Growing onion sets from seed. How to grow a good crop of onions: proper planting and the best recommendations for caring for crops

Tips on how to grow onions will be useful to beginner summer residents and gardeners, although they may be of interest and useful to experienced owners. Onions are an indispensable vegetable on our table. It is impossible to imagine some dishes without it.

It is used in fresh, dried, used for the preparation of sauces, marinades, seasonings, preservation. cultivation onion- not difficult, but you need to comply with everything preparatory stages and choose the right place for onions, taking into account previous crops.

Did you know? The name "onion" comes from the resemblance of the onion to another vegetable.–turnip.

Onion: description and popular varieties

Onions are a perennial vegetable of the onion family. The fruit is a bulb covered with a thin dry skin (husk). The pulp is membranous with vertical membranes, a specific spicy or sweetish-spicy taste and a characteristic smell. Both the husk and the pulp, depending on the variety, are different colors – yellow, sand, amber, lilac, purple, gray-white, white.

Did you know? Onion as a vegetable crop has been known for more than 4 thousand years.

Today, the following varieties are popular - Stardust, Rostovsky, Carmen, Cupido, Lugansky, Danilovsky, Myachkovsky, Odintsovsky, Shetana, Strigunovsky, Bessonovsky, Hiberna, Centurion, Stuttgarter Riesen. Among them there are early and later varieties, and before growing onions, you need to decide on the variety and ripening period of a particular type of onion.

Where to plant onions: soil and lighting requirements

Onions should be planted in dry, low-lying groundwater, open, fertile areas without shading. Onions love loamy soil enriched with organic matter. The soil should not be acidic, its optimal pH is 6.5-7.8, with high acidity, the soil is limed. Liming is always carried out only in the fall (!), And not in the spring before planting.

Good and bad forerunners of onions

Growing turnip onions will go well after peas, pumpkin, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, beans and green manure. You can not plant onions after carrots, cucumbers, garlic and onions. But carrots and garlic planted in the neighborhood will be useful when growing - some onion pests are repelled by the smell of carrot tops and garlic.

Features of growing onions: timing, preparation of planting material, scheme and depth of planting

The timing of onion cultivation largely depends on the weather - it can ripen by the middle of summer, and by the end of summer, and even by the beginning of autumn. But on average, growing onions for turnips from sets lasts 75-90 days.

Onions are planted at a soil temperature not lower than +12 ... +13 ° С - this is approximately in the first days of April. Planting it in early or mid-April, the crop can be harvested in late June - early July. The planting pattern is usually 8 by 20 cm or 10 by 25 cm, depending on the large-fruited variety.

Important! Before planting onions, seed material must be prepared.

Agrotechnics for growing onions by direct sowing

Bulb onions, which are grown from seeds, involve planting and caring for beds that are different from planting onion sets. Onion seeds, which are called nigella, before sowing check for consistency.To do this, take 1 tsp. seeds, moistened with water and wrapped in a damp, loose cloth. A few days later, they check to see if sprouts have appeared, if so, then the seeds are viable.

Did you know? It is still advisable to sow an annual blackberry. Although it is believed that onion seeds retain their germination capacity for 2 years.

Agrotechnics of onion from seeds: nigella is heated for 20-30 minutes before sowing in water at a temperature of 40-50 ° C, then they are soaked in water at room temperature for 2-3 days, while in order to avoid stagnation, the water is changed once a day.

After that, the water is drained and the seeds are laid out in one layer between two woven napkins, thin towels, and after 2-3 days, when the nigella hatches and shakes, they start sowing. Sow in advance well-loosened soil in furrows with a depth of about 1-1.3 cm, but not more than 1.5 cm, at a distance of 2 cm from each other, then sprinkle with earth and compact a little.

After the beds, they are mulched (with humus, peat) and carefully watered from a watering can with a sprayer, and covered with a film on top, which is removed when the first sprouts (sprouts) appear. As the onion grows and two true leaves appear, the sowing is thinned out, leaving a distance of no more than 2 cm between the plants. The next thinning is carried out after the appearance of four true leaves - now a distance of 5-7 cm is left.

Important! Deadlines must be strictly adhered to. With late thinning, the crop will be small.

Water the onions in the first month after germination - once every 6-7 days. After watering - obligatory loosening.

How to grow onions through sets

Growing onions, you need to know what is onion sets. These are annual small onions - 1.5-2 cm in diameter, grown from seeds-grains. The sevok is then used for the subsequent cultivation of large fruits.

