Russell Apotheker

Sonny Root wrote:I grew Andy's Green Mountain Multiplier Onions from seed this year. I purchased the seed here.
https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/andys-green-mountain-multiplier-onion

My expectations were far exceeded. I can't wait to see what happens next year. I produced enough to plant a few this fall. Some of the same in spring and see how well many of them store over winter.

This is my total crop below taken this morning.

Nice haul and cool variation! As far as I know, if you overwinter in the ground they are much more likely to flower and produce seed. I've stored and planted back out in the spring too, then they tend to not flower and just divide.

I started seeds of Andy’s Green Mountain Multiplier Onion as breeding material derived from Kelly Winterton’s perennial potato onions,

After a few setbacks, I've got 7 bulbs with a few small and this giant one.

I am hoping to get some of them to clone and a few to produce more seed next season. They were fine to overwinter in the ground here in zone 4b.

I was just reading some interesting info on the fruits. If they get large enough they can be picked green and finish ripening on the counter. So I think I will get some viable seed for next year.

Apparently there are high concentrations of saponins in the fruits which give them a bitter taste. But those same saponins have been used traditionally to make a soap that is anti bacterial and microbial. Straining and saving the juice after extracting the seeds seems to be the way its done so I am going to also give that a try.

It's fruiting! Super cool little cucumber like fruits..im doubtful they will mature enough to save seed but if we get lucky and frosts hold off till later this year they might make it across the finish line.

Nancy Reading wrote:The fruit seems to be (at least) unpalatable, but it would have been nice to have been able to save seed. Do you think it is a shorter daylength thing? Some plants from the tropics flower when the days get shorter....

Yes, my hope was to collect seed and start selecting for earlier and earlier blooms. I've read the fruits need a long window for ripening though. I haven't come across anything about the flowering being daylight dependant, but that could be possible as well!

I do have a small hope that I can overwinter some smaller roots in storage and plant them back out in the spring to get a head start next year (and maybe get it to start fruiting earlier).

It's growing mixed in with a giant delicata plant, so im going to have to wait a few more weeks to pull everything back and see what the root harvest looks like.

It's still growing and climbing over my trellis now! I don't think its going to produce any fruit but im hoping when I clear away the mass of delicatas that its intertwined with that there's a decent root to harvest. So it seems that vermont summers are way too short to produce fruit as we are due for our first frost in about a month.

Starting to harden the seedlings off to go outside. They are getting bigger and starting to develop tendrils!

Of all the seedlings 2 have survived and are putting out true leaves now. I was away and I think the person looking after them may have over watered them. Good to note that the seedlings don't love very wet soil. I'm about 3 weeks from hardening them off and in the ground.

Mine never made it through the winter but started another 6 or so from seed and will be planning to take cuttings to hedge my bets this winter.

I'm going to use this space to document the process of growing anchote from seed to harvest. Hope this is useful to anyone else who chooses to grow it!

The seeds look almost like a thick flat cucumber seed ( which kind of makes sense since it's in the Cucurbitaceae family). I filed down a tiny part of the shell since they are so hard and soaked them for 24 hours in warm water before planting them about .5 inch in a mix of sand, perilite and coco coir. The shell was not very thick so i just lightly sanded it down.

Its been a little over 2 weeks and the seeds are just starting to pop up now. I am going to keep them under grow lights until around the end of May in a space thats pretty cool, no idea where I am going to plant them outside yet though.