Useful information: White Lisbon is a fast-growing salad onion with a long, white stem. Its flavour is considerably stronger than in scallions from the supermarket. Spring onions are perennial, tussock-forming plants that can reach growing heights between 30 and 80 cm. Compared to common onion plants, the bulb of the White Lisbon is not clearly differentiated from the leafage. Your spring onions will be ready for harvesting approximately three months after seeding. The whole plant is to be removed from the soil when harvesting. Alternatively, you can also only cut off the green parts and leave the tubers in the earth. That way, you will be able to harvest again already three to four weeks later. If you leave at least 2.5 cm of green on the plant, the onions will continue to grow and develop bigger tubers. Mostly, only the aromatic leaves are used in the kitchen. They are often used as raw food, chopped-up in salads or for refining soups and quark. Spread the chopped pieces onto the dish only shortly before serving. That way, the onion keeps its aromatic flavour. Spring onions are also well suited for preparing a Thai-Curry or other eastern dishes. See that you don’t cook, steam or fry the delicate stalks for too long or with too much heat, as their flavour might burn away. Scallions are more delicate than common onions. Kept in a fridge, they can be stored for about a week, after that, the tuber becomes woody and the stalks start to wither.
Natural location: Spring onion originated in the Orient and spread through Russia into Europe.
Successful cultivation: Sow the seeds from February until July about 1 cm deep into well-loosened soil. Spread the seeds in fine rows with a gap of 25 cm in between them. Depending on the ground temperature it will take about two to three weeks until germination. As soon as the seedling have grown big enough, the plants are to be pricked out and arranged in accordance with the mentioned space requirement.
The best location: Spring onions prefer light and sandy soil. Heavy soil can easily lead to water-logging. Only with longer periods with warm weather conditions, additional watering is necessary. Cultivation at a full sunny place will allow the onion to develop its rich flavour.
Optimal care: Spring onions have a low nutrient demand. If at all, only provide modest fertilizing, as giving a high dose of nutrients will lead to a boring flavour.
In the winter: If you aim to harvest the spring onions earlier, you might sow the seeds already during autumn. The plant can cope with frost and snow easily and will start to grow immediately around spring and reach a harvestable size very soon.