How to grow LOTS of spring onions / scallions in one pot
I'm always on the look out for edibles that are super productive and worthwhile in very small spaces. A new one (for me, at least) to add to the list is spring onions / scallions. To get a brilliant harvest they need to be sown close - check out the video below for a more visual account of my adventure with spring onions!
Scallions / spring onions are an excellent crop to grow in containers at home. You can pop out and pick however many you need, whenever you want. This is infinitely better, in my opinion, than buying a bunch from the supermarket. Not only is the flavour and texture superior, but I often only need 2 or 3 for a dish. So, if I buy them, I rarely use a whole bunch in one go, and the rest languish in the fridge. When I pick them fresh, I also love how the stalks are a bit squeaky when cut! For us, they are an essential ingredient in many salads and stir fries - so we often eat them two or three times a week.
The benefits of close spacing
In the past, when growing spring onions in containers, I spaced them about 1 - 2 cm (1/2 to 1 inch) apart. They did fine, and each pot gave a few bunches. But they weren't particularly productive.
This year, I thought I’d see if they will grow more productively in a container if sown close together, and then ‘thinned’ (the small ones picked out) as they grow. The first few pickings looked and tasted a bit like chives. We added these to salads and they were delicious. Then came small, tender spring onions, and finally a steady supply of full sized spring onions.
I’m not sure exactly how many bunches I picked. I took photos of each picking when I had time and remembered, but I know I missed a few along the way (including several before 29 June). Here are the ones I photographed. Not bad from one (not very big) pot!
These are the spring onion / scallion harvests from the one small pot over several weeks. I photographed most of them when I had time - but there were a few I missed.
Today, nearly 20 weeks later, I still have a few left! They have now have large tasty, onion bulbs, but thinner and slightly less tender (but still edible) stems.
Todays's harvest on 15 September, about 20 weeks after sowing. And still a few more left!
The conclusion? If you like spring onions / scallions, close sowing can give you a regular supply over many weeks. All in all, an excellent and productive choice to make the most of a small space!
Check out the Video
Your Turn
Would love to hear from you if you already grow spring onions like this - of if you give it a go, please do share your experience in the comments. I'd also be really interested to learn if there are any other crops you find are very productive in one smallish pot?
22 comments
That’s certainly the recommended way to do it, but I haven’t tried Defender yet myself. I’m researching which varieties to grow for next year (2024) and those with known bulbing potential are White Lisbon, Lilia - strong flavour and red bulbs, North Holland Blood Red - mild flavour, and Elody. Of course there are probably others too.
Thanks for confirming that this is a thing that can be done - I'm several months behind at planting scallions for winter harvest, but I'm going to try your method none the less. I have a few spindly seedlings under lights inside, and I'm soaking some seeds to speed up germination. We have only had one short spell of freezing so far this fall, and it's a balmy 5 Celsius out tonight, so I'm determined to keep trying to grown things. :)
I was checking for how deep to plant my own home-grown seeds and found this article. When I was living in Ireland, I had them growing in yoghurt containers outside/under the eaves in harsh winter.
I realised that they are very hardy, and here is a trick. If you want to keep harvesting the onions stalks, don't pull them out. Just cut the top part off just above the ground with a sharp knife. It begins regrowing almost immediately in warm seasons. If you get them from the store with even a little bit of root, leave about a centimetre of onion part with root aside and plant that. Even in Ireland they grew into full spring onions.
How I got my seeds? As mentioned, they start wilting so I stuck them in the soil to keep longer. Well, to my huge surprise, the planted spring onions from Lidl, not only grew, but it went into flower and seed. The bees loved them LOL! Knowing less than nothing about onions, I harvested the seed pods before the seeds blew away.\
I am now in Mexico. I am about to plant those same seeds. Although it’s technically autumn now, there is no winter here at all. There isn't even an autumn. So winter might be the best time to pop the seeds in yogurt containers once again.
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