To get onion good quality, first they grow a seedling, the cultivation of which can be carried out both in the open field (they plant onions in the winter), and at home - in small containers on the windowsill.

Agrotechnics for growing onions from sets: before planting, the bulbs are heated several times, leaving them near any heating device, to a temperature of +20 ... +22 ° C, then to +35 ... +40 ° C - they withstand the temperature for 3-6 days. Or pour the sevok with hot water not higher than +45 ... +50 ° С for 20-25 minutes, then remove the onions and pour over with cool water at a temperature of +10 ... + 12 ° С, and then dry with a napkin and give at room temperature dry off.

Important! The temperature effect is necessary for the bulbs - thanks to this, it is possible to avoid the formation of arrows on the bow.

Immediately before planting, the beds are leveled. If the earth is dry, it is slightly moistened. Then grooves-furrows are laid with a depth of 4.5-5 cm and the sowing is stuck, which is completely sprinkled with soil and lightly rammed. It is not necessary to water the garden at first.

How to care for onions in the garden

Basic care - this is weeding, watering, loosening. The sevka does not need thinning, as it is initially planted at a sufficient distance of the bulbs from each other.

Did you know? Raw onions, when eaten, have a pronounced antimicrobial effect, enhance immunity, and prevent cardiovascular diseases.

Soil care and weed control

Weeds are weeded out in the aisles, and after germination and around the onion bush. Loosen the soil after each watering to a depth of no more than - 5 cm.

Watering and fertilizing onions

To the question of how to properly grow onions - with or without abundant watering? Onions are a crop that does not really need water. Of course, it is necessary to water it, but very moderately - in hot weather it is necessary at least once every 5-6 days. On other days - 1 time in 8-10 days. Sometimes onions can be grown without watering at all - if the summer is moderately warm and occasionally rainy.

Important! You have to follow the rules how to care for onions before harvesting. Approximately 30-35 days before harvesting from the garden, watering (as well as top dressing) of onions is stopped.

Gardeners are often interested in whether and how to grow large onion without supplements. In principle, yes, if the soil is fertile enough. But still, onions are often fed for better growth and large fruit.

On poor soils, onions are fed 2-3 times - the first time at a leaf height of 7-9 cm, the second time - after 2-3 weeks, the third - after another 3 weeks. Bird droppings diluted with water, mullein (100 g / 5 l of water at a consumption of 2.5 l / 1 sq. M), urea, potassium chloride, superphosphate (10-15 g / 2 sq. M each) are suitable for top dressing.

Growing problems, main pests and diseases of onions

The main pest of onions - onion fly, the larvae of which eat away the pulp of the fruit from the inside, after which the bulb rots, and the onion feathers wither. At the first sign of damage, diseased plants are pulled out and destroyed.

Growing onions to obtain a head (bulb) in the summer cottages of experienced gardeners does not cause difficulties. However, in order to get large (200-400 g) bulbs, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the cultivation technique, which has its own characteristics.

General Approaches to Getting Healthy Quality Onions

Large onions start with seeds. Onions per bulb (head) can be grown through seeds (nigella), sevok (arbazheyka) and seedlings. On the garden wedge of a summer cottage for growing large onion bulbs for the purpose of eating and winter storage, it is more practical to grow a crop from sevka.

To get a crop of large heads (up to 200-400 g) of onions, several conditions are necessary:

selection of a zoned variety with a large bulb;
proper storage seed;
compliance with the requirements of agricultural cultivation.

Varieties and size of the bulb

Do you want to get a large onion? Be attentive to the planted varieties. Onion is a long-day plant and reacts painfully to the ratio of the dark and light periods of the day. Onions have a very interesting varietal feature response to day length. Culture tolerates climate change more easily than lack of daylight hours.

Southern varieties of onions are genetically predisposed to grow and form a storage organ (bulb) as the length of daylight hours approaches its maximum - 13-15 hours. The approach of the maximum in the south takes a long period, and the zoned variety has time to build up a large vegetative mass, including a large storage organ.

If the southern variety of onions is planted in the northern region, where daylight hours in the summer season very quickly reach a maximum of 15-18 hours, the plants will tend to finish the growing season as soon as possible and form bulbs. The formation of the storage organ (bulb) means the end of development, and retirement. Bulbs do not have time to gain mass and remain small.

