My family makes a dish called Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas. It is the official family dish, and green onions are an essential component. So when it comes to growing my own produce, this plant gets its own little pedestal and some extra T.L.C.

The basics of growing green onions that you absolutely need to know are this:

• It is absolutely as easy to reroot in water and plant outside as they say.
• Standard potting mix soil in a clay pot will work perfectly.
• Green onions are forgiving!
• They will flower every year, so you can keep between two and four bulbs growing as seed producers, giving you up to hundreds of seeds every year.
• Stick around, because I’ll be adding the sour cream and chicken enchilada recipe to the site, you can bet all the money in the world on that (figuratively of course)!

When Should I Plant?

Onions grow better in cooler weather, so plant from seed in mid to late September in Tucson. Higher elevations than 2,400 feet can do this earlier. Albuquerqueans (Albuquerquites?).. people who live in Albuquerque at 5,300 feet can plant them from seed at the beginning of August. Check for local planting calendars relevant to your area, and follow those instructions.

Onions are one of the exceptions to my rule about only planting from seed, anything with a short root system that doesn’t mind being uprooted, like bulbs, is A-OK. Seeds are still cheaper, but that’s up to you. Seed onions come as smaller bulbs, and are a good, relatively cheap way to get ahead of the curve on planting these delicious veggies.

Care

Technically, here in Tucson, you can grow green onions all year round, as long as they are not sitting in direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day.

Use garden bed mix planting soil. Straight compost usually works amazingly well if you can find it. If it is too compacted after watering, they’ll have a hard time, so you’ll want to add a little sand to the mix.

Water every other day during the hottest months. In winter the soil retains moisture easily, so you’ll want to monitor it and water only when really needed.

How To Have An Infinite Supply

It’s as simple as this: cut the stem off an inch from the roots, use the leaves and some of the white stem. Now either stick this bulb root-side-down in water until it sends out roots and shoots, or plant them so the bulb is 3/4 inch below the surface of the soil. It will take another few months to grow back to its former glory.

This is where some math comes in, though. If I like to use one green onion per week, how many do I need to have growing in order for this to be sustainable?

The answer is the number of days to maturity between when you cut it and when it is ready to harvest again, divided by 7 days in a week.

90 days to harvest / 7 days = 12.857 green onions if you like having one green onion shoot per week. The rest is multiplication. Better round up just to be sure.

Now that you know how to grow them, you’ll be able to wow your friends and your wallet. Happy eating!

Do you agree? Discussion is the seed of growth! Let others know in the comments below.

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