Green Onion Landrace in Mississippi

I just posted current images of my green onion grex. I harvest from these regularly. I wonder if better quality scissors or knife would help prevent the yellowing that follows where they are cut.


These are current images of my green onion grex. I’ve been eating them regularly. I will be adding some fish fertilizer soon. I will pull all the small diameter ones out before I fertilize — because I am selecting for low input.

I will have to wait until after a rain so the ground will soften up enough to get a clean pull.

I’ve also figured out a way around the yellow tip problem after a cut. I’ve discovered it’s better to cut the onion leaf as short as possible. If I cut a leaf at the half way mark, it will let dirt get inside it. It also loses texture quality. It’s better to cut the whole leaf off nearly. Then it seems to be encouraged to create new leaves.

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This is the perfect time right now for established green onion harvesting where I live. It’s cold enough at night for them to keep their taste quality yet hot enough to grow back very fast after a cutting. I have been chowing down. I just had green onions mixed in cheese grits.

Anyways, I have recently discovered or “rediscovered” an opportunity in these genetics for selection. I’ve noticed some of these leaves, when you remove them from the plant, they will grow back. The ones that grow back lose their taste and texture quality. Others, however, stop growing and divert their energy into creating new leaves that are tasty and good textured.

Right now, I am beginning to become aware of it and thinking of ways to efficiently select for this while at the same time enjoying the harvest. Just an FYI for those interested in this plant. It has been probably the species that I have eaten and harvested more from than any other, due to its ability to grow for me and taste.

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Additionally, I read that some of the green onions sold at the store are not real green onions. They are onion tops of other types of onions like immature bulb onions. I have tasted store green onions from many stores. I have noticed a taste difference between different stores at different times of the year.

I have also tried bulb onion tops from my own garden, and I can say from my own experience that the bulb onion tops I have tried cannot compete with green onions grown from seed. It’s not even close.

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Pictured above is my 2024 green onion selection. These were already pruned, top and bottom, when the pictures were taken. Two groups were selected independently of each other due to being planted at different dates, and as a result, different level of maturity.

Here is another selection of leeks that were growing with the green onions.

Here is another picture of one of the groups of green onion selection. I noticed 2 of them had the beginnings of a flower.

Here is the consolidated green onion and leek selection. This shrunk the space needed to continue this project from 1-1/2 beds to 3/4 of 1 bed. I also moved them to a different bed entirely to avoid the possibility of some loser zombies coming back and mixing in with the winners.

The Hunger Games are over! As far as I can remember, I didn’t fertilize these, including the bulb onions from a different thread. Now, I have given them fish fertilizer. I want to make sure what I select for can grow well without fertilizer first, before I use fertilizer.

Also pictured below is my surviving 2023 green onion selection in the 2 rectangle pots. They look hungry so I gave them the losers to eat.


Yes, I looked at the varieties I recorded, and all of them are saying bunching onion when I research them. I might have put in a few other varieties of bunching onion, but I can’t remember. There are at least 5 or 6 in this mix, probably.

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