Crop type: Salad Onions
Allium cepa ‘White Lisbon’ AGM
Common name: Onion ‘White Lisbon’
Crop slug: salad-onions
This Allotment Pro editorial draft summarises the cited RHS cultivar profile and its linked crop guidance. Check the sources and adjust cultivation decisions for local conditions.RHS cultivar profile
1 - Overview
‘White Lisbon’ is a dependable, quick-growing salad onion with slim white stems, fresh green leaves and an excellent mild flavour. This long-established cultivar is well suited to regular succession sowings and can also be sown for overwintering, making it useful for extending harvests beyond the main spring and summer season.
Plants are normally pulled young before the base develops into a mature storage bulb. Their mild stems and leaves can be used raw or cooked, and a sowing may be ready in about eight weeks when conditions are favourable.
2 - Size
- Ultimate height
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- Ultimate spread
- 0.1–0.5 metres
- Time to ultimate size
- One year
- Habit
- Clump forming when closely sown
The crop is compact enough for rows in a kitchen garden or for containers. Because it is harvested young, its practical spread is governed by close salad-onion spacing rather than the size of a mature bulb onion.
3 - Growing conditions
- Suitable soils
- Chalk, clay, loam or sand
- Moisture
- Well drained
- Soil pH
- Alkaline or neutral
Prepare fertile soil that drains freely and does not remain saturated. Keep seedlings evenly moist during establishment and through dry weather, while avoiding waterlogging. Container compost should be productive but open enough for straight, clean stems.
4 - Position and hardiness
- Light
- Full sun
- Aspect
- South- or west-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- Hardiness
- H4 — hardy through average UK winters in a suitable site
A sunny, sheltered position helps the fast crop develop cleanly and is especially useful for overwintered sowings. Good drainage remains important during cold, wet weather.
5 - Colour and seasonal interest
| Season | Flowers | Foliage | Edible stems |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | — | Green | White and green |
| Summer | — | Green | White and green |
| Autumn | — | Green | White and green |
| Winter | — | Green on overwintered crops | — |
The familiar harvest has smooth white lower stems transitioning into fresh upright green leaves. ‘White Lisbon’ is grown for this crisp young crop rather than for flowers or fully rounded bulbs.
6 - Botanical details
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Native to Great Britain and Ireland
- No
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Name status
- Accepted
- RHS recognition
- Award of Garden Merit
Genus
Allium includes edible and ornamental onions, garlics and their relatives, typically recognised by onion-scented foliage and rounded flower heads. Allium cepa cultivars range from full-sized bulb onions to selections such as ‘White Lisbon’ that are harvested young as salad onions.
Safety
Alliums can be harmful to dogs and cats if eaten. Keep thinnings, damaged foliage and harvested onions away from pets.
7 - How to grow
Cultivation
Sow from March to September in drills about 1cm deep and 15cm apart. Seed can be sown fairly closely because this salad-onion crop does not normally need thinning. Make repeat sowings for a steady supply, and select later sowings for overwintering where site and weather allow. Keep rows weed-free and watered in dry spells, then pull the young onions after roughly eight weeks.
Propagation
Propagate from seed.
Suggested locations
- Allotment or kitchen garden
- Patio container
- Cottage or informal garden
- Sheltered edible border
Pruning
No pruning is required. Harvest plants whole when the white stems have reached a useful size.
Pests
Onion fly may damage the developing crop, and birds can disturb seedlings. Protect new sowings where these problems are active and firm loosened seedlings back into place.
Diseases
May be affected by onion white rot, leek rust, onion downy mildew and bolting. Rotate allium crops, use clean ground, maintain airflow and steady moisture, and avoid keeping plants in waterlogged soil.