Seven-year-old onion, seven-year-old onion Allium fistulosum is an onion vegetable, also known as wind garlic. This plant is not found in the wild, and the current form of cultivation has been selected in China, probably from the species found in the mountainous regions of northern and central Mongolia and southern Siberia. In Europe, it probably appeared in the Middle Ages.
A seven-year-old onion is a durable, perennial plant.It can grow in clumps, like chives, and overwinter in the ground. The fleshy tubular leaves are used as the part. This onion does not form the typical thickening, although some varieties can be used in their entirety because, depending on how it is grown, you can get a long, bleached part like the season.It is resistant to low temperatures and can grow in one place for several years. The whole plant is a rich source of nutrients, i.e. vitamin C, B vitamins, carotenes, sugars, amino acids and contains a lot of flavonoids, mainly kaempferol and quercetin, with antioxidant properties. These substances are present in both the leaves and the thickening.
In Poland, the seven-year-old is grown mainly in allotment and home gardens. Chives appearing early in spring are most often eaten. Its leaves are mild in taste, less spicy than onions or chives. Due to the mild taste, the seven-year-old is a great addition to all kinds of dishes, salads and sandwiches.
Currently, there are several varieties of seven-year-old plants on the market: the cultivar 'Kroll' (Plantico Zielonki) produces plants with a large number of pseudo-stems and leaves per plant, of medium length green color. This variety is characterized by a low tendency to knock out into inflorescence shoots and can be used for harvesting chives in spring, when they reach a height of20-30 cm. The second harvest of the regrown leaves is carried out after a month. The leaves can also be harvested successively until August. Later we leave them on the plant so that it can winter well.
The variety of 'Sprintes' ('Torseed') creates plants of lofty habit, up to 75 cm high, chives with a blue-green color, diameter up to 2.5 cm. The onion part is long, of similar thickness along the entire length, it can be bleached to obtain a longer bleached part.
How to cultivate
A seven-year-old is a low temperature resistant plant that can be grown in a variety of ways. The simplest cultivation method is to establish a multi-year plantation by sowing seeds directly into the field, from seedlings or vegetatively propagated by dividing tufts. Then we only use the leaves. New varieties introduced into cultivation in recent years allow the harvest of whole plants with a green colored stem 40-70 cm long, ending with a white onion 1/4 to 1/3 of the total length of the plant.It is important to choose a lighter, airy soil, as it facilitates the bleaching of plants. A seven-year-old plant grown from seedlings gives an earlier crop. It can then be planted singly or double, for the collection of whole plants. In Japan, seven-year-old seedlings are planted in furrows deep. 15 cm with a 9 cm distance in a row between the plants. During the growing season, the plants are sprinkled with soil 3 or 4 times and harvested after bleaching the false stem.
