A Guide on How to Grow Spring Onions.....Unsuccessfully!

Readers of my blog will know how much I love to eat spring onions.  Heck, I've even dedicated an entire post on "How many ways can you use up a bunch of spring onions?"

I adore it so much that I would want it sprinkled on top of just about anything.  I would cook dishes at home which utilises them such as in this, this, this, this and this (you can see I use spring onions quite a lot in my cooking).

I would even treat it as a vegetable (in one of my most cooked dish at home)...that's how much I love spring onions!

I don't have a green thumb or green fingers or anything green in my body for that matter as I've never grown anything in my life but I thought I'd give growing spring onions a try coz, well, it looked deceptively simple enough from what I googled and read + I've watched some videos on how it's done.  It shouldn't be that hard, right?  Wrong!  It's pretty obvious from my post title, isn't it?

So I thought I better be upfront and not mislead those who want to grow spring onions successfully coz this is my Guide on How to Grow Onions...Unsuccessfully...lol!  Let me show you what I did.

First, I went for the easiest method (from what I saw online)...and that is in a jar of water! ;)  I followed what I was told and that is to cut off the green parts leaving some of the white parts.

Wash off the dirt and plonk it into a jar of water...no problemo, easy peasy.  Change the water daily and watch it grow in a week.  Okie dokie....will do.  I put it near my kitchen window so that it can benefit from a bit of sunlight.

Within 2 days, I was surprised to see new shoots sprouting out by a few inches (though what grew out was very thin).  Another 2 days later, it grew even more.  But by the 5th day, it wilted and died! >.<   That's because the roots and bulbs started decaying and became mushy as they continued to be submerged in water daily.  The rotting was obvious as the water became murky (even though I changed it daily).  Logically, that should happen if something is submerged in water 24/7.  So, nothing like the vibrant growing scallions I see in photos online (now I wonder if those are even real....lol).

So, regrowing spring onions from cuttings in a jar of water didn't work at all.  Time for the second method...to grow them in soil.  I even bought 2 new flower pots (gave one away) and organic soil just for the project.

Then I stuck 5 small onions (shallots) and one large onion (obviously hoping for fatter spring onions) into the soil.  P/S: Note that the large onion had already sprouted whilst on my kitchen counter before I even planted it.

I was so happy to see brand new shoots appear after about a week.

5 days later....more shoots appeared (on the small onions) but noticed that the big onion was starting to wither and shrink.

It took 2 weeks for the spring onions to grow to a max of about 4 - 5 inches...and that was it.  Meanwhile, the large onion shrivelled up and died, so I planted a few more shallots.

Since it had stopped growing and seeing that the tips had started to brown, I decided it was time to harvest my miserable crop...lol!

Oh, look at my harvest.....one tablespoon full...wakakakaka! O_o

They don't even look like spring onions....they're so thin they look more like chives.

Surprisingly, after I harvested aka trimmed the spring onions, it grew again in 5 days....and I harvested a second time (another spoonful...applause please!).  And that was it...after that, the onion bulbs became hollow and eventually died.

My sister-in-law felt that the pot I used was too shallow and gave me a planter's box.  Well, I tried growing in that too...with both onion bulbs and trimmed spring onions but ended up with the same horrific result.  Sometimes when the sun is too scorching hot, I would even move the pots to a shadier place.  That's the tender loving care I give to them...and how do they repay me?  They die on me!  Well, of course, there's the third method... to grow them from seeds (not that I'll be attempting that).

On a side note, since we're on the subject of plants and planting, I noticed this little bugger one day on my neighbour's pot of kaffir lime leaves.  Can you see it?

They can devour their way through the leaves in a matter of days (hours even) leaving a trail of destruction.

See how quickly a small little creature like that can burrow/eat its way through the leaf.

So, yours truly did her civic duty (other than voting today) and removed this cute but destructive little bugger from the plant.  After all, I have vested interest in keeping this plant healthy and thriving (as I sometimes need kaffir lime leaves in my cooking).  I plucked the leaf off its branch and left it on the ground near a tree (sorry, little caterpillar, hope you find another plant to devour...as long as it's not this one)! :D

On the same subject matter, there was a time I was shocked when I found the bok choy I bought came with a little surprise gift when I took it out to cook.  The little critter had survived for 3 - 4 days in the cold (in my fridge....wow!) and devoured my bok choy whilst marooned there.  Not only that but it left many deposits for me (luckily the bok choy was secured in a plastic bag).

Sorry for the minor deviation.  Let's get back on track.  So, how do you grow spring onions successfully at home?  Well, it looks like the answer to that question is....you can't.....or, at least, I can't!  And that was pretty much the end of my planting adventure. >_<

I think I'll stick to buying spring onions that cost me only RM1.50 a bunch (or RM2 for two bunches).  They come fresh, fat...and, most of all, no effort or love needed.  Wash, let them dry completely (in the open spread out onto a kitchen cloth if you can), cut them into size and store them in an airtight snaplock container wrapped in paper towels (to prevent and absorb moisture while in the fridge)...and it'll last a good one week to 10 days (sometimes even 2 weeks if they're super fresh when bought).

Now I'm left with a flower pot, a planter's box and leftover soil that I don't know what to do with.  It's not as if I'd be planting anything else since I can't even succeed in growing the simplest thing...unless you can suggest something failproof that even someone who can't plant a single thing in her life cannot foul up! ;D I may not have been successful in planting spring onions...but, at least, I can stake claim to having the cutest-looking watering can...which I can now use to water my neighbour's plants (from my sde of the house) when they're away! ^_~