Nabechan
What's special about Nabechan
Sweet, mild, tender — the eating scallion. Great raw.
Growing this variety
Nabechan follows the same growing basics as Scallion / Bunching Onion. Variety-specific maturity above; everything else below applies to the whole Scallion / Bunching Onion family.
Germination
Spacing & depth
How to plant
Direct-sow in dense little rows — you're growing a curtain, not individual plants. Keep evenly moist. Pull whole clumps when pencil-thick, or cut like chives and let regrow. Succession-sow every 3 weeks for a constant supply.
Grower's tip
Perennial types (Welsh onion, He-shi-ko) never bulb — leave a clump in the corner of the bed and harvest for years.
Soil preferences
Deep, rich, well-drained loam.
6.0–6.8
2–3 in of compost worked into the bed each spring; side-dress heavy feeders (tomato, squash, brassica) monthly with balanced organic fertilizer.
Watering
1–2 in per week — steady is more important than heavy.
Drip or soaker at the base. Mulch 2–3 in to hold moisture and suppress weeds.
Overwatered: yellowing lower leaves, cracked fruit, blossom-end rot from calcium disruption. Underwatered: wilting mid-day, bitter or misshapen fruit, blossom drop.
Prefers top-watering — Top-water at the soil surface — keep the necks and crowns as dry as possible to prevent basal rot.
Temperature tolerance
70–85°F (21–29°C) for warm-season; 60–75°F (15–24°C) for cool-season
55–65°F (13–18°C)
Warm-season crops (tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, bean) are frost-tender. Cool-season (brassica, pea, spinach, radish) tolerate light frost, some (kale, spinach) sweeten after one.
Container growing
Possible with the right cultivar
5+ gal (19 L) for tomato/pepper/eggplant; 3 gal for compact bush varieties; 8+ in deep for greens
Look for 'patio', 'bush', or 'compact' varieties. Water containers daily in heat — they dry out fast.
Succession planting
Bush beans, salad greens, radishes, carrots: sow every 2–3 weeks. Long-season crops (tomato, pepper): one sowing per season.
Detailed harvesting
Pick fruiting crops young and often — over-mature fruit signals the plant to stop producing. Cut, don't yank, with pruners to protect the stem.
Post-harvest storage & preservation
Cure winter squash and onions in a warm airy spot 2 weeks, then store cool. Freeze most vegetables blanched. Ferment or can surplus.
Culinary, medicinal & other uses
Fresh eating, cooking, preserving. Save the biggest and best specimens as seed stock, not for the table.
Medicinal or traditional uses are shared for interest only — this is not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before using any plant medicinally.
Seed saving
Depends on species — tomato/pepper/bean/pea are self-pollinating; squash/cucumber/melon/brassica cross via insects.
Self-pollinators need little isolation (10 ft). Cross-pollinators need 1/4 mile, hand-pollination, or blossom bags.
Let one healthy plant fully ripen fruit or dry pods; ferment wet-seed fruits (tomato, cucumber, melon) 3 days to strip pulp before drying.
Your zone's planting calendar
Pick your USDA hardiness zone and we'll estimate the key dates for scallion / bunching onion in your area. These are regional averages — always check your own last-frost forecast before sowing.
My Nabechan Scallion / Bunching Onion notes
Nabechan Scallion / Bunching Onion seeds on hand
Track packets and loose seeds you already have. Private to your account.
Par level — leave at 0 for no alert. Anything below par shows on Seed Starting and your shopping list.
From your kitchen — grow scallion / bunching onion from what you already have
Grocery scallions regrow indefinitely — one bunch becomes an endless supply.
- 1Cut off the white bases with roots attached (leave 1–2 in of white).
- 2Stand them root-down in a jar with 1 in of water on a sunny windowsill; change water every 2 days.
- 3Green tops regrow within a week. After 2–3 harvests, plant into soil for a stronger crop.
- 4Alternatively, plant directly outdoors 1 in deep, 2 in apart.
Storage: Rotates forever — snip tops, let regrow, snip again.
Order more seeds
Running low? Reorder from one of these seed stores.
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