Spring onions make every salad taste better. They are my favourite onion because they are milder and they don’t make my eyes water whenever I cut them up. They fit themselves nicely into just about any dish as well. I buy these green onions at the supermarket almost every trip, so maybe it’s time I learn how to grow spring onions for myself.
If you want to learn how to grow spring onions then keep reading for some great tips. We will be teaching you how to care for spring onion, how to grow spring onion from the supermarket, answering the question “can you grow spring onion in a pot or not”, and so much more! Keep reading for everything you need to know about how to grow spring onions.
Growing all of your own vegetables for a salad is a very rewarding experience. All your ingredients are organic and you save a ton of money on your grocery bill. It isn’t difficult to grow your own food either, it’s so easy you could even teach your kids after one try.
A fact about spring onions is that actually they are not a different variety of onion. Spring onions are actually just your usual run of the mill onion that you can find pretty much in every grocery store. So what made these onions different? Spring onions are actually just onions that are harvested prematurely. These onions are harvested even before their bulb had the chance to swell up. Despite harvesting them prematurely, they are actually edible and are good for consumption whether it be eaten raw or cooked.
Can You Grow Spring Onion In A Pot?
If you are limited for space outdoors then growing vegetables in a pot is your next best option. But can you grow spring onion in a pot? Yes, you can easily grow spring onions in a pot or container. It is very easy to do. You just need to fill the container with potting soil and submerge the bulb into the soil. If you are planting by seed just sprinkle them into the soil about half an inch deep.
Make sure the soil that your spring onion has been planted in gets fertilized one week prior to planting. You will also need to keep the soil well moist.
How To Grow Spring Onion From The Supermarket
One cool fact about growing spring onions is that you can re-grow from the onions that you bought at the supermarket. When you buy spring onions from the supermarket, notice how at the bottom of the bulb there are always a bunch of tiny roots. They look like little strands of hair.
Find some spring onions that have their roots still attached in the onion and have not been cut off. If you are going to use a spring onion without the roots, that will not work, the roots are needed in this process. After you have selected the spring onion with roots still attached on it cut the bottoms off of your spring onions just a few centimeters away from the roots. Your spring onion should at least be 3-4cm long from the bottom, this measurement excludes the roots.
After you have sliced the bottom part of the onion, place it in a jar or in a glass of water. The amount of water you need isn’t much, just only enough to cover the roots and a bit of the stem. Keen an eye in the water level as the onion will continually drink up the water to avoid the water from drying out. In the next few days, the water can get murky or develop a foul smell, to avoid this make sure to replace the water every 3-5 days.
In the next few days that the spring onion is in the water, some new healthy white roots will start to sprout. To determine if you can remove the spring onion out of the water already and if they are ready for planting, check if the roots are at least 3-4 cm long. If spring onion have reached the minimum root length requirement, you can now remove the, out of the water and ready them for planting.
Get yourself a well-draining soil and a container that has holes in the bottom. Next get the container ready and fill it halfway with soil, you will fill the rest of the half later when you will plant the spring onion. To check whether the soil is well draining or not, dig a hole in the center of the container 12 inches deep and fill it with water. If the water drains within 5-15 minutes, then the soil is a well-draining soil and is good for use for your spring onion.
The ideal soil pH for your spring onion to grow is about in between the range of 6.6 to 6.8. In order for you to determine the pH level of your soil, purchase a pH level testing kit online or in your local agricultural stores. The instructions on how to test the pH level should be included in the kit. If your soil does not meet the pH level requirement, then add some manure or compost to drop the pH level if it is too high, and if it the pH level is too low then add lime to the soil to increase it.
Then position the bottom of your spring onion with the roots as low as you can, and fill the remaining space up with soil. Add some water and make sure to keep the soil damp through the growing process. Place your container in the windowsill, or somewhere that it will get a decent amount of sun exposure.
After you have just planted your onion, spray some nitrogen fertilizer into it. Your spring onion loves the environment that has high nitrogen content causing them to thrive much more. After spraying the soil with nitrogen, mix it with your hands to make it easier for the nutrients to sink in deeper.
It will only take a few days for green re-growth to appear. Once they are ready to harvest you don’t have to discard your plant. Just take what you need and more will re-grow in its place. This is a great way to save money on spring onions!
How To Care For Spring Onion
Your spring onions will take 6-8 weeks to grow, so you will need to take good care of them until they’re ready to eat. Make sure you keep that soil moist because they don’t like a dry bed. Water them with either a water can or your hose on the sprinkling setting. Avoid over watering them.
Add some mulch to your garden bed to help retain moisture in the soil. This will help out a lot if you have a bad habit of forgetting to water the plants. The mulch will also suffocate weeds so they won’t be as much of an issue for you.
When planting spring onions directly in the garden you will need to make sure it is clear of weed. Spring onions have a hard time growing around weeds. Although weeds cause some issues, pests are not attracted to spring onions which is one nice thing about growing them. They are also resilient against diseases too, that’s one less thing to worry about.
Avoid planting spring onions near beans and peas because they will be fighting for the same resources and your plant won’t grow to its full potential. Keep these plants on opposite sides of your garden.
Make sure you harvest your onions before the plant begins to flower. If the plant begins to flower then your spring onion loses flavor and nutritional value. It would be a shame to put all that work into spoiled onions.
How To Harvest Spring Onion
When your spring onion is tall, green, and healthy they are ready to be harvested. All you need to do is snip off the green stems with scissors and your spring onion will continuously grow all season long. You will only need a few plants to have enough onions to feed you from spring-fall.
If you want to grow extra spring onions to last you through winter, that is very easy to preserve by either drying or freezing.
Final Thoughts
Spring onions are a delight to eat during every season. Now that I know how to grow them indoors and outdoors I can’t wait to start growing so I can enjoy spring onions in every salad from now on.
The next batch of spring onions I buy at the supermarket will be the last batch because now I know how to turn it into my very own spring onion plant. I love the idea of having fresh spring onion available in the kitchen whenever I want. Dinner time just got a big improvement.
What is your favorite way to enjoy spring onion? Let us know in the comments.
