Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Rakkyo
Allium chinense
Rakkyo is the Japanese pickling scallion behind rakkyozuke, grown for a crisp, strongly onion-flavored bulb that reaches full pickling size in its second or third year. Its growth cycle runs opposite to summer: green leaves grow from autumn through late spring, then die back as the bulb forms and finishes drying by early summer, so the plant is dormant through the hottest months and needs no summer water. Leaves, flowers and young seedpods are also edible, and reported yields in its home range run 15 to 20 tonnes per hectare at 60 to 90 days from planting to first harvest.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 6–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist
Vertical layer
Rhizosphere- Soil pH
- 5.5–6
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 12 in
- Mature spread
- 12 in
- Plant spacing
- 4 in
- Root type
- Bulb
- Spread pattern
- None
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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