How to Regrow Japanese Spring Onions in Water

This tutorial will show you how to regrow Japanese spring onions in water.  These spring onions are also labelled konegi or 小葱 in Japanese. Some regions labelled them as scallions, green onions or negi. All you need is a bunch of Japanese spring onions from the supermarket, a cup/glass, water and a window sill with some sunlight. I highly recommend you try this tutorial because of its high success rate. I have done this for almost a year, and it is never failed me even though I don’t have green fingers! These Japanese spring onions can grow relatively well without a lot of sunlight. During the gloomy rainy months where I get less sun, my spring onions still thrive. The success makes me motivated to grow them, because I love seeing the results.

Related Recipe:

• Green Onion Toast
• Green Onion, Corn & Shrimp Toast (upcoming)

See Also:

• How to Grow Spring Onions (Scallions)

The green onion in this shrimp toast was made with this tutorial’s of regrown spring onion!

Why regrow Japanese spring onions?

• Regrowing kitchen scraps is frugal – it helps me stretch my grocery dollar.
• Knowing that Japanese spring onions can be regrown cushions the higher price I am paying for them. They may be more expensive than local spring onions, but I like that they have a longer shelf life and makes a more suitable garnish for Japanese dishes.
• The regrown spring onions, being smaller and thinner, resembles our local spring onions, so it saved me at least a dollar to buy them! During festive seasons (such as CNY), having the regrown spring onions in my kitchen is useful as the supermarkets are crowded. I plan to grow a new batch tomorrow, just in time for the lunar new year a week’s time.
• Such simple gardening is a fun and gratifying hobby for busy people. It gives me a sense of satisfaction despite requiring little time or resources.
• My kitchen looks good with a few edible natural greens water rootings (mint, basil and pea sprouts) growing by the window sill. The greens subconsciously made me want to eat healthier and cook more!

What you need

• A bunch of Japanese spring onions from the supermarket. Why Japanese and not local spring onions? I had some misses with doing water cuttings with the latter, primarily because the bulb (the part supplying the plant food) is much smaller compared to the Japanese variety. With local spring onions, I had better success growing them in soil, but that takes up a lot more time time and effort. With the Japanese variety, I have yet to fail, even when the bulbs (such as the ones used for this tutorial) were smaller than usual.
• To ensure success, make sure you check the following. First, ensure that your bunch of spring onions have some roots at the end of the bulb. Second, the bigger the bulb, the bigger the regrown spring onions so choose bigger bulbs if available. Third, regrowing the spring onions as soon as you buy them (same day or latest the next day of purchase) guarantees the best results.
• Any type of jar, cup or glass – I recommend a clear see-through holder so that you can tell instantly whenever the water is getting dirty or dried up.

How to Regrow Japanese Spring Onions in Water

First buy a bunch of Japanese spring onion from the supermarket (I got mine from Donki). Make sure there are roots attached at the end of the bulbs. The bigger the bulbs, the bigger the regrowth. Mine (picture above) were considered smaller than usual (seasonal), but they still grew successfully.

Next cut about 5 to 8cm from the bottom of the stalks. I like to cut mine more generously as shown above. Do not cut too close to the roots. As a rule of thumb without measuring, always make sure you have some visible white part. There is no wastage here, because you will harvest the the entire stalk of spring onions.

Change the water every 2 to 3 days. Every week, quick rinse the roots under running water to make sure there is no tiny bugs or mosquito eggs hidden in the roots.

I got busy and did not take photos in between. In two weeks time, they grew really quickly and before I knew it, it was ready to harvest!

Harvesting Tips

• I regrew the Japanese spring onions once, and by the time the bulbs will become too small for a second round.
• One can harvest the sprouted green portion in between.
• Once fully grown as pictured, harvest everything all at once. Finely chopped the spring onions and store them in an air-tight container with a piece of paper towel; they last for a week in the fridge).
• The outer skin of the original stalk will look old and wrinkled – just peel them off revealing the fresh inner stalk.