beet
bell pepper
carrot
leek
Swiss chard
zucchini
german chamomile
Photos
I managed to grow some truly giant leeks this year.
Unfortunately I also had a lot of spring onion, so started to reach a limit for what could be done.
Standout new recipe: Miso braised leeks
Last edited by shiny on November 11, 2026. View history
Spring Onion
Also known as
green onion (en)
scallion (en)
salad onion (en)
table onion (en)
green shallot (en)
onion stick (en)
long onion (en)
baby onion (en)
precious onion (en)
yard onion (en)
gibbon (en)
syboe (en)
scally onion (en)
A variety of onion
How to sow spring onion: Direct seed or plant slips or sets
Sun requirement for spring onion: Plant in Full Sun
Spring onions resemble scallions in appearance and flavor, but they are actually very young storage onions. Yellow, red, or white storage onions are pulled out of the ground before the standard harvest date, when their skins are still thin and they are mild in flavor. Their bulbs and greens can be eaten fresh or cooked.
- 25
- plantings
- 26
- harvests
- 4
- seed packets
Spring onion facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
34 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
22
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
36
weeks after planting
Height × spread
30cm × 8cmRow Spacing
8cmWhen to sow
Southern hemisphere
All year
Northern hemisphere
All year
median of members' seed packets
Grown for
leaf harvested 10 times
Optimal temperature
12–25 °C
Absolute temperature
6–30 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
850–1600 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
700–2500 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
6.6–7.4
Absolute soil pH
5.5–8.5
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
60–160 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2000 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For spring onion, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 6°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 750 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your spring onion will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing spring onions
- Sow seeds in trays 8 weeks before planting out
- Dig compost into the bed 1 week before planting out
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Weed around the plants 2 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with a nitrogen fertiliser 4 weeks after planting out every month
- Stop watering as the tops fall over 1 week before first harvest
- Lift the bulbs at first harvest
- Dry the bulbs in an airy place 1 week after first harvest
How members grow spring onions
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Plant spring onions with
Photos
Spring onion plantings
Spring onion harvests
Video
Where spring onions grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about spring onions
Growing well and germinations
by Doveoscar,
Upper greenhouse Radishes growing well, coriander, basil, spring onions and mixed lettuce/salad leaves all germinated and growing.
Patio greenhouse Tigerella tomatoes many germinated, small plants still onl…
coriander
basils
spring onions
lettuces
tomatoes
Read more
basils
Who's planted spring onions
- bokunenjin Garden · Columbia, MD, USA
- CloCkWeRX A & B - Raised Containers · Rosewater, South...
- unhackerguard Garden
- milki Sfg 4x4 2 · San Francisco Bay Area
- snake 2023 · Moonville, OH
Spring onion harvests
-
CloCkWeRX harvested 1, weighing 0.1 kg.
about 1 month ago
-
CloCkWeRX harvested 2 .
over 2 years ago
-
milki harvested 2 bunches, weighing 0.066 kg.
over 2 years ago
CloCkWeRX harvested 1, weighing 0.1 kg.
View all spring onion harvests
Sign in or sign up to track your spring onion harvests.Find spring onion seeds
View all spring onion seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 60 to 160 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Allium fistulosum L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Liliopsida Liliidae Asparagales Alliaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual, perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about spring onions
Resources outside Growstuff.