Northern varieties of onions planted in the south will constantly form leaf mass in anticipation of the onset of the longest day at 15-18 hours. And since in the south the maximum length of daylight hours ends at the 15 o'clock mark, the culture continues to increase the leaf mass, and the bulb does not form at all. The variety does not have enough light time to move on to the next phase of development.

Therefore, dear readers, if you want to get a large onion bulb, be sure to take into account the reaction of the culture to photoperiodicity. Grow southern varieties of onions in the south, and northern varieties in the north. Otherwise, the onion heads will be small, unripe, or not formed at all. In this case, both a large-headed, but not zoned variety, and the fulfillment of all the requirements of agricultural technology will not ensure the production of a large bulb.

Selection and storage of seed

It is possible to get a high yield of large onion bulbs only when sown with high-quality seed, which can be purchased in a store or grown on your own and stored properly before planting in the ground.

When self-harvesting seed, it is necessary, after harvesting and drying the crop of onions, to divide them into fractions:

Oatmeal, 0.5-0.7 cm in diameter;
Group I, 0.8-1.5 cm in diameter;
II group, 1.5-2.2 cm in diameter.

The best for sowing is considered arbazheyka I and II groups.

Before planting, the selected seedlings are stored in a cool room at a temperature of 0 ... + 2 ° C and not higher, and in a warm room at + 17 ... + 18 ° C (away from heating batteries).

If was violated temperature regime and the arbazheyka were stored at home at a temperature of +2 ... + 15 ° С, it makes no sense to hope for a quality crop of onions. At spring landing in open ground such a bow set will begin to shoot. A thick hollow peduncle will take away some of the nutrients, the onion bulb will be small. In addition, the base of the peduncle in the bulb will serve as a source of decay in the autumn-winter period.

Thus, the obligatory conditions for obtaining a crop of large bulbs of onions are the variety and quality of planting material.

Onion growing technology

Precursors of the onion

Good predecessors for onions in crop rotation are tomatoes, cucumbers, early and medium potatoes, zucchini, legumes, early cabbage. Onions are well combined with carrots, beets, radishes, greens, which allows these crops to be used as compactors in combined beds.

Planting period

Onion sets can be planted in late autumn or in early spring. In practice it is preferable spring planting onion. Climate cataclysms recent years can provoke early shoots and their death when return frosts, cause partial rotting of the sevka during the winter. stressful state plants will cause the formation of small bulbs.

Depending on the weather conditions and warming up the soil, arbazheyka is sown in warm regions in the last decade of March - early April, in colder ( middle lane) - in the last decade of April - early May. In the northern regions, after the frost has passed and the soil has warmed up to + 6 ... + 10 ° С.

The optimal soil temperature for sowing seedlings is +10…+12°С, and air +3…+5°С.

Shoots of onions will appear on the 5th - 6th day. If you plant sevok in unheated soil, it will begin to shoot. If you are late with planting, then, once in dry, overheated soil, the onion will slow down its development and will not form a large bulb. That is, in order to obtain a large onion bulb, it is very important to withstand the timing of planting the seedlings.

Onion seedlings are tolerant of cold weather and easily tolerate short-term frosts down to -3°C. But at autumn planting and the onset of spring return frosts, grown plants stop growing and developing when the temperature drops to -3 ... -5 ° C, which subsequently affects the size of the bulb.

Preparing seed for planting:

Select for planting only absolutely healthy onion sets;
Cut the dry tips at the top of the set carefully with scissors;
To protect the sevka from fungal infections, be sure to disinfect with hot water, a solution of potassium permanganate, and other known ways. Decontaminated onions are dried at room temperature until flowable. Until planting, it is stored in a damp burlap.
The next day, they are planted in prepared soil.

The requirement of onions to the soil

Onions do not tolerate acidic soils and fresh organic matter. Therefore, when growing in crop rotation, organics and deoxidizers are introduced 2-3 years before planting onions under previous crops. Onions do not like liming the soil, therefore, if deoxidation is necessary in the year of planting, 3-4 cups of ash per square meter are applied for the main tillage. m area.

For the normal growth and development of plants, the soil under onions should have a neutral reaction pH = 6.4-6.7 units, be moisture-intensive, permeable, fertile.

planting material onion - sevok

Fertilization

Onions take significant amounts of nutrients out of the soil with the harvest, but they do not need to be fed. Uniform supply of nutrients and moisture during the growing season will contribute to the constant growth of the vegetative mass of the bulb. On depleted and dense soils, from autumn, under the main digging of the soil for onions, ripened crumbly humus is introduced no more than 1 / 3-1 / 2 buckets per square meter. m or sow green manure. Rye, oats, mustard, rapeseed loosen the soil well. On dense floating soils, you can use mustard with legumes, sweet clover, vetch-oat mixture. Mixed green manure crops will not only loosen the soil, but also saturate it with available nutrients.

