It’s always exciting to grow something yourself…especially when it’s inside your house and takes little to no effort. I laugh because even though I grow wine grapes for commercial use…nothing has excited me more than growing these green onions on my windowsill. It’s the little things.
I go through green onions like mad, I am always sprinkling them on something. And the ones you grow yourself have a much more pungent (in a good way) flavor than the green onions you buy at the store.
Here I only have four in a small drinking glass but you can fill it with as many as you want, they will all grow. And what’s more amazing is how quickly it happens. You will see growth in about 4-6 hours after placing the ends in water.
The growth you see here is after six days.
Chop your green onions to where you see here, right where the whitish-green part begins.
Place them in a small glass or jar with about an inch of water and place in a windowsill.
On the windowsill and this is two days of growth.
The roots get very long at the bottom of the glass.
And here is what they look like after harvest. This is so easy a great way to keep fresh green onions around.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Your kids will find it exciting too.
One Year Ago: Sweet Potato Chips with Lime
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Three Years Ago: Am I Using the Right Type of Baking Flour?
Four Years Ago: Not Acceptable ~ Dishwasher Disaster
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
So cool! I’m definitely into this!
Shannon says
Awesome! Just put some on the windowsill!
chris says
So, are u saying u can ‘reuse’ the same stalks and keep them growing? or is this a one time only growth for green onions?
Cathy says
You can reuse them.
corinne says
I’ve been doing this for a while now but I don’t use them so often, so I’ve got one that’s just about to flower!
Cat Davis - Food Family Finds says
I tried this last month and was shocked to see it worked. My problem is I buy green onions but only use about half. One bunch lasted about 6 weeks growing it in the window.
Susan says
I have been growing Rosemary like this, that great you can with green onions.
Katie says
How are you doing it with Rosemary??
Carolyn says
Please let us know how you grow rosemary like this!!!!! I plan to plan rosemary this spring but have a neighbor with a health bush.
Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says
Genius! I have some green onions in my fridge now and am definitely doing this.
Lisa Huff @ Snappy Gourmet says
Love this idea! Will definitely be trying this!
Caroline Murphy says
Love the idea!
So essentially do you buy 4 “starter” onions and grow and trim them over and over again?
Cathy says
You can put as many onions in a glass jar as you can fit, they will all grow. They do regrow after trimming.
Cathy says
I want to make clear that these green onions are just ones you buy at the grocery store in the produce department and not from a grow kit or onion set.
lisa says
have to try these. right now I am trying to regrow lettuce and bok choy from their ends
Megan's cookin. says
Love this idea and I’m going to give it a try! Thanks Cathy.
Connie says
I’ve tried this and it has saved me from throwing a lot of green onions away! I buy a bunch and more often than not, I do not use it all. It also prolongs the life of the ones I haven’t used yet.
kristy @ the wicked noodle says
I love this trick but I always forget about it! Thanks for the reminder, my friend 🙂
Katie says
I love growing green onions like this! 🙂 So simple yet so many people have no idea they can do this!
Ashley says
I just bought some green onions for a recipe I’m making tomorrow. Guess I know what I’ll be doing with the cut off ends!
Juanita says
Would you leave those long roots on to regrow or do you trim those down?
Cathy says
I’ve trimmed them slightly.
Anne from Olympia says
Yesterday morning I put four green onion ends in a glass of water and today, 36 hours later I have them growing! This is so fun! They had already started growing yesterday when I got home from work!! It’s the little things. 🙂
Margi in Ky says
I must be missing something or I am not fully recovered from the killer cold I have. Do the top parts re-grow or do you go on to plant these? Or is this just to save the bottom parts so hey don’t go to waste? What am I missing?
Cathy says
These are not planted in the ground, unless you wanted them to be. And yes the tops regrow.
Jill says
If those thrill you, I’m about to rock your world! LOL You can do the same thing with a whole HEAD of romaine lettuce! Just cut the leaves off in one chop, and put the “nub” of the head in a shallow dish of water. In a day or two (or three) the leaves will start to regrow. It is SO much fun!!!!
Wilma says
Wow, I love that idea. Gotta get it going. Thanks
Rachel says
Ours have been in the water for 2 days and we definitely see growth, but my water is cloudy. Question, do you add or replace the water, or leave the same water in the jar/glass?
Cathy says
Change the water as often as you like.
Debbie Lind says
I am going to try this tonight .
SallyT says
I just threw mine away.I guess I didn’t cut them down far enough.I do have a question though. .. What do you do with all of the roots?Do you use the whole onion…white part?
Thanks for sharing.
Cathy says
I trim them and then stick them back in the water to regrow.
Awmeme says
I’ve done this with romaine. I also want to say there are other veggies you can do this with but can’t remember them all at the moment. The one veggie I have trouble using before it goes “bad” ie get limp and wimpy is celery. However when I remember instead of tossing it I can re-crisp it if I cut the bottom of the stock off and put it in cold water. It then soaks up the water and re-crisps itself in less than 24 hours. Put dye in the water for kids to see a fun science experiment about veins and how liquids can flow through veins. You can even use it to relate to the veins in the body.