Onions are best grown in beds, while greenhouses are often built for green onions. Based on 2 acres of land for cultivation, we purchase about 1.5 kg of seeds, based on the calculation of 700-800 grams per one hundred square meters.
To grow onions, you need a sunny place (the soil must warm up quickly), in as a last resort– partial shade, but definitely do not plant it in lowlands.
Methods of growing onions
There are three bow methods. The first and most rarely used is the vegetative one, with the help of which turnips are grown, skipping seed reproduction.
In the second case, onions are an annual crop, grown from seeds in the first year. Onions can also be grown from sets. This is about perennial culture. This means that thickened sowing is done first, resulting in onion sets, which then serve as planting material.
Each of these methods has its pros and cons. For example, onion sets have the shortest growing season (80-90 days) and ripen earlier, he is less susceptible to disease.
Another method gives good harvest, and the onion itself turns out dense and is well stored in winter. This method is good for northern regions with short summers.
If you grow onions from seeds, then you don’t have to spend time and money growing seedlings, and you don’t risk losing it during winter storage.
Onion growing technology - preparation
How to prepare seeds. Before sowing seeds, you need to check them for germination. To do this, you need to fill them with water, shake and remove all those that float. Before sowing, the seeds, wrapped in gauze, are immersed in hot water(45-50 degrees), and after that another one - in the cold. After this, the seeds are wrapped in a cloth moistened warm water, and left for a day, after which the seeds should spend another two days in water at room temperature.
How to prepare the soil. When deciding to grow onions, remember that they thrive best on slightly alkaline and neutral soils, which means that acidic soil will have to be limed first. The site itself must begin to be prepared in the fall. You will need to add 1-2 buckets of humus to the soil (you can use rotted compost) and fertilizers such as nitrophoska, superphosphate and wood ash (one tablespoon each).
Crop rotation. Another nuance is that it is ideal to plant onions after tomatoes, potatoes, legumes and cabbage. But it’s not worth growing onions where they have already been growing for at least three years. Also try not to plant onions after carrots, cucumbers and garlic.
Planting and caring for onions
Onion planting depth – 2 centimeters, distance between rows – 15 cm, and in the row itself the distance between sprouted plants should be one and a half centimeters. After this, the onions will need to be thinned. To make a set, leave 3-5 cm between plants, and 12 cm for bulbs. There is no need to hill up the onions. Onions need to be sown as early as possible, since the onions can withstand even frosts of -5 degrees.
It is necessary to water the onions once every 2-3 days until shoots appear.. And then you can move on to watering once a week. You need to stop watering the onions a month before harvesting, then the bulbs will ripen better.
Don’t forget to also fertilize the onions 1-3 times during the entire growing season.. When growing onions, be prepared to deal with pests. You will need a teaspoon copper sulfate, diluted in 10 liters of water with the addition liquid soap(1 tbsp). This solution is used to spray feathers and protects well against fungus. On square meter you need half a liter of solution.
Cleaning and harvest
You need to start harvesting onions when the leaves begin to dry out a little. The collected bulbs are dried in a dry room and only then the feathers are trimmed, keeping the neck 2-4 cm long. It is advisable to store onions at a temperature of 0…+1 degrees. At proper care The onion harvest reaches 200-400 kg per hundred square meters.
Costs and income
Investments in such a business are small: for seeds, fertilizers, necessary tools you will need about 5 thousand rubles. By selling your harvest yourself or simply selling it in bulk to a store or restaurant, you can get 30-40 thousand rubles from two acres of land.
It is worth noting that growing onions will allow you not only to provide yourself with this healthy vegetable, but also earn extra money. And in the future it can be expanded.
Hello, dear friends!
Today I want to tell you how grow onions from sevka.
In order to get a large onion, you need to use sets (onions) measuring 1.5 - 2.5 centimeters.
Preparing seedlings for planting:
Before planting the onion sets, it is necessary to sort through and remove all bare, dried, damaged, diseased, cut, and sprouted onions. Those that remain must be sorted by size so that our shoots are uniform. You need to plant the large ones in the garden bed first, then the medium ones, and finally the smallest ones.
