Mr_Wellington
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Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:19 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

What should I do with these green onions?

Hi everyone,

I am new to gardening, and I could use some help with some green bunching onions that I planted.

I need to know if/how I should thin the seedlings. I did quite q bit of research, but I never got a clear answer. I guess it depends a lot on what my goal is.

Take a look at this photo:

[url=https://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=PquzNYA][img]https://s3.postimage.org/uzNYA.jpg[/img][/url]

[My green onion seedlings, planted about 6 weeks ago. That's a $.25 coin there to give idea of size]

Here is my goal ... I want to be able to go out into the garden with some scissors, snip off a handful of green onions (when I'm making an omelet or whatever), and then to have the green onions happily keep growing for as long as possible. Like mowing grass in the lawn. I don't want to harvest any bulbs, I don't want to grow flowers for seed, I don't want to dry or preserve them, I just want to keep a fresh supply of green onion stalks/tops available in the garden for my immediate use when I'm cooking.

So how far apart should I thin/space these seedlings? Should I keep them all bunched together like they are now? Or should I thin them so that there is one single little sprout every 2 to 3 inches?

Sorry for being a newbie and not knowing anything :) Your help and feedback will be appreciated!

tedln
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Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:06 pm
Location: North Texas

It looks like you have planted them far enough apart that they can and probably will produce bulbs. I don't know much about growing onions in Oregon, but onions react and grow differently in different parts of the country. How they grow also depends on the variety of onion. If you get really hot weather, your onions will probably lose the tops in the hottest part of the summer. In North Texas, my onions are usually gone completely by early June. If all you want is the tops, you might consider planting chives instead of onions.

Ted

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Ozark Lady
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Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet

If you ever use onion bulbs, don't cut all the way to the root, leave it on. Then just set it on top of some dirt, barely down in it. Water it well, and sometimes, not always, your onion waste (the roots) will sprout and grow you green onions for a little while. Just as a back up source!

Works great with celery too, and you get little bits to just add a touch of celery flavor to things.

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

I am curious about the variety. If they are bunching onions, they will not make bulbs. You can snip them for greens, and they will grow some more. In which case, you do not need to thin them. This type of onion is often grown for the scallions (green onions). It is OK to just clip them if you only want the greens.

If they are a bulbing onion, I would thin them as you need onion greens. Just pull the whole plant. You can let them get a bit larger before thinning.

Mr_Wellington
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Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 3:19 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

jal_ut wrote:I am curious about the variety. If they are bunching onions, they will not make bulbs. You can snip them for greens, and they will grow some more. In which case, you do not need to thin them. This type of onion is often grown for the scallions (green onions). It is OK to just clip them if you only want the greens.

If they are a bulbing onion, I would thin them as you need onion greens. Just pull the whole plant. You can let them get a bit larger before thinning.
jal_ut,

Indeed these are bunching onions. The seed package says "Onion, Evergreen Bunching". So thank you very much for your advice about not having to thin them! That's kinda what I thought. I thought it was ok to "bunch" them since that is what these onions are called. And I followed the package directions that said "place 2-3 seeds per inch". But then the directions say "thin to 3 inches apart when plants are 3 inches tall", and that is what really confused me. Why thin to 3" inches apart if they are bunching onions? Very confusing.

Ok, so I will follow your advice and let them grow as they currently are, then later I can start to snip the green top-ends to eat, like mowing lawn grass, and the onions will keep growing taller thus providing more food for me later, awesome! Thanks :D



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