Wondering what to do with that sprouted onion in your produce basket? What if I could show you how to use it to grow a brand new onion in your garden?
Do you ever find an onion that has been at the bottom of the pile and discover it has started sprouting? Whenever I would find a sprouted onions, I used to get so upset that I had wasted food.
Then one day I started wondering whether I could use that sprouted onion to grow a new onion. We often re-grow green onions, so I figured there had to be a way.
I started researching and tinkering and figured out how to plant sprouted onions in my garden to grow brand new onions. Over the years, I’ve also found that you can also cut the center out of onions that haven’t started fully sprouting and regrow them! Just be very careful not to cut through the roots of the onion.
Of course, you can get some onion seeds and grow onions from seed, but it’s so much fun to re-grow sprouted onions. The process to regrow a sprouted onion to plant in your garden is surprisingly simple.
How to Plant a Sprouted Onion in Your Garden
Supplies
- Sprouted onion
Tools
- Small bowl
Instructions
- Cut carefully into the onion lengthwise to expose the center sprout. Be careful not to cut through the root of the onion.
- Remove the outer layers of the onion, until you just have the center sprout remaining. As long as the outer layers of the onion are still firm, you can eat them. If they're soft, discard them. If there are multiple sprouts like this one, separate them.
- Place the onion stem into a cup or bowl of water, and leave it there until roots start to sprout. These are the beginnings of roots. I like to leave them in the water until they're a bit longer before transplanting the onion sprout.
- Once you have roots developed, transplant the onion into the ground or a container full of good potting soil. I didn't separate these ones, and they didn't grow right. Take my lesson and separate all of the sprouts before planting.
- Let them grow through the season. You can usually tell that the onion is done growing when you see the bulb emerge from the soil, or the green sprout starts to wilt and brown. If you leave them too long, they'll soften and rot. If you pull them at the right time, you'll have beautiful onions that you grew practically for free!
Be sure to check out Square Foot Gardening to learn how to grow more in less space and Backyard Gardening on an Acre (More or Less) to learn how to grow your own food in your backyard.