When using your own onion sets, which were stored at a temperature of 18 - 20 degrees, you do not need to warm them up additionally. If planting material purchased, then 2 - 3 days before planting you must warm up the onion sets next to heating devices at a temperature of 30 - 35 degrees. Another type of processing can also be carried out. Before planting, onion sets should be poured into a bucket and poured into it for 1 - 2 minutes. hot water(65 - 70 degrees), and then lower it for 1 minute in cold water. If this is not done, then most likely the onion set will go to waste.
After warming up, the bulbs need to be soaked in a nutrient solution. In 10 liters of water, dilute 1 tablespoon of nitrophoska or nitroammophoska or any other complex fertilizer. Mix well and place our bulbs in the solution in a fabric bag for 10 - 12 hours. Next, without washing the onion set, place it in a solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) for 5–10 minutes. This is done to prevent fungal diseases. Next we need to wash our onions. clean water and after that you can start planting.
Preparing the bed:
In order to grow onions, it is better to prepare a bed for sowing in the fall. To do this, you need to remove all plant residues, sprinkle with a strong disinfectant solution of copper sulfate (2 tablespoons of copper sulfate or copper oxychloride per 10 liters of water), at the rate of 1 - 2 liters per 1 square meter. The best soil for onions - neutral, so on acidic soil you need to add chalk or dolomite flour (1 cup per square meter of bed).
Before frost, the garden bed needs to be watered, and in winter, it would be a good idea to clear it of snow for better freezing of the soil. In such a bed, next year, onions are less susceptible to diseases and pests.
in spring minerals and organic fertilizers depending on the composition of the soil.
For loamy soil, add 3–4 kilograms of humus or compost, 4–5 kilograms of peat, 2 tablespoons of superphosphate, 1 teaspoon of urea per 1 square meter.
For clay soil, add 5–6 kilograms of humus or compost, 5–6 kilograms of peat, 8–9 kilograms of coarse river sand, 2 tablespoons of superphosphate, 1 teaspoon of urea per 1 square meter.
For sandy soil, add 1 bucket of humus or compost, 1 bucket of peat, 2 buckets of loamy or clay soil, 3 tablespoons of superphosphate, 1 tablespoon of urea per 1 square meter.
After adding the necessary components to the soil, you need to dig the bed to the depth of a spade bayonet, level it with a rake, lightly compact it and disinfect it with a warm solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water). Water at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 square meter of bed.
The prepared bed should be covered with a clean film and left for 5–6 days.
Landing:
Typically, in the southern regions, onion sets are planted in the 3rd ten days of April, and in other regions - in the 1st ten days of May. The soil temperature should be 12 degrees or higher, otherwise the onion sets will turn into shoots. You also can’t delay planting, since due to lack of moisture and excessively warm weather, the onions will develop slowly.
Before planting, grooves are made in the garden bed at a distance of 20–25 centimeters from one another and 4 centimeters deep. Spray them with water at room temperature (20 degrees) from a watering can with a fine strainer. The bulbs should be planted at a distance of 8 -10 centimeters from one another and sprinkled with soil so that the layer of soil above the shoulders of the bulbs is no more than 2 - 2.5 centimeters, since if planted deeper, the bulb will change shape and its ripening will be delayed. If planted shallowly, the bulbs may become bare and their growth will stop, especially in dry and hot weather.
Caring for onions and turnips:
Shoots usually appear on the 5th – 6th day after planting. To grow onions from sets, you need to properly care for it all season. Care consists of watering, weeding, loosening, fertilizing and processing.
Watering: During the first 2.5 months, onions are very demanding on watering (May, June and half of July). In May, especially in dry and hot weather, it needs to be watered every week, spending 6 - 10 liters of water per 1 square meter. In June and the first half of July - every 8 - 10 days, 10 - 12 liters per 1 square meter. In the second half of July, if it is very hot, you can water 2 times in 8-10 days, 5-6 liters per 1 square meter of bed. You need to water carefully from a watering can, trying not to put the leaves on the soil. Watering should be stopped completely 15–18 days before harvesting. To prevent our onions from getting powdery mildew, they should not be watered with cold water, below 18 degrees.