From mineral fertilizers, nitroammophoska 50-60 g / sq. m. or only phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, respectively 25-30 and 15-25 g / sq. m, and in the spring, urea is added for sowing no more than 20-25 g / sq. m.

If the soils are depleted and higher rates of fertilizers are required, then it is better to apply 2/3 of the dose from the fall, and apply the rest in the spring before planting.

Rules for landing arbazheyka

Sowing is carried out in the prepared soil in a single-row way or in 2-3-line tapes. In the tape between the rows, 8-12 cm are left and between the tapes - 20-25 cm.

With the first method, in a row between the bulbs, the distance can be different:

When planting "shoulder to shoulder", the planting density is high, since the distance between sets in a row is 1.0-1.5 cm. With this planting method, 2 thinnings are carried out:
at the first thinning, the distance is increased to 4 cm, and the young onion-feather is used for food;
after 25-30 days, a second thinning is carried out, leaving a distance between young plants of 7-10 cm.

The second landing method is an ordinary one. Sevok is planted at a distance in a row after 8-10 cm, between rows - 20 cm. Thinning is not carried out. Arbazheyka is placed in the furrows vertically upwards, to a depth of up to 4 cm, covered with soil from above by 2.0-2.5 cm and slightly compacted with the palm of your hand.

Caring for onions during the growing season

It is very important to keep the soil moist, loose and free of weeds during the growing season. Weeds shade the bulbous zone at the base of the plants and provoke the accumulation of a fungal infection. Mulching post-watering onions is a must. The crust that forms after watering causes an uneven supply of moisture to the topsoil (sometimes dry, sometimes wet), which reduces the possibility of forming a large bulb. Loosening is only superficial, in wide aisles. When loosening in a row, damage to superficially located roots negatively affects the growth of the bulb. Onions cannot be spudded. On the contrary, during the growth of the bulb, the “fashionista” opens her shoulders towards the sun. A significant role in the formation of a large bulb belongs to timely watering.

Watering onions

Watering and top dressing for onions in the first 2-3 months are especially important. Interruptions in the supply of nutrients and violation of the irrigation regime during this period lead to small onion heads and a loss of its taste.

Approximate frequency of watering:

The first month, watering is carried out once a week with the obligatory subsequent loosening and mulching with crushed mulch. Under a large mulch, pests settle, a fungal infection accumulates. Fine mulch keeps the topsoil from drying out and quickly decomposes when exposed to moisture. During this period, the soil during irrigation is soaked up to a 10 cm layer.
In June, by the bulb growth phase, the number of irrigations is reduced to a 10-day break, but the soil is soaked to a 20-25 cm layer. To avoid stagnant water, watering is carried out with small sprays.
In July, watering is carried out every 8-10 days as needed (avoiding the drying of the soil in the root layer).
In the second half of July, the soil is only kept moist, and they switch to “dry watering”. The soil is loosened, mulched, be sure to get rid of weeds.
2-3 weeks before harvesting, watering is stopped and the shoulders of the bulbs are gently “exposed” from the ground. The procedure contributes to the ripening of the bulb, especially the stem at the base. Unripe stems in winter are affected by fungal-bacterial rot.

Watering errors

Watering with high pressure breaks the feather, causing interruptions in the supply of nutrients to the plant, weakening it. The plant is sick.
Do not water onions with cold water. When watering with water below + 18 ° C, the culture becomes ill with powdery mildew.
It is necessary to keep plantings absolutely clean from weeds, not allowing them to grow above 5-8 cm.
In an unweeded and improperly watered area root collars onions remain juicy, which dramatically reduces the keeping quality of the bulb.

Feeding onions

The formation of large bulbs require a fairly large amount of nutrients. Their entry to the culture should be uniform, without starvation breaks and overfeeding. Onions are best fertilized with nutrient solutions. The introduction of dry dressings is not so effective.

First dressing of onions

With sufficient basic soil dressing, the first top dressing of onions can be postponed to June, and if necessary, it is carried out after 2-3 weeks from germination. Thin light feathers - a signal to feed.

