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Growing scallions in home gardens

Quick facts 

  • You can direct seed scallions or grow them from transplants.
  • Another green onion that only gardeners can enjoy is the Egyptian walking onion.
  • Always start walking onions from the topset bulbs.
  • Early in the season, weeds can easily outcompete small scallion plants.
  • Pull scallions when they have reached usable size.
  • Beginning in the second season, cut walking onion greens as you would chives.

Scallions (Allium fistulosum), also called bunching onions and green onions, have green and white stalks that do not form bulbs. You can chop and eat them as a raw condiment on top of soups and other cooked foods. In Asian cooking, chopped green onions are one of the last ingredients added in stir-fries, briefly cooked before serving. You may also chop and toss them in a salad, or grill them whole as a side dish.

Another type of green onion that home gardeners can enjoy is the Egyptian walking onion, sometimes called a “tree onion” (Allium cepa var. proliferum).

All onions require full sun for best growth.

Planting

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How to keep your scallions healthy and productive

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Managing pests and diseases

Many things can affect scallion roots and stalks. Changes in physical appearance and plant health can be caused by the environment, plant diseases, insects and wildlife. In order to address what you’re seeing, it is important to make a correct diagnosis. 

You can find additional help identifying common pest problems by using the online diagnostic tools What insect is this? and What's wrong with my plant? or by sending a sample to the UMN Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic. You can use Ask a Master Gardener to share pictures and get input.

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Authors:  Marissa Schuh, Extension educator and Jill MacKenzie

Reviewed in 2022

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