DiamondTrail Ranch
Green tops now, better bulbs with the right variety
A practical guide to regrowing onion greens from a kitchen base, planting onion sets and choosing the short-day bulbing onions Florida needs.
The direct answer
A rooted grocery-store onion base can reliably regrow useful green tops, but a large new storage bulb is not guaranteed. For a planned Florida bulb crop, plant short-day onions in fall; for easy green onions, use bunching types through the cool season.
Florida timing
UF/IFAS lists October for bulbing onions in Central Florida and August through March for bunching onions. Bulbing onions must be short-day varieties, while green onions are more forgiving during the cool season.
Gather before starting
Step by step
Save the bottom inch of an onion with the root plate intact, or begin with labeled sets or transplants.
Stand a kitchen base root-side down in a shallow dish with only the roots touching water.
Move it into soil once roots and fresh green growth appear; do not leave the whole base submerged.
Plant in full sun and well-drained soil with the rooted base covered but the neck and new growth above the soil line.
For bulb onions, choose a short-day variety and plant during the fall window for your part of Florida.
Space bulb onions roughly four to six inches apart; bunching onions can be closer and thinned for the kitchen.
Keep the soil evenly moist while roots establish, then water according to rainfall and actual soil moisture.
Harvest green tops as needed, or wait for bulb tops to bend and dry before curing a true bulb crop.
Kitchen-scrap regrowing is best understood as a green-onion project. The stored energy in the old base can push new leaves quickly, which is satisfying and useful.
Producing a large new bulb depends on variety, day length, timing and plant health. If bulbs are the goal, labeled short-day seed, sets or transplants provide a much clearer starting point.
A shallow dish is useful for waking up a dry root base, but long-term submersion encourages soft tissue and odor. Move the plant into draining soil once roots are active.
Keep the neck out of soggy soil and avoid containers that hold water after a storm.
Onions begin forming bulbs in response to day length. Long-day onions sold for northern gardens may grow leaves here without forming the bulb a Florida gardener expects.
Look for a clearly labeled short-day type and use the UF/IFAS calendar for your region rather than copying a northern spring-planting schedule.
Full sun, drainage, steady moisture and weed control matter more than a complicated setup. Label what you planted so you can compare kitchen bases, sets and bunching onions honestly.
If plants develop rot, severe leaf spotting or unexplained decline, remove the affected plant and ask your county Extension office for identification help before treating the whole bed.
Supporting sources
These are the public sources we used for timing, safety and Florida-specific context. Open the newest guidance for your location.
Keep learning with us
The written guide gives you the checklist. Our videos show the plants, mistakes, systems and family work behind it.
Try another project
This page shares general information and our Central Florida family-homestead experience. Weather, soil, water, plant material and county conditions differ. Check current UF/IFAS guidance, labels and the appropriate qualified source for important decisions.