Bunching Onion Varieties

Growing Bunching Onions

• Scallions, or bunching onions, don't need quite as much soil enrichment as bulb onions since they don't grow nearly as large. Plant in well-drained soil with even moisture, placing seeds one-quarter to one-half inch apart. The onions are best grown close together. If they are planted in spring, bunching onions will be ready to pull in summer, while a late summer planting will yield a fall or winter harvest.

The Facts

• Scallions are often referred as bunching or non-bulbing varieties in seed catalogs, and are onions selected for their small bulbs and mild flavor. Growers seek the long, smooth shank of the plant. The green tops may also be added as a garnish and have a more mild flavor and tender texture than bulb onion tops.

  "White Lisbon" and "Crystal Wax" varieties produce a small bulb used for pickling or creaming. Onions in the Allium fistulosum group are known as true bunching onions and are also referred to as Welsh onions or Japanese bunching onions. They do not form bulbs, but instead grow clustered, white stalks.

Varieties

• Some well-loved varieties of scallion or bunching onion include "Evergreen White" and "Japanese Bunching." "Evergreen White" produces 5- to 9-inch tall, white stalks with great flavor and the plant is especially tolerant of cold winter conditions. "Deep Purple" is a variety that exhibits deep red color, while "Red Beard" has a white color with red near its base. "Guardsman" is a quick-to-mature scallion coming from England. Other bunching onion varieties include "White Portugal," "Tokyo Long White," "Beltsville Bunching," "White Spear," "Ebenezer," "Yellow Globe" and "Kincho."

Harvest

• Harvest clumps of scallions about two to three months after sowing seeds, when the shank reaches one-quarter to three-quarters inch diameter. Sometimes regular onions pulled early are referred to as scallions, but even if they are pulled while the bulbs are small, they do not have the same mild flavor that scallions have. Any variety of onion can be harvested within 40 to 50 days after seeding for use as green onions by using thinned plants or pulling plants when tops reach 6 inches. Use in salads, soups, stir fries or as a garnish.