Description

Bunching Onion ‘White Lisbon’ is an heirloom variety from the 1700s. They have green tops and long white stems which grow in clusters or ‘branches’. Swellings may appear at the base of mature stems but these are not true bulbs. The flavour is mild and sweet when young but becomes more pungent as the plant matures. ‘White Lisbon’ bunching onions are heat and cold tolerant, and can grow in a wide variety of soils.
Bunching onions, also called ‘salad onions’, ‘Welsh’ onions (although they are originally from Asia), Japanese Leeks or, mistakenly, “shallots”, are perennial plants that do not form bulbs.
Bunching onions are the same plant sold in shops as “spring onions” (or “green onions”).
For “spring onions”, sow multiple seeds (4–8) into the same hole and don’t thin them (that is, don’t remove any seedlings from each clump). Harvest of “spring onions” begins at about 70 days (10 weeks) from transplanting. Sow further seeds every two–three weeks to extend harvest. This is called “succession sowing”.