Weeding: weeds should not be allowed to appear in the garden bed, as they create high humidity in the garden and this creates favorable conditions for the development of fungal diseases. If you grow onions in beds overgrown with grass, the necks of the bulbs will be juicy, which will prevent the onions from storing well. Weeds must be removed from moist soil when they reach a size of 3 to 5 centimeters.
Feeding: to grow onions, during the growing season you need to do 2 - 3 feedings.
The first fertilizing should be done when the leaves grow weakly and are light in color. To do this, dilute 1 glass of mullein or bird droppings and one tablespoon of urea in 10 liters of water. Watering should be carried out at the rate of 2 - 3 liters per 1 square meter of bed.
The second feeding should be done 15 days after the first. To do this, dissolve 2 tablespoons of nitrophoska in 10 liters of water and pour 5 liters of solution per 1 square meter.
The third feeding should be done when the bulbs grow to a size of 3 - 4 centimeters. To do this, dilute 2 tablespoons of superphosphate in 10 liters of water and water 5 liters per 1 square meter of bed.
I have been growing onions using my own method for several years now. Neighbors come to marvel at my turnip onions and I am happy to share my experience with them. There are no special secrets here: labor-intensive physical labor and unimaginable care. You will just need to hill it several times during the entire ripening period of the onion. You can see this in my photos. On the Internet you can read the most unusual growing methods; I am especially surprised by fertilizers and fertilizing. I will definitely say that onions do not like fresh manure and constant moisture. I’m not going to criticize those who haven’t even held a shovel in their hands, I’ll just tell you how I grow onions. I plant onions in early May, when the ground dries out and warms up.
I dig up the bed for sowing onions, break up all the clods of earth, for this I walk over it with a rake and scatter some ash. I bought onion sets, sorted them out, cut off the top ends with scissors and immersed the entire onion in a pre-prepared bright pink manganese solution. I have it there for about half an hour. I pour the used solution into a watering can and, diluting it with water, water the currant bushes (this is only good for currants.)
I draw out a bed of onions with a stick special for this purpose on the line for planting the sets, a gap of 15 cm. Then in each line with the same stick I make indentations every 15 cm to a depth of 2-3 cm. I lower the sets into these holes with the cut end up. Then I fall asleep and lightly clap my hand. In dry weather I make sure to water it. After 3-5 days, the onion sprouts as an even green plume; I make sure to water it every evening. I carefully hill up the grown onions, and at the same time remove the weeds. I carry out the hilling two more times, as the greenery grows. An important condition is that if you want to get a large turnip, you don’t need to tear off the central feathers, otherwise some fans will tear off everything for the salad and wait for new ones to appear, and besides, the onion will grow gigantic.
In July, onion feathers noticeably grow, becoming long and juicy. I am carrying out the third hilling of the onion. And it seems that there are no more worries with him. When watering, I check how it feels. No yellowing, lodging, or bolting. For prevention, I water the onions with a pink solution of manganese once every two weeks. In the bottom photo you can see how juicy the onion feathers are and the moment when I raked the soil from the neck of the onion. Now the turnip will be big, very big!
At the end of July I prepare the onions for final ripening; now the task is not to grow the feather, but to allow the development of the turnip itself. To do this, I scrape off the soil from each neck of the bulb, but not too much. The bulb itself will do the rest as soon as it feels free. You will immediately notice this transformation; in just a few days the onion will become larger. But the feathers in the garden bed will begin to lie down, this is a sign that the onions are ready for harvest. Green feathers can be collected and used for food; they are not bitter at all, and are quite suitable for many dishes. I prepare okroshka, salads, and most I freeze it along with dill in the form of briquettes for the winter. I’ll tell you about this and show you in the next topic. I stop watering so that the onions don’t rot. I usually harvest onions before August 8-10. I do this early in the morning, in sunny, dry weather. I don’t dig up the onion, I just pull it out by the feather and leave it to dry in the garden. During the day I stir it so that it is better ventilated. In the evening, I trim the feathers and take the onions under the shed, where I scatter them for further drying. Onions store well, lasting until the next harvest. Absolutely without any chemicals and environmentally friendly.
It's time we talked, perhaps, about growing onions, about one of the very first plants that people began to grow, because it is believed that onions were “cultivated” approximately 4 thousand years ago.
