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[There are separate pages here on Onions and on Leeks.]
What are generically called "green onions" are an invaluable ingredient in salads and numerous cooked dishes. But discussion is much clouded because that term is casually applied to a number of fairly different crops. Many--one is tempted to say "almost all"--sources do not distinguish these actually quite different types, which makes the home gardener's selection task formidable, to say the least. The differences in culture are substantial, especially since one sort can be made a perennial!
First off, there are "ordinary" (bulbing or "dry") onions, Allium cepa, that are simply harvested while yet immature; these need not be, but usually are, white types. A plain, old Spanish White can be harvested early as "green onions".
A variation on that is A. cepa types that are "short-day" varieties (see the discussion at Onions) grown in long-day climates, or vice-versa: such growing is usually a gardener's mistake, for the plants cannot form a head; but in this case, that is just what is wanted. The basic onion variety used, however, is said to make a real difference in culinary quality, for scallions should not be as pungent as real onions. (In our locale, one could try Vidalias, or Walla Wallas grown spring to fall instead of over-wintered.) These too are effectively "green onions".
But beyond tricks played with ordinary A. cepa varieties, there are the "true" sorts of scallions--the several varieties of the distinct non-bulbing Allium fistulosum species (which technically comprises four taxonomic groups). In the Orient, where A. fistulosum types are the only onions used, there are numerous variants, but in the U.S. we normally see only the "he-shi-ko" types (also commonly known as Welsh onions, though unrelated to Wales); they are also commonly called "bunching onions". For convenience we call the A. fistulosum and closely related sorts "scallions" and all the A. cepa types "green onions" (that is our use, not any common scheme).
Scallions come in both red and white sorts. Varieties that are winter-hardy in a given climate can be made perennial ("It is common to see it harvested from under snow"), with occasional clump divisions for continuing propagation ("Once you have established some clumps, simply harvest as needed, divide clumps, and replant for the next crop"). It seems to us rather obvious that this sort is the kind to grow--plant once and harvest forever. (They require, of course, a dedicated patch of ground, but not--for most households--a particularly large one--or they can be grown in a container, size depenant on your appetitie for them.)
(There are some plants that are, technically, crosses between A. fistulosum and A. cepa, such as the Beltsville Bunching onion; but, because they are to gardeners essentially the same as straight A. fistulosum types, we do not distinguish them here.)
A university report states that "Improved Japanese cultivars can no longer survive winter in cold climates" [emphasis added]--so much for "progress" in plant development. Since we want a perennial, we obviously want the type with the best winter hardiness; several varieties of A. fistulosum are said to be winter-hardy, but the one clearly most often cited ("Will survive even most severe winter conditions") is Evergreen Bunching We are assuming that the types marketed under the names Evergreen Bunching, Evergreen White Bunching, Evergreen Hardy White, and Evergreen Hardy Bunching, are all the same variety, but that needs verifying.
There are also varities with red bulbs--they apparently taste the same, but add a nice look to whatever they're used in, such as salads. We have found no information suggesting that any particular red type is any better, in any way, than any other, despite there being a good number of named varieties in our catalogues. Faute de mieux we would try the variety named simply Red Bunching.
Seed for scallions can be sown in spring or fall, but if we're going for a perennial stand we might as well start it in spring and let build up some body before hitting it with its first winter.
They're cold-hardy (or we couldn't annualize them) but there's no point in pressing the issue when we're planting for perennial use. They grow best at a daytime temperature of 80° F., which we hereabouts first hit, on average, in middle June; our inclination would be to sow outdoors around May 1st, when the high is typically 65° and the low a little above freezing (the catalogues from climates like ours refer to sowing in "early spring", so that should be fine).
Give them reasonably rich soil, with a pH between 6.3 and 6.8, which is typical of most good garden soil (they dislike strongly acid soil, but a soil pH below 6 is rare in the western U.S.). Well-drained loams or sandy loams high in organic matter and rich in phosphate are optimal; if your soil is a heavy clay, amend it, with sand if necessary but preferably with organic matter.
These are usually direct seeded, especially as we normally want a number of individual plants. They can be spaced rather closely, down to 2 inches in a deep-dug or raised bed, though a 3-inch spacing is probably better for perennial plantings, giving them a little elbow room to form their "clumps". Plant the seed about ½ inch deep.
Like all onions, scallions are shallow-rooted, and so need the soil at and near the surface kept moist (they can't go down deep for water)--but they easily "drown" if the soil gets waterlogged, which is why you don't want a heavy clay soil.
Give the plants some weeks--10 or more--to get established. After that, cut (preferably with scissors or the like) stalks as needed. Obviously you should try not to cut any one plant too heavily, which is why it's a good idea to plan a goodly number of plants (they don't take up much space).
In their second summer (not that of the year you planted them in), "divide" the plants. As they grow, this type "bunches" (hence its common sobriquet)--that is, tillers spring from the mother plant--which is why a 3-inch separation is better than 2 inches for the long term. One expert wrote:
When you need some green onions, use a trowel to loosen the soil around a clump, lift the clump, take out what you need, and put the rest back in the ground. If you want to start another clump, just reset one of the individual side shoots in its new location. Plant it deep, so more of the lower stem will be blanched. I've had the same clone of bunching onions in my vegetable garden now for more than 8 years. They've been moved around a lot, but they keep on producing.
We're not so sure about the "take a whole bulblet anytime" approach, but for sure, by taking a little care, you can have both leaves and actual whole scallions year round. A little more detail on the separating: cut the "bunch" into sections with a sharp knife, and make quite sure that each section you intend to re-plant has at least one leaf-growing point on it.
Note that scallions actually need (for health) to be divided from time to time (some sources say annually, some say every three years). We think that common sense and that sensitive detector, the human eyeball, will best enable you to judge how much to take when.
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful.
Scallions are simply a species of onion that doesn't bulb up. They are of the Alliaceae family, the alliums (till recently called the Lilliaecae family). Besides such obvious relatives as bulbing onions, leeks, scallions, and garlic, the Welsh onion's kin include lillies and hyacinths.
The bunching onion was developed in Asia from a wild relative, possibly A. altaicum, which occurs in Northwest China and neighboring Kazakhstan. It was brought to Europe in the 17th century.
The "Welsh" in Welsh Onions has nothing to do with Wales: it derives from the German word welsche, "foreign".
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