White Spear Onion is a bunching onion that grows as a compact, open-pollinated cultivar within hardy zones 6, 10. From transplants, these large, heat-resistant onions reach harvestable size in just 65 days, making them a quick addition to summer and fall gardens. Their frost-hardy nature means you can plant them in late summer for spring harvest, extending your growing season well beyond what typical onions allow.
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Moderate
6-10
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Moderate
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Large, heat-resistant bunching onions that thrive in compact spaces and handle temperature swings with remarkable resilience. The real appeal lies in their flexibility: sow in early spring for summer harvest, or plant in July or August to overwinter for spring bunches. At 65 days from transplants, they're fast enough to squeeze into succession plantings, yet hardy enough to survive winter in well-drained soil.
White Spear Onions are primarily eaten as fresh bunching onions or scallions. The white and light green portions are used raw in salads, as garnishes, and in salsas where their mild onion flavor adds brightness without overwhelming other ingredients. When grown using the deep-transplanting method described in professional cultivation, they develop a thicker blanched white shaft, making them particularly suitable for dishes where the tender white portion is the main attraction, such as stir-fries or grilled whole as a side dish.
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Sow 6, 8 seeds per cell in 72-cell trays at the same time you would seed bulbing onions for transplant. Keep soil at 50, 75°F for germination. Start seedlings indoors 4, 6 weeks before your intended transplant date.
Transplant seedling clusters 6, 8 inches apart in rows 18 inches apart once seedlings are established and soil is workable. For a thicker blanched white portion (Negi-style scallions), wait until seedlings are 8, 18 inches tall and pencil-thick, then transplant 6 inches apart into rows 24 inches apart, dibbling holes about 6 inches deep. Leave only 1, 2 inches of leaves above the soil surface; do not firm the soil around transplants, allowing irrigation or rain to fill in naturally.
Loosen White Spear Onions from the soil with a fork or underminer, then gather carefully. Wash thoroughly and hydrocool before storage or use. Harvest when plants reach desired size; at 65 days from transplants, they should be full-sized bunching onions with well-developed white and light green sections.
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