It is almost impossible to imagine any kitchen in the world without this “tear-tear” vegetable, because many dishes without it will seem bland and tasteless.
And although there are a great many types of onions, each of them finds its admirers. This and onion, and more gentle and delicate; perennial and can decorate our summer cottage just as well as flowers, but, for example, slime successfully combines the taste of both onion and garlic.
I have not listed all types of onions; there are many more of them, and with a variety of flavors, onions are quite capable of conquering the most demanding gourmet.
A little history
The onion was well known back in Ancient Egypt. On the paintings of the tombs, and the oldest of them dates back to approximately 2800 BC, images of a bow were found.
The Egyptians valued it very highly as a very effective remedy for widespread pestilence and, therefore, grew onions everywhere. It was necessarily included in the daily diet of slaves who built the pyramids in order to avoid various epidemics, since their number reached up to 100,000 people, and on a relatively small construction site.
And Roman legionnaires believed that consuming large amounts of onions increased their energy and made the warrior fearless.
The ancient Germans crowned brave warriors who distinguished themselves in battle with onion flowers.
During the era of the Crusades, the onion had such a high healing and occult authority that the French knights even exchanged their prisoners with the Saracens for 8 onions of each of them.
And the ancient doctors, not without reason, believed that there is not a single disease in which onions, if prepared in the proper way, would not benefit the patient.
In Rus', onions also contributed invaluable help during the years of terrible epidemics - plague, cholera, typhoid. To prevent any infection from entering the room and to purify the air, bunches of onions were hung in living quarters.
Useful properties of onions
In preparation for writing an article about onions, I re-read a large number of literature about him and was simply amazed at how much useful properties at the onion. Of course, I knew before that he had medicinal properties, but in such quantities!!!
Now I really regret that as a child I really didn’t like onions and almost didn’t eat them, as did probably many other children.
I will try to briefly note at least some of the invaluable properties of onions: wound healing, anti-influenza, anti-burn, expectorant, diuretic, laxative, antiscorbutic, antiarrhythmic, antimicrobial, antifungal, antisclerotic, antithrombotic, antispasmodic and hypotensive, anthelmintic, antihemorrhoidal.
Onions can be of great benefit to people with disorders of the circulatory system and edema of any origin, as it is able to stimulate and regulate cardiac activity and the secretory activity of such organs as the bronchi, liver, kidneys, and pancreas.
Onions are also valuable because they reduce the prothrombin index (blood clotting), cholesterol and blood sugar levels; normalizes blood pressure, increases the elasticity and strength of blood vessels.
Modern medicine has discovered numerous carbohydrates in onions - sugars, pectin substances, fiber, proteins, a large number of various vitamins, minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, zinc, selenium, sulfur), phytoncides.
WITH therapeutic purpose onions can be used in any form: raw, boiled, baked, dried onions, fresh leaves, outer shells (scales) and seeds, in the form of juice, in the form of gruel, as well as decoctions and infusions.
I have listed, my dear readers, only a small fraction of the beneficial properties that onions have in order to show you what a treasure we grow in our gardens.
But it should also be noted that onions also have their contraindications. For example, onions are contraindicated for many diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, biliary and urinary systems, since essential oils contained in it can aggravate the course of the disease.
Persons suffering from these diseases should be careful when ingesting fresh onion pulp and its whole juice, but at the same time they can successfully use baked or boiled onions.
Basic requirements for growing onions
In this section, we will consider the general conditions that must be met when growing this plant. Although onions are not the most fastidious crop, they still require attention.
It is important for him that the soil in the beds is loose and nutritious. It is best to set aside an open, well-lit area for planting onions, since the plant reacts sharply to the intensity and duration of lighting. The length of daylight hours is one of important conditions when growing it.
Onions feel great and grow well when low humidity air. But the soil should be moderately moist. Watering onions is important at a time when mass regrowth of feathers and bulb formation occurs, and already at the end of the growing season from excess moisture is not welcome, as it will delay the ripening of onions and reduce its keeping quality.
In those areas where groundwater come close to the surface, it is better not to plant onions.
He also really does not like weeds, so onion plantings must be weeded regularly.
It is best to make beds for onions in those places of our summer cottage where cucumbers, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes grew in the previous season - those crops for which we usually apply large doses of organic fertilizers.
