Tips for growing onions from seed?

[Paquebot]

Bower, a few years ago I would really feel like arguing to get things right. Sometimes things are so screwed up on the Internet that I can only shake my head at times. You may call them French shallots but the French would not. As one who has groom shallots before yours even existed, I will agree with many others that the new things are just another hybrid onion. But with the facts out of the way, nice harvest. I had similar in 2011 and 2012 when I tried them.

Martin

[mama_lor]

They did once call it shallot. Since a while, by law it's called 'echalion' instead of 'echalote' to not hurt the real shallot sale. It mostly goes by banana shallot now in certain parts (which is still misleading as it suggests it's a shallot), I saw it sold as 'Sharlotte' in some markets in Germany (so an r in there), and there doesn't seem to be any indication that it has any shallot blood or the contrary, the taste does lean a bit that way, so maybe it does.

You can read a short history here: http://cuissedepouletdupoitou.fr/

[bower]

Yup, they are just an onion to me, no illusions about it being a true shallot.
Nice looking onion though, and the vendor says they're reliably easy to grow, which is good for me.
IDK about planting them back in fall though, to get them to multiply and/or produce seeds. Whatever has been gnawing on them, I can't see anything surviving a winter of it. And might explain why other multipliers haven't survived a fall planting here.

[Paquebot]

Sorry for my outburst but I agreed with the French when those phony hybrid shallots were developed. I sort of took it onto myself to keep gardeners aware of what they really are, onions. I grew the "ABC-named" first varieties 20 years ago and saw little comparison to true shallots or even Zebrune grown at the same time. I foresaw them being sold to consumers as shallots at inflated prices. Several years later that came true.

Martin

[bower]

No, your point is appreciated Martin. I agree completely, and have seen this debated before. And from what I have read, the french shallot 'grise' is a different species, and there appears to be a second "shallot" which also doesn't flower and is yet another species, as described in a paper I read from iirc Bulgaria or Croatia, anyway somewhere in that part of Europe. And then there are the "shallots" of South East Asia and Africa, which are a diverse group that have been put through the DNA testing and confirmed to be Allium cepa var aggregatum. The ones I discussed in a thread here seem to be of that origin and I was wanting to try crossing with something in the onion family, because I'm not getting any bulbs from these multipliers, and it would be pretty awesome to have a true perennial onion that makes bulbs and multiplies.
Anyway I was already told by another gardener that the seeds from Annapolis called "French Shallot" are Cuisse de Poulet aka Zebrune, so this is what I expected. They are a little different from the F1 hybrid "shallots" like Conservor etc, in coming true to seed. He also describes them as a "reliable producer of seed" so I expect them to flower in year two.
So I didn't mean any offense to your point when I called them 'French Shallot' the name on the packet. Not claiming anything about them other than what we know - this is not the "grise" or anything like it. Not a great choice of name by the vendor, considering the sensitivity around name of the beast.
I suppose I should call them Cuisse de Poulet, or what is it, Chicken thigh?
It is just another cepa to me.

[Paquebot]

Well spoken, Bower. you did much to help educate others about this "stinky" mess!

Martin

[MrBig46]

In September, I planted 210 winter onion seedlings. Unlike the 2021/2022 season, onions will be protected by a tunnel similar to how cauliflower is protected. This is what the onion looks like right now.
Vladimír
still open all night

[Cranraspberry]

What a fascinating discussion about shallots and “shallots”, we had planted echalion Creme Brûlée last season and I assumed they were the real deal. Looks like I have some researching to do!

[MrBig46]

This is what my winter onions look like after three weeks of frost. The biggest frost only - 10 °C.Satisfaction.
Vladimír

[bower]

What variety of onion are you growing @MrBig46 ?

[MrBig46]

I grow three varieties Hiberna, Augusta and Winteria. I bought all three in SEMO, the first two are old Czech winter varieties. I don't know the third. If you want to try it, PM me the address and I'll send you the seeds right away.
Vladmír

[MrBig46]

For more than a fortnight, I harvest my onions by thinning. The family is happy.
Vladimír