to buy seed! The modern varieties are bred to grow from seed and
will bolt if a bulb is planted"
I'itoi onions
I'itoi onions
This is a very rare multiplying onion that make little bulbs that are a
lot like a tiny shallot. It is very small, but very productive. It
was supposedly introduced by the Spanish centuries ago and has been
grown by the O'odam people of the southwest ever since. It can also be
grown and harvested as a scallion or as chives if left to grow without
dividing. A single bulb
can turn into over 100 at the end of the season
Re-growth begins again in July and prosper for about 10-11 months annually. As a hardy onion, they require about a third less water than most, since they
seldom get water more than twice a month in Arizona type weather
Plant 12 inches apart about 2 inches deep.
When they are young (green onions) they should be dug up with a spade or garden fork and not pulled like regular onions. Fibrous roots go down about six inches, which is why many end up pulling off the tops and leaving the bulbs in the earth.
Yellow potato onion
The Yellow potato onion small to medium multiplier. Extremely good keeper once cured out. It is a hardy heirloom multiplying onion once
popular in home gardens, but now uncommon. When one bulb is planted in
fall, winter or spring, a cluster of onions is produced. The ratio of
reproduction is around 6 produced for every one planted. The number of
bulbs in a half pound will vary, but it’s usually 10 or more.
Generally, if a small bulb is planted, a few large onions will be
produced. If a large bulb is planted, more, but smaller, onions will be
produced. The bulbs are planted between fall and spring. If fall or
winter planting in cold areas, the onions may need to be hilled up with
dirt for the winter and the dirt pulled away from the bulbs in the
spring.
Yellow potato onions are similar to traditional shallots. The flavor is
generally somewhat mild and sweet. They grow to about 2 to 2.5 inches
in diameter if well cared for. The flesh is yellow. They can keep
extremely well, into and past the following spring. They mature in late
summer from either fall or spring planting, with earlier plantings
ripening slightly earlier.
The average multiplication is around 6 bulbs per one planted. So, if 10
bulbs are planted, survive and reproduce and all the offspring are
planted, the math works out to, 60 in year one, 360 in year two, 2,160
in year three and 12,960 in year four. So, consider these bulbs an
investment that you can start to share with other gardeners in a couple
of years.
Be warned that someone on ebay has been selling small commercial onion
starts as potato onions for years. Potato onions do not produce
perfect, round, clean, small uniform bulbs. These are the traditional
yellow potato onion.
The potato onions and
shallots usually produce about 6 bulbs for each one planted. The math
works out to 6 = 36= 216= 1296 in year three! and the I'itoi can produce
large clusters of small onions in one season.
I received an order I purchased for real multiplier onions.
The red white and yellow sets I received on another post may be just onion sets. I paid allot of money for. But will not know till next summer if I was cheated.
What I have now you can tell by looking at them. They are real!
Green Mountain Multiplier: Large
variety recently selected by Kelly Winterton. I find that it doesn't
cure out as reliably as the yellow potato onion it was bred from, and it
has more tendency to bolt. Once cured though, it keeps very well, into
spring, and it is most definitely larger, at least twice as large on
average.
Copper Shallot: This is an old
school shallot that has a very low tendency to flower. Newer shallots
are almost all grown from seed and will blot if planted. This one is a
beautiful coppery color and makes firm little bulbs and store very well.
I'itoi:Multiplier Onion
This is a very rare multiplying onion that make little bulbs that are a
lot like a tiny shallot. It is very small, but very productive. It
was supposedly introduced by the Spanish centuries ago and has been
grown by the O'odam people of the southwest ever since. It can also be
grown and harvested as a scallion or as chives if left to grow without
dividing.
Latin Name: Allium cepa var. aggregatum. Synonym: Allium cepa Aggregatum Group.
Details from the seller.
2 bulbs each of the classic heirloom
Yellow Potato Onion: small to medium multiplier. Extremely good keeper once cured out.
Yellow Potato Onion, The newer
Green Mountain Multiplier potato onion, Copper Shallot and I'itoi All
of these reproduce from bulbs, so you plant one and harvest many. Small
bulbs of Yellow potato onion, copper shallot and green mountain produce
large bulbs if small bulbs are planted, or they produce many smaller
bulbs if a large bulb is planted. The collection contains two of each
bulb. In many areas, these can be fall planted and should be. The
yellow potato onion is very hardy, and I believe the Green Mountain is
too, but I can't be positive about that. Copper shallot can easily
survive temps down to 20 where I live, beyond that I'm not sure. I'itoi
may be more cold sensitive, but should survive temps above 20 degrees
if fall or winter planted. Fall is a traditional time to plant potato
onions in the south. Since these reproduce by bulbs, there is no need
to ever buy seed again. Consider this an investment and a great way to
test several varieties without spending a lot. The potato onions and
shallots usually produce about 6 bulbs for each one planted. The math
works out to 6 = 36= 216= 1296 in year three! and the I'itoi can produce
large clusters of small onions in one season.
