Scallion
Allium fistulosum and young Allium cepa
Scallions, called spring onions in the UK, are slender onions harvested for their mild white stems and green tops. Bunching types never form bulbs and can be cut again and again from the same clump.
Photo: Farm · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Essential Care Requirements
Light
Full sun, Partial sun
Watering
Moderate
Keep the soil evenly moist for tender stems.
Soil
Fertile, well-drained soil; pH 6.0–7.0.
Temperature and humidity
-10–30 °C · Moderate humidity
Feeding
Feed every few weeks with a nitrogen-rich liquid feed.
Pruning and propagation
Propagate by seed, division
Cut tops 3 cm above the soil to let them regrow.
Safe for people but toxic to cats and dogs, like all onions.
Top Cultivation Tips
Sow a short row every 3 weeks from spring to late summer.
Regrow root ends from the store in water.
Perennial Welsh onions return every year.
Grows well in window boxes.
Common problems
Downy mildew
A water-mould disease that causes yellow patches on top of leaves and grey-purple fuzz underneath, spreading fast in cool, wet weather.
How to treat it →PestOnion fly
A small fly whose white maggots eat the roots and bulbs of onions, leeks and related crops, causing yellowing, wilting and rotting plants.
How to treat it →DiseaseRust
A fungal disease that forms orange, brown or yellow powdery pustules, mainly on leaf undersides.
How to treat it →PestThrips
Tiny, slender insects that rasp leaf and flower surfaces, leaving silvery streaks, curled leaves and distorted flowers.
How to treat it →
