Bunching onions
Amaryllidaceae · Direct sow · compact garden planning guide
| Bed spacing | 3 × 3 in (76.2 × 76.2 mm) |
|---|---|
| Minimum sun used | 6 hours per day |
| Root depth used | 200 mm (7.9 in) |
| Container volume used | 5 L |
| Spring preparation | -28 to -14 days from your last frost |
| Maturity estimate | 60–75 days from sowing |
Square-bed spacing, root-space and sun thresholds, spring offsets, germination check ranges, harvest occupancy and clearance days are selected planning settings. They are not universal cultivar rules or a guaranteed harvest schedule. Packet, nursery and local guidance take precedence.
Before planting
Choose a bunching or scallion cultivar for green stalks, not a storage-bulb onion.
Establish
Thin seedlings gradually; keep the shallow root zone from drying out.
Tend and harvest
Weed carefully around narrow stems and mark where early pulls created gaps. Pull selected green stalks at usable size; this plan does not include bulb curing or storage.
Plans using this crop
Fall planting · 6+ hours sun
Fall cilantro after summer bolting
Restart a cool-season leaf herb after a bolted summer crop, with separate scallion timing.
Cilantro for leaves · Bunching onions
Multiple beds · 6+ hours sun
Three beds with a crop-family ledger
Keep three botanical families in separate beds and retain a map for next-season choices.
Bunching onions · Small-root beets · Compact kale
References
- UMN Extension: Growing onions in home gardens
Bunching onions are grown for green stalks. This crop record excludes mature storage bulbs and their day-length and curing requirements.
- UMD Extension: Growing vegetables in containers and salad tables
Sun exposure, drainage, growing media and crop-specific minimum volumes; our thresholds are conservative planning settings.
- UMN Extension: Planting the vegetable garden
Cool and warm season establishment; weather and soil readiness matter. Minnesota month dates are not used as global dates.
- UMN Extension: Planting for fall harvest
Maturity is a cultivar-dependent estimate; our extra 14-day fall buffer is an explicit planning assumption.
Updated 2026-10-13. We have not field-tested the plan in your climate.