In no case should you plant onions in an area that has been occupied by any type of onion, since: firstly, various pathogenic bacteria and other microorganisms, as well as those that “specialize” in this crop, may remain in the ground; secondly, the soil in these places is already depleted of the nutrients that are necessary for the growth of onion plants.
It is also not advisable to plant onions after plants such as garlic, carrots. Onions can be planted in the same place no earlier than after 3 years, and best of all after 5 years.
Onions do not like to grow in acidic soils, because in this case the plants absorb nutrition much worse and are more often affected by such a terrible disease as false powdery mildew(peronosporosis). Having fallen ill, the plant weakens and can no longer fully fight pests.
Preparing the area for planting onions
It is best to prepare the soil for planting onions in the fall. We dig up the soil to a depth of 15-20 cm, after adding well-rotted manure or peat manure compost.
It is not advisable to apply fresh manure, as this can cause onion diseases; also, weed seeds can get into the soil with manure and it will not be so easy to get rid of them later. Also, adding fresh manure will provoke increased growth of the above-ground part of the plant, which is why the bulbs will not be able to fully ripen.
If the soil on your site is acidic, then in order to get a good harvest of onions, you need to lim the soil in the fall. But here it is necessary to take into account the fact that it is extremely undesirable to simultaneously add manure and lime to the soil, since the nitrogen content in the fertilizer is reduced.
To avoid this, it is better to add dolomite flour, ground limestone, ground chalk, and wood ash to the soil instead of lime.
In the spring, we will only have to apply mineral fertilizers and it is better to apply them not all at once, but in several stages, since onions have a very negative attitude towards the high concentration of mineral fertilizer salts.
Therefore, we apply half of the established dose when digging the ground before planting, and distribute the second half between 2-3 additional feedings during the growing season.
Onion
In the previous sections we got acquainted with general conditions that must be followed to be successful growing onions. Now it’s time to consider the requirements of specific species, of which there are a large number, but among our gardeners several types are most widespread, these are: onions, shallots, spring onions, chives, slime onions, leeks, multi-tiered onions, wild garlic.
Let's begin our acquaintance with the onion family with the most famous species, which is grown by all summer residents - onions. More often onions are grown from onion sets, which can be purchased at gardening stores or grown yourself from seeds.
Breeding seedlings is a rather labor-intensive process, because you not only need to put a lot of effort into growing it, but also then properly preserve it.
Therefore, I never dare to grow onions from seeds, although I would like to try. In the next article we will look in detail at the agricultural technology of growing onions from seeds, but now let's talk about how to grow good onions from sets.
Preparing for landing
If we bought a set in a store, then immediately after purchase we need to dry it in any warm place, spreading it in a thin layer, but not on a radiator.
If you have a seedling that you grew yourself and which was stored at a low temperature (below 18ºC), then it needs to be warmed up in order for the growth processes to begin.
It is best to warm up the seedlings in several stages: first, we keep them at a temperature of 20ºC for 15-20 days; then we raise the temperature to 30-40ºС, but only for 8-10 hours.
Warming up is necessary not only to stimulate growth, but also to prevent the onion from bolting in the future. At the same time, it is very important to prevent the sets from overheating, since in this case the germination of the onion sets will be very noticeably reduced.
If you were unable to gradually warm up the set, then before planting, be sure to fill it with hot water (45-50ºC) for only 10-15 minutes, and then immediately cool it in cold water.
It is very good if, after warming up, we also treat the seedlings with some kind of growth stimulant (for example, Zircon, Humisol, Rost-1) or, instead, we can keep it in a solution of complex mineral fertilizer for 5-6 hours.
And in conclusion, all that remains is to disinfect the bulb sets in a solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) or in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Well, now the sets are ready for planting.
Planting sets
The timing of planting onion sets directly depends on weather conditions. If the spring is early and warm, then you can plant the seedlings at the end of April, but if it is cold, then you need to wait until the ground warms up to the depth of a finger.
There is no point in planting onions in unheated soil (temperature below 12ºС), as they will go to waste. But you also shouldn’t be late with planting, especially if the spring is warm and dry.
