How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Climbing Onion Plants
Need help growing and caring for a climbing onion plant? These trendy houseplants are asparagus, not onions. Gardener Liessa Bowen will explain how to care for these intriguing plants in this post.
1. Plant Natural History
The perennial is sensitive. Dormancy lengths vary by temperature and light circumstances when growing indoors or outdoors. Don't panic if your onion vines wither and brown—these plants usually fall dormant for a few months.
2. Characteristics
Small, brilliant green vines develop from each bulb's centre at the start of the growing season. Each bulb can produce one stem or two or three stems from a single hole in the centre.
3. Seed
Grow climbing onion seeds! Watching one of these plants grow from a seed is fun. Cover seeds with thin sand, vermiculite, or perlite on loose, well-drained soil. Keep soil moist until seeds germinate and develop bulbs.
4. Division
Healthy climbing onions generate bulb offsets every few years. These will mature with the parent bulb. You don't need to divide bulbs unless the pot is too full or you wish to propagate.
5. Transplanting
Choosing a pot with a drainage hole is crucial when transplanting a climbing onion. Without large pot holes, the soil can't drain freely. Breathable ceramic pots with drainage holes are excellent.
6. Sunlight
The climbing onion needs full sun to partial shade. Indoors, they thrive well under full-spectrum grow lights. In a large window with direct sun, move them back if the foliage burns. Each brilliant window should supply enough sunshine.
7. Water
Allow soil to dry completely between waterings. Water the pot thoroughly once the soil dries. Let the soil dry again. Remove the excess water from the pot's bottom to prevent it from standing in water.
8. Soil
Your soil should be sandy, loose, and well-drained. Use succulent and cactus soil. These plants thrive on slightly nutrient-poor soil and do not need organic soil. Due of their thin root systems, these plants don't need deep pots.
9. Climate and temperature
Put your potted plant outside in summer. This works nicely in sunny, protected areas. Full sunlight is too harsh for indoor plants. A shaded porch is ideal. When temps dip below 50°F (10°C), bring your plant inside.
10. Fertilizing
Climbing onions flourish without fertiliser in poor soil. A well-drained soil mixture should nourish your houseplant. Apply little fertiliser only during vigorous development. Dormant plants shouldn't be fertilised.