Spring Onion

How to sow

Sow 1 cm. Use peat-free coco. Keep the surface just moist.

Germination 7–14 days in the crop record.

Growing

1. Sowing — Day 0. Sow 1 cm deep, 1–2 cm apart. Water until it runs.
2. Thickening — Weeks 5–8. Dryness makes them pungent and thin.
3. Harvest — Week 8. Lift the whole plant. Or cut 2 cm above compost for a weaker second flush.

Keep at or above 8°C where the crop record sets a floor.

Harvest

First cut around 8 weeks.

Lift the whole plant. Or cut 2 cm above compost for a weaker second flush.

Common mistakes

• Confusing it with chives — Chives are a perennial tuft. White Lisbon is a salad onion you pull. Sow as a bunching onion. Pull whole for the white shaft.
• Pets — Alliums are toxic to cats and dogs. Off the floor. Same warning as chives.
• Waiting for a bulb onion — White Lisbon is not a storage onion. Left too long it bolts or fattens poorly in a pot. Pull at pencil thickness, about eight weeks.

In the kitchen

• Raw rings — Slice white and green. Scatter on salad, noodles, or a tomato sandwich.
• Egg and spring onion — Fold sliced green into scrambled eggs at the end.
• Soften in oil — Cut into lengths, cook until just wilted. Base for stir-fries and omelettes.
• Flowering stem — If it bolts, the stem is still edible — milder, a little sweet.
• Stock — Tops and trimmings into a light stock with ginger.

Questions

Sources

1. Spring Onion Seed Pack
2. Coco Soil treatise
3. HubWīk contents