As part of the allium family, spring onions; also known as salad onions or scallions are easy to grow and can also be grown in containers. They have a strong and tangy flavour adding heat to salads as well as stir-fry and other hot dishes.

You can start sowing spring onion seeds in early spring indoors or sow directly outdoors from March-April. You can dedicate rows for your spring onions, however being quite a small plant, they can be fitted in with other compatible plants, as long as they have enough space and light and are kept weed-free. 

It is best to hand-weed around growing spring onions and water regularly during dry spells.

Sow thinly little and often for a continuous crop throughout the summer; you can thin them out if necessary, once the seedlings appear.

For early or late sowings, choose a more hardy variety and you can sow them indoors. Alternatively, late sowings will be slow-growing over-wintering and be ready to harvest the following spring.

Spring onions are fairly quick to grow and are mostly trouble-free but they do grow best in rich, well-drained soil.

Spring onions will be ready to pull up when they are approximately 6 inches tall. If they are left longer for the bulb to grow larger, the taste will be stronger.