Whwoz wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 4:35 am Thanks @Paquebot , have had a better look, seems that the longest day in this area is about 14.5 hrs. Would need to go to Tasmania to get 15 hours daylight in summer. Definitely no point in trying to get them here.

If you can get 14 hours of daylight, I think you might able to grow them. Long day onions require 14 or more hours.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-lib ... ap.html#2a

Do the custom dogs sniff out seeds?

Here are the "runts" at my house.
These are at my community garden. I put most here and the best ones since I get full sun. The ones on the far right were started earlier because I had them in a pot in my hoop house.

Nice photo. Now all can see what they look like when bulbing. Looks like they are going to be good size with lots of growing time left. Interesting variety of sizes. Most of mine are all about the same size regardless of the set size.

Martin

ponyexpress wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:51 am

If you can get 14 hours of daylight, I think you might able to grow them. Long day onions require 14 or more hours.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-lib ... ap.html#2a

Do the custom dogs sniff out seeds?

Thanks [mention]ponyexpress[/mention] , will check out that link soon. Yes the customs dogs are trained to walk along conveyor belts with incoming mail on it, sniffing for drugs and anything smelly. They can pickup on the scent of allium seed unfortunately.

Never tried sending onion seed to Australia. Sent a lot of tomato seeds 15+ years ago when Garden Web was going strong. If anyone down there is growing Wisconsin 55, I sent about 500 seeds in 2003. Had most recent dealings with kiwis since then and which included onions. There were several of us who spent 4 or 5 years trying to get Pukekohe to grow in the US. Didn't work but we tried!

Martin

Lots of things have changed in the last 15 years, especially in relation to quarantine unfortunately

I don't know why these have been such a battle but nothing is ever easy. After our April to mid-June drought, we are still looking for the first mosquito. But it's not just those pest that are missing as the usual pollinators are also missing. Alliums are a great draw for certain flies, wasps, and bees. There has been zero insect activity noted so far. Looks like I will have to hope that the wind and my blending umbels will produce fertile seeds.

Martin

Paquebot wrote: ↑Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:08 pm I don't know why these have been such a battle but nothing is ever easy. After our April to mid-June drought, we are still looking for the first mosquito. But it's not just those pest that are missing as the usual pollinators are also missing. Alliums are a great draw for certain flies, wasps, and bees. There has been zero insect activity noted so far. Looks like I will have to hope that the wind and my blending umbels will produce fertile seeds.

Martin

that is weird, and a tad worrying too

Onion flowers are self-fertile but I would like to have all 8 plants to blend their pollen. I plan to shake them at least once a day as the pollen is short-lived. I'll have be the bee.

Martin

Certainly strange! I hope your pollinators are just late to the party, Martin.

Can't edit for some reason. Flowers are not self-fertile but self-compatible. Means that pollen from the same unbel may pollinate fellow blossoms.

Bower, drought and high temperatures here can greatly affect the insect life. Lack of rain in April was deadly for many insects. As a result there were no wrens nesting here in many years. Robins never nested because there was no mud to make nests. Often we claim that the state bird is the mosquito. Almost into July and have not given them a taste of blood. I do think that we may be on the verge of recovery. Mother Nature always has a back-up plan and all will turn out OK in the end. We just have to trust that she knows what she is doing.

Martin

I just searched for amish bottle onions and found a store selling seeds:
https://www.heritageharvestseed.com/Ami ... -p87261182

I don't think I saw them before for sale. I was trying to find a picture to see how big the onions were to compare them to mine.

There have been several companies in the past with Amish bottle onions. However, they were only the red ones. Those were introduced to SSE gardeners some years ago by an Amish gardener in PA. I know of nobody else other than myself ever offering the yellow ones to date.
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Martin

All 32 umbels on the 8 plants are done blooming. Between me, the wind, ad some flies, I am hoping that each flower was pollinated. Each looks like they are developing seeds. If so, hope to have a lot of seeds to offer.

Of those which were planted from sets, they could have used a lot more rain in April ad May. They have bulbed nicely but have already flopped. This is a couple weeks early and other onions and shallots doing the same.

Martin

Paquebot wrote: ↑Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:19 am All 32 umbels on the 8 plants are done blooming. Between me, the wind, ad some flies, I am hoping that each flower was pollinated. Each looks like they are developing seeds. If so, hope to have a lot of seeds to offer.

Good progress report! What's your selection criteria for choosing which bulbs to put into the ground for seeds? And when will you plant those bulbs?

I noticed that one of my bulbs is reddish in color unlike the rest. Obviously I won't use that one for seed propagation.

For seed production, I picked 8 of the average size. I didn't count which bulb produced the most divisions but each averaged 4 stalks.

For a time I was getting red sets but they were more round than long. Took a long time to rogue them out. I often planted the odd ones just for eating and all were excellent keepers just like the bottle type.

Martin

Paquebot wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:10 pm For seed production, I picked 8 of the average size. I didn't count which bulb produced the most divisions but each averaged 4 stalks.

When will you plant the bulbs for seed? I’m thinking of putting some of mine in the ground in early fall.

So they will divide and multiply? Cool!

If planted in fall, do it not long before the ground freezes. Then mulch heavy or cover them with something to prevent extreme frost. Remember that I use a leaf bag full of leave for insulation. That prevents the soil from freezing and there actually is growth during the winter.

I would say that every onion will divide in its second year. Each flower stalk is produced by a separate division and 4 is about average.

Martin

Paquebot wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 7:55 am Remember that I use a leaf bag full of leave for insulation. That prevents the soil from freezing and there actually is growth during the winter.

When you say a bag, is that the approximate quantity? Or do you actually put the plastic bag stuffed full of leaves on top of the bulbs? I'm thinking that I could make a little chicken wire fence cage to help contain the leaves in place over the bulbs.

I thought that we went through the nag thing before but must be wrong. There are leaf bags which generally about 30 gallons. People use them to bag the leaves in the fall for municipal pickup. I pick up full bags from certain homes for mulching and compost. I stash some for use in the spring. It was one of those which went over the onions as insulation. I could merely have piled leaves over them but they would be all over the place by spring. And yes, a chicken wire cage would serve the same purpose.

Martin