Hello,

My wife and I are growing bunching onions. According to the way she learned to grow them growing up, we planted them densely from starts in 3x3 cells. We then thinned these out several weeks later by digging them up and replanting them in rows with more individual space. My wife, according to what she learned from her grandad in Northeast China had me trim the roots on each onion before transplanting them!

So I was wondering- has anyone ever heard of doing this simply as a matter of cultural practice? There was no particular reason for doing it other than the idea that it is supposed to make them grow back thicker and bigger eventually. Right now the plants are are scraggly looking, with limp and somewhat yellow leaves, but I can tell they are still growing and will probably be in good shape after several weeks. Does anyone know what the significance of trimming the roots is, if it actually accomplishes anything? Sadly this is the first time growing bunching onions for me, so I have no way to tell if they do better or not.