This can lead to the fact that at first the plant will develop intensively green feather, and the root system will begin to lag behind in its development, and then due to lack of moisture and high temperature The onion greens will stop growing, but the resulting bulbs will still develop slowly and remain small.
So the well-known saying “If you throw it in the mud, you will be a prince” fully applies to the bow too. You can only clarify further - in the warm mud)))
We plant the onion sets in rows on the prepared beds, having previously sorted them by size. So we plant sets with a diameter of up to 1 cm at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other; with a diameter of up to 1.5 cm - at a distance of 6-8 cm; with a diameter of up to 2 cm - at a distance of 8-10 cm.
It is best to take the distance between the rows about 20 cm, so that it is better to process the onions and so that the plantings are better ventilated.
We press the planted bulbs tightly with earth and cover the top with a layer of mulch approximately 2.5-3 cm thick. A week after planting, the first shoots may appear.
Planting care
Loosening. You can (even need) to start caring for onion plantings even before the emergence of shoots, since at this time you need to try to prevent the formation of a dense crust of soil.
Therefore, we will loosen the soil more often, which will also help us get rid of weeds. In the future, loosening the soil should be carried out regularly to ensure constant access of sufficient oxygen to the roots of the plant. Onions especially need to loosen the soil after watering.
When our bulbs reach medium size, we begin to gradually rake away the earth from them (untilt them). This is done so that they grow larger and ripen faster.
Watering. As mentioned above, onions need watering in the first half of the growing season. At this time, we water the plants abundantly and regularly about 1-2 times a week (depending on the weather).
In July, when the bulbs begin to ripen, excess moisture is no longer needed, so we first reduce watering, and then stop altogether 2-3 weeks before harvesting the onions.
The only thing is that if the summer is very hot and dry, the plantings can be watered occasionally to avoid wilting and stunted growth of the bulbs.
Weeding. It is also necessary to prevent onion plantings from becoming overgrown with weeds, as they create high humidity, which contributes to the development of fungal diseases.
In addition, onions growing in unweeded beds develop a thick, juicy neck, which makes it difficult to dry the onions in the future and, accordingly, store them. Therefore, let's pay special attention to weeding onions.
Top dressing. The first time we fertilize approximately 15-20 days after planting and, preferably, with diluted slurry (1 kg of manure per 10 liters of water) or bird droppings(1 kg of litter per 15 liters of water). We calculate the fertilizer consumption at the rate of 10 liters of solution per 1 sq. m.
The next time such nutritional feeding can be done in three weeks.
If you are going to feed onions mineral fertilizers, then add nitrogen first. This could be ammonium nitrate - 10-15 g per 1 square meter. m.
And after three weeks it would be a good idea to add potassium fertilizers in the same amount to nitrogen fertilizers.
Mineral fertilizers can be applied dry, sprinkling them on the beds before watering or before rain, or you can pre-dissolve them in water and water the beds with this solution.
Treatment. Since it is easier to prevent than to treat, it is possible to carry out preventive treatment of onion plantings against fungal diseases and onion flies.
To do this, you need to make the following solution: dilute 1 teaspoon of copper sulfate or copper chloroxide, 1 tablespoon of liquid soap in 10 liters of water and spray onion leaves.
Processing is best done when the onion leaves reach a length of 12-15 cm.
For preventive purposes, you can also dust plants and soil. wood ash, tobacco dust. After 20 days the treatment can be repeated.
Onion harvesting
The ripening time of onions largely depends on the weather and ranges from July to early September. The main signals that onions are ready for harvesting are: the cessation of the formation of young leaves, lodging of the leaves, as well as their yellowing and drying, the onion neck becomes soft and thinner, the bulbs acquire a characteristic color for this variety.
And here you can’t delay cleaning, otherwise the plants may begin to re-grow roots and such onions will be stored much worse.
In addition, you should try to remove the onions before the air temperature drops at night and the morning dew begins. We carefully remove the bulbs along with the tops from the ground and lay them out to dry and ripen in a well-ventilated area.
Ideally, of course, it is better to dry it directly on the garden bed under the sun, but at this time the weather is very changeable and there usually are not so many fine days (7-10) in a row. So it's better not to take risks.
