Whether you’re whipping up an Asian feast, garnishing a salad or throwing together an omelette, spring onions are a great vegetable to always have on hand. But like a bag of store-bought herbs, it can be difficult to use the entire bunch and they often end up in the bin.
Spring onions are easy to regrow at home and just like herbs, can be snipped as and when you need them.
All you need is a bunch of spring onions from the grocery store, a pot and some potting mix.
Cut the spring onions about two to three centimetres from the root. Use up the stems in whatever you are cooking, then simply plant the root pieces in a pot with potting mix. The roots should go into the soil with a little bit of the stem still visible above the soil. Water regularly and let it grow. Once they are fully grown you can snip at the base as you need them. Keep the roots in the soil and they will continue to regrow about four more times before you will need to start the process again. You can also let one of the spring onions continue to grow, flower and produce seeds.
If you don’t have any soil, you can also grow them in water.
Cut the spring onions about two to three centimetres from the root. Stand the root-end of your cutting in a small jar of water. Keep in a sunny part of your house or outside on a balcony. Keep roots submerged in water and change the water once a week.
Related links
- Watch our growing tomatoes from seed video
- Learn how to compost at home with our short video
This blog was originally posted in February 2019 and was updated in April 2020.