Seed Saving 101: Green Onion Seeds

Green Onion seeds are like the friendship bread of gardening, because they are easy to grow harvest, and share! They are the perfect plant to grow from seed because they have a reliable germination and go from seed to harvest in just 50 days. Once they have flowered you can harvest the seeds and a few flowers can produce enough seeds to plant, for next year save, and share with fellow gardeners, or someone just getting into gardening. It’s the perfect gate way crop. 

A few green onion facts you should know before jumping in! They are cool weather crops, that means they will grow in whatever time of year is your cool season, for us here in Kentucky that is the spring and fall. For some that might be the winter months if you live in a very warm climate. Green onions are bi-annual crops meaning they will over winter for one year and then go to flower the next so if you are growing with the intent to harvest the seeds, plan a year ahead.  

When harvesting seeds from your vegetable garden you must be aware of the possibility of cross pollinating. If the flowers on your crop were pollinated by another similar plant the seeds will end up being a mutant variation of the two plants. For example, Broccoli can cross pollinate with kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and more so you have to be careful if you harvest broccoli seeds. The good news is that green onions have a very low risk of cross pollination so you can harvest their seeds without being worried something weird will sprout. If you plant your green onion seeds, they will sprout green onions.  

After you have harvested the seeds make sure they are dry and then store them in a closed container like a jar and keep them in a cool, dry, dark place until you are ready to use them. Green onion seeds can be viable for years but if you make it a habit to save your seeds every two years when the crops go to flower you will never have to keep them more than a few years at a time.