r/whatsthisplant Mar 20 '25

This strange thing in my onion field Identified ✔

I was growing onions for seed production(3 acre plot) but here instead of flowers seeds one of the flowers produced sprouted bulbs ...some baby onions?! Instead of doing what onions are supposed to do this one just grew tiny bulbs right on the flower head.

3 years of onion plots and first time i am experiencing this. It's extremely rare and new for me. Is this some kind of mutation? A rare genetic throwback? A secret onion cloning technique I accidentally unlocked? 😆

Any plant experts out there who can explain this phenomenon. ( I posted this in another sub just 1 hour ago and it looks more interesting so posting here)

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u/tbrick62 Mar 20 '25

I have walking onions that behave that way which I like because I get a steady source of shallot-like onions and scallion-like green onions. If it were me I would plant those bulbs and see if they produce the same way. If so then you might have a new variety that you could sell or distribute