Spring onion is my discovery this growing season. Even though it’s not at all difficult to buy spring onions in Dutch supermarkets, growing them from cutting is very easy (and has many plus points).
One day, I thought I should grow spring onion. After all, we Vietnamese put it into so many dishes. So I found a YouTube tutorial and followed the guide to put the white stalk with roots into a glass of water. Every day, I changed the water in the glass. After a week, they grew on both ends: longer roots and taller stems.
When Ian saw my glass, he suggested I put the spring onions in the soil as it would surely be better for the plant. He was right.
Soon enough, small pots of spring onion dotted around our garden. Instead of buying a bunch every week, I only get supermarket spring onions if a recipe specifically asks for its white parts. My spring onion might not be as mighty and oversize as the store-bought ones. Still, it tastes a lot better being freshly cut from my little balcony garden.
How to Grow Spring Onion From Cuttings
Cut off about 8 cm of the white part with roots, and put a few into a glass jar. Change the water daily or every other day, and you will soon see new growth. If you don’t have any outdoor space or don’t want to get involved with the messy soil, just keep them in the water and cut off the green parts when they come out.
Alternatively, you can put the stems directly into the soil. There’s no need to use a big pot or space the stems out. I often use a 10-cm container for four stems. They grow perfectly fine.
Once the plants start growing, I pinch the new green occasionally and keep each pot going for a few months.
Spring onions can also take negligence. I don’t have to worry about watering them all the time or setting up a watering system when I am away for a week or so.
As I said before, it’s rather simple.
Bonus: Thanks to its strong smell, spring onions can scare off some bugs and insects. If you have a few containers, space them all over your garden.
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Cooking with Spring Onion
Vietnamese put spring onion into most dishes. Pho has spring onions. The same goes for most noodle soups. Stir-fry dishes are either started by frying the white part of the spring onion or finished with finely chopped green pieces.
Grow More With Less 