Tasty and colorful, green onions garnish thousands of dishes around the world. They’re a staple in every grocery store and can be found in the kitchens of both novice and experienced cooks. What if I told you that you could grow your own green onions from scraps? Would you believe me? Mhhmm! YOU can do it! Keep reading for the easy step-by-step process.

STOP WAITING, START GROWING

I had entertained the idea of re-growing green onions for years but never took it seriously seriously until last year. Though they’re cheap enough to buy from the store, they’re SO easy to grow that it’s worth the effort. Plus, if you can get them transplanted into a pot of soil, they’ll keep growing…and growing…and you’ll never have to scurry to the store to buy more onions again! Not to mention that you won’t have to pull out a crinkly bag of rotten ones from your fridge drawer again, either. Can you feel my excitement here?

How to do it? SO easy.

GREEN ONIONS GALORE

  • Cut off the white part of a green onion stalk about 3/4″ to 1″ from the root. You want to keep the root in tact.
  • Fill a shot glass or very small cup with enough water to cover the root of the cutting (don’t submerge the entire cutting) and let the cup sit on your windowsill. A sill with sunlight is best, although it is not necessary for direct or constant sunlight to be coming through the window.
  • Change water every 2 days to help stimulate root growth and lessen the chance of bacteria forming.
  • Within a 2-3 days, you’ll see the beginnings of new greens emerging from the cut edge of the scrap. In a week, noticeable new green onion growth will be present. Multiple sprouts will grow out of one stalk base.
  • As the onion grows, you can snip it off all the way down to the base of the green but don’t cut into the white area. New sprouts will continually emerge. Once the onion greens have grown tall, you can transfer them to a slightly larger cup or glass jar. Roots will continue to grow in the water and you can generally expect 3 to 4 re-grow cycles before the roots get waterlogged. If you want to keep your onions going, plant them in a pot of potting soil. There’s a difference between soils! Keep reading…

WHATS IN THE SOIL?

If planting in a pot, be sure to use potting soil made for vegetables as it will allow for good drainage. There is often confusion between garden soil and potting soil — the quick answer is that garden soil is more dense and holds on to water. While this sounds like a benefit, in a container (aka. pot), the inability to drain will create soggy soil and potentially rot your precious roots. If you are planting your onions straight in the ground, garden soil is fine, otherwise find potting spoil.

I ALREADY HAVE GARDEN SOIL ON HAND. CAN I USE IT?

If garden soil is already in your possession, don’t worry one bit! There’s a simple fix that is tried and true. I’ve done it and promise that it’ll work.

Go to a garden store (yes, Home Depot or Lowe’s will even suffice) and pick up a bag of perlite and a bag of peat moss. Mix enough perlite to equal 1/4 the amount of the garden soil that you’ll be using in your pot. Then add peat moss to equal another 1/4 the amount of garden soil (excluding the additional perlite). These two elements will amend the soil enough to allow water drainage while holding on to valuable nutrients, keeping them from washing out of your soil. The key to keeping plants alive is making sure they’re healthy, happy, and well fed.

WHAT IS PERLITE?

Perlite is a volcanic glass that is heated to extreme temperatures until it pops and expands to approximately 13 times is original size (think of a heated popcorn kernel). Perlite in it’s rock form is full of air pockets which helps aerate soil, keeping it loose and well-draining. Vegetable plants in containers (pots) are typically not fond of dense and compacted soil conditions or an over saturation of water. Once the roots take a hearty drink of water, they’re all done. Does your skin like it when it is overly soaked in water for extended periods? Nah, not really.

WHAT IS PEAT MOSS?

Peat moss is dead fibrous material that develops when moss and other organisms decompose in peat bogs. It has been used by gardeners since the 1900s as a soil amendment or an amendment in potting soil. Peat moss has the ability to hold on to nutrients from the soil, preventing them from being washed out of the soil when plants are watered. Peat moss will also hold several times its weight in water and releases moisture into the plants roots, as needed. Adding this into garden soil isn’t a requirement but is helpful, especially when using containers (pots) for your vegetables.

THE LIFE SPAN OF A PLANTED GREEN ONION

A green onion bottom in water, on you windowsill, can stay alive for weeks with proper changing of the water. As a reminder, do not submerge the cutting, just cover the roots. When planted in soil, the green onions can grow for months, until they bolt. Bolting happens when the green onion develops a flower at it’s upper-most tip, usually because the weather has become too hot but also can simply be because the plant is mature. Once this happens your plant should either be removed and new clippings planted, or you can collect seeds from the flower (to plant at a later time). I have yet to try this but it’s definitely on the list.

Good luck with the endeavor. Every gardener starts somewhere!