Hi Hugo, sorry for the delay... ๐ฌ
๐ซฃ
A. x proliferum are sterile.
I have eight accessions, and none have been even partially fertile.
However, you can easily create them, as Allium cepa is mostly self-incompatible.
They have staggered flowering periods, but fistulosum has the particularity of producing inflorescences over a long period after its flowering peak.
And otherwise, there are now sexually fertile Allium x proliferum.
But these don't produce bulbils.
I'll simply copy and paste my Facebook post:
๐๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ:
๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ is the name of the hybrid obtained between the cultivated onion (๐ด. ๐๐๐๐) and the fistulous onion (๐ด. ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐).
It is known to gardeners as the Walking Onion.
These natural hybrids are sterile and can be recognized by their bulbiferous inflorescences.
But these are different!
They are sexually fertile hybrids obtained artificially!
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๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ is a very interesting genetic resource for the cultivated onion (๐ด๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐), both for its resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses: resistance to pink root (๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ ) and leaf blight (SLB) caused by ๐๐ก๐๐๐โ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐, among others.
However, it remained unexploited for a long time due to the sterility of its offspring.
The first hybridization attempts to produce fertile hybrids date back to the 1950s, but it wasn't until the 2000s that the techniques were truly mastered.
Since 2020, some cultivars have become available.
I was able to obtain 10 of them.
A few are intended for mass distribution: private gardeners and small farmers.
But the majority are developed for professionals and are sold in batches ranging from 50g to 1kg of seeds.
Some cultivars are never even mentioned online, and it was only by contacting Argenta Seeds that they were introduced to me.
This collection of 10 lines represents a very significant research effort and a large financial investment.
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These 10 cultivars were planted simultaneously and in close proximity during the spring of 2024.
They are:
- ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: Developed by Starke Ayres, a South African seed company.
- ๐๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง F1: Developed by Tozer Seeds, a UK seed company.
- ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง F1: Developed by Tozer Seeds, a UK seed company.
- ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ฑ (formerly Hi 08 527): Winner of a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit for its reliability and good performance.
- ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
- ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ: No information.
- ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
- ๐๐ฎ๐๐ซ๐๐ณ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
- ๐๐ข๐ง ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
- ๐๐๐๐๐ซ: Developed by Argenta Seeds, a Dutch seed company.
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This composite population is designed to be used as a pollen donor for backcrosses with ๐ด. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐. ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐.
Therefore, it is desired to be as genotypically heterogeneous as possible, to maximize my chances of obtaining sexually fertile hybrids.
This spring of 2025 was the year of their first flowering!
I'll tell you about the various projects related to it later, so be patient! ๐
... Hope this helped!
