Green Onions for the Garden

Just wanted to put a super quick post up on how I’m able to have green onions almost all year long without having to waste time waiting for green onion seeds to germinate. I have the worst time trying to germinate small seeds like many of the onion varieties and this method works very well.

Purchase a package of green onions from a grocery store and forget about them for a few days. Find some jars in your collection and cut the majority of the green off but just enough that it rests just around the rim area (this is important). Dehydrate, compost or cook with the unwanted tops if they are still in good condition. Fill the jars about 3/4 the way up with water. If you have city water, try to run it through a filter before you pour it over the onions. I’ve noticed that plants don’t really have a lot of love for city water. Sit the jars on your counter tops and check on them in three to four days. Keep watch to see if the onion tops sprout up beyond the rim of the jar, and if the roots in the water are growing well. The water needs to be changed out whenever it looks unclean.

After you successfully have a decent amount of not only roots grown but the tops, you want to transplant them into your potting medium and water thoroughly for a few weeks until they are able to acclimate to the outdoor conditions. If one or two don’t survive transplanting, it’s okay and not unheard of but the majority of them should root without having any problems.

Throughout the year, you can cut the tops off as you need them for dishes and if any bad weather takes them out, simply start up a new batch and replant in your garden. Don’t be alarmed if they grow incredibly large as I was still able to harvest them for potato and soup dishes.

I will say that when a few of mine flowered, I went ahead and saved the seed just to keep in my collection, but I started up a new batch of green onions since they are reasonably priced at the store and so much easier to grow.