How to grow: Egyptian walking onions
2025-01-29T15:35:12+11:00
Onions are a staple in my kitchen, and garden, so when I discovered an easy to grow variety of the onion tribe I was happy to give it a go.
In my journey to build a self-sustaining and low-maintenance backyard food forest, I stumbled across a curiously named onion variety: Egyptian walking onion. Not only did the name pique my interest (after all, who can resist the lure of growing an onion that walks!), but the promise of a perennial onion was a game changer. Gone were my woes with growing annual onions; with perennial onions it was easy, I plant one bulb and get many in return – I liked this equation.
How to grow
Their botanical name is Allium x proliferum which alludes to their highly productive growing habit.
They will literally walk across your vegie patch, first by multiplying under the soil so they gradually spread across the bed. Planting one bulb will yield around 5–6 more by the end of the season, which is an excellent return on investment.
Secondly, and more dramatically, they produce unusual and ornamental ‘flower’ spikes, which are actually composed of a ring of baby onions, known as ‘bulbils’ (hence the other names for Egyptian walking onions: tree onions or top-set onions). In summer, this spike will get so heavy, it will topple onto the soil and will eventually grow into another cluster of onions next season.
To top it off, Egyptian walking onions give you a dual harvest. During the growing season, their lush green leaves can be harvested and used just like spring onion greens. As always, be careful to harvest sparingly and always leave ample leaves to feed the bulbs.
Planting the bulbs
You can plant bulbs as soon as your summer crops start to fade and you have a gap in your garden bed. Bulbs are ready for harvest around spring to early summer. You’ll know they’re ready for harvest once you see their chubby heads sticking out of the soil, and their green tops starting to yellow. At this point, cut back on watering and, after harvesting, cure your bulbs, which means leaving them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated space to fully dry and harden up so they can store for many months.
Like the idea of a year-round supply of onion flavour in your kitchen? Read Jian Liu’s full feature on perrenial varieties in our Early Autumn issue (OG 155), available here.
