Beginner Gardening: Pregnant Onion, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
I have had Pregnant Onion for several years now and am familiar with all it's cycles......

It is NOT an Onion at all--but a member of the Hyacinth family.

When I bring mine inside for the winter--I put it on the windowsill down in my laundry room and, basically, forget about it! It can survive very well in a semi-dormant state, and actually puts out a lot of new baby onions and growth during this time. A couple of times during the winter, I water it.....

This "plant" can become hugely root-bound and will need dividing about every 2-3 years. You will be amazed at the solid root-ball under it---and there is NO way you can just pull it apart! You will havr to hack it apart with a knife! In thew process, many of the baby onions will fall victim. You can root these in soil and let them grow bigger.
The BIG onions---put each one in about a 6" CLAY pot and let it grow there.

The Pregnant Onion grows immensely tall "leaves" and it can also send out a 3'-4' stalk with a "bloom" on the end. This could also happen in it's dormancy period.

I keep mine in a heavy 18" clay window box. I hhave lots of pictures---hope I can find them for you!

Gita

Here's a surface shot of a root-bound PO. See all the babies?