During drying, all nutrients from the remains of the leaves pass into the bulbs. Then we cut off the dried leaves and remaining roots, leaving a neck 3-4 cm long, and lay out the onion for additional drying, but in a heated room.
For 8-10 days, keep the onion at a temperature of 25-30ºС. If possible, it would be good to hold the onion at a temperature of up to 40ºC at the end of this drying for 10-12 hours.
This procedure effectively disinfects onions from various pathogenic infections and increases their shelf life during storage.
That, it seems, is all I wanted to tell you about general requirements to growing onions and growing onions from onion sets. In the next article we will talk about how to grow, how to get onion seeds and how you can grow onions in one year.
See you soon, dear readers!
Growing onions in two years (seed crop)
The essence of the method is that in the first year small bulbs with a diameter of 1-3 cm and a weight of 1-4 g are grown from seeds. With this method, the bulbs ripen earlier and the onions are better stored in winter. Maturation accelerates by 30-45 days.
The preparation of soil and seeds is carried out in the same way as when growing from seeds in one year. To obtain a well-ripened set, sowing is carried out densely, with a distance between rows of 12-13 cm, and in a row the plants are spaced 1-2 cm apart. Per 10 sq. m. m will require 50-75 g of seeds. If nigella is sown rarely, then the seed on fertile soils will grow until autumn and will not ripen.
The seedlings are weeded and loosened 2-3 times, but not thinned out. When the second leaf appears, fertilize with mineral fertilizers at the rate of 10 g of ammonium nitrate and superphosphate, and 5 g of potassium chloride per 10 sq. m. m.
Two months after sowing, only three or four leaves form, the plant reaches 20 cm in height, small bulbs begin to form and the leaves turn yellow and die. Cleaning begins in August.
Harvesting timing has a significant impact on the yield of onion sets. The sooner the onion set finishes the growing season, the deeper the dormant period and the later it comes out of this period. Optimal time harvesting - 7 days after the start of leaf lodging. A sign of lodging of sets is a single lodging of leaves and their tops. You can’t delay cleaning, because with the onset rainy weather The sets begin to grow and are poorly stored.
Onion sets are pulled out of the soil by hand and left to dry for 10-15 days, turning over daily. The tops are removed only after complete drying, when they become thin and brittle. After drying the seedlings in the garden, they are finally dried indoors and stored until the spring of next year. Largest harvest Onions are obtained from a fairly large set with a diameter of 22-25 mm, slightly smaller bulbs are obtained from smaller sets.
Onion sets are stored at a temperature of +12...18°C. Sets that are stored at low temperatures may produce more bolting bulbs.
Growing onions from onion sets
Processing of seedlings for planting in May begins at the end of April.
To prevent the formation of shoots and activate the growth of buds, as well as to disinfect onion sets, 20 days before planting, they are heated at a temperature of +45...40 ° C for 8 hours.
To combat onion thrips and stem nematode, before planting, the seedlings are disinfected in hot (+45°C) water for 10 minutes, and then immediately immersed in cold water.
To grow onion sets, onion sets are planted in rows with row spacing of 20-25 cm; in a row, small sets are planted every 8-10 cm to a depth of 3-4 cm. Onion sets should be planted in moist soil when it is at a depth of 5-10 cm will warm up to + 10...12°C. Planting in unheated soil will encourage bolting.
For 10 sq. m requires 400-600 sets, when planting bulbs with a diameter of 1-1.5 cm they will weigh 350-500 g, with a diameter of 1.5-2.2 cm - 700-800 g.
Caring for onions should be the most thorough. No other crop responds to timely loosening of the soil, watering and fertilizing as much as onions. Care consists of weeding and frequent shallow (4-5 cm) loosening of row spacing.
The first feeding is done 10 days after planting: 10-15 g of urea, 30-40 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium salt per 10 liters of water. If plants grow intensively, nitrogen is excluded from feeding.
During the second feeding in early July, 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride are dissolved in 10 liters of water. One bucket of solution is used per row 10 m long.
At the beginning of growth, onions require sufficient moisture. Excessive moisture in the second half of the growing season causes the formation of bulbs to be delayed. Dry and hot weather is necessary for the bulbs to ripen. If the weather is humid, you can cover the onion with waterproof film, but ventilate it daily.