For top dressing, a spoonful of ammonium nitrate or urea is diluted in 10 liters of warm water. Bring under the root for 10-12 running meters. If the soil (by different reasons) was not sufficiently fertilized before planting, then it is better to carry out the first top dressing with complete fertilizer using nitroammophoska, Kemira-lux, crystallin in the form of a solution (25-30 g / 10 l of water). After top dressing, the plants must be washed with watering with a fine-mesh nozzle.

The second dressing of onions

The second top dressing is carried out in the second decade of June with a solution of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. 20 and 10 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate are dissolved in 10 liters of warm water and applied under the root of the plants. During this period, instead of a phosphorus-potassium mixture, you can once again feed the plants with nitroammophos, increasing the concentration of the solution to 2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water. Additionally carry out foliar top dressing trace elements or boron with the addition of ash extract (0.5 l per 10 l of water).

The third dressing of onions

The third top dressing is carried out if necessary, if the development of the bulb slows down, The third top dressing is carried out with the size of the bulb with Walnut usually with a solution of superphosphate. 40 g of superphosphate are diluted in 10 liters of water. The flow rate of the solution is approximately 5 l/sq. m of landing area.

It should be noted that onions on fertile and well-filled soils with mineral fertilizers can not be fed with fertilizers, limiting themselves to fertilizing with microelements and ash extract.

Protection of onions from diseases and pests

To protect onions from diseases and pests, plants are treated for preventive purposes with biofungicides (against diseases) and bioinsecticides (against pests). The most common biofungicides are planriz, gaupsin, alirin-B, trichodermin, glyokladin.t Actofit, aversectin-C, bitoxibacillin, verticillin, bicol are used for pest control. Treatment solutions are best prepared in tank mixes. The selection of biological products, their dosage and mixing should always be carried out according to the instructions. Processing of onions is carried out at least 3-5 times during the growing season in the morning. The last treatment can be carried out 2-3 days before harvest. Biopreparations are absolutely safe for people and animals.

Treatments begin at the first visible change in feather color or plant condition.

The beginning of harvesting is determined by the state of the above-ground mass of the onion. Depending on the variety:

plant leaves turn yellow
lie down,
lose turgor, etc.

When harvesting, onions are pulled out of the soil, left for 1-2 weeks under a canopy for final drying. Dried onions are sorted out and dense bulbs with a dry root neck, covered with dry upper scales, are laid for winter storage. Before laying in a container for storage, the dried stems are cut by 3-5 cm into a stump or braided and hung in a dry, warm place.

Thus, the cultivation of onions with a large bulb requires careful implementation of agricultural practices, the main of which are:

selection of a zoned variety;
seed quality;
timeliness of sowing;
compliance with the rules of care, which include timely watering and top dressing, keeping the soil moist, weed-free, with optimal plant density.

Qualitative fulfillment of the requirements of agricultural technology creates all the prerequisites for obtaining a high yield of large bulbs.

For any summer resident, the harvest that he will receive at the end of the season is important. While gardening, planting seeds and seedlings, trees and bushes, a person wants to see the fruits of his labor. He invests a lot of effort and money to eat onions and potatoes from his garden in winter.

How to grow large onions

To get a harvest from your garden, you need to plant a crop on time, water it and weed it on time. For any gardener good harvest- this is a large fruit, and a large number of it. But you can achieve such a result if you work very hard during the season.

How much useful onions for the human body - everyone knows. Even when buying it in a store or on the market, we choose only its large heads. But unfortunately, it is not always possible to grow large onion heads on your site, no matter how hard you try.

Let's get acquainted with some subtleties and tricks that you need to know and take into account when cultivation plants.

How to prepare the soil for planting

The onion crop will be good on chernozem and humus-carbonate soils, as well as on alluvial soil.

Onion seeds germinate for a long time, so the soil is prepared in advance and carefully. In the fall, you need to choose a site for planting sevka and dig it up. Remove weeds and apply to the soil fertilizer, in the form of humus or peat-manure compost. In no case should fresh humus be introduced into the soil, since pathogens and weed seeds can enter the soil with it.

If the soil is acidic, then liming should be carried out on it; and if the soil is alkaline, then gypsum. The cultivation and top dressing of the soil is carried out gradually. It is impossible to simultaneously carry out liming and fertilizing the soil with humus.

In the spring, when the sun begins to warm, the planting site needs to be dug up and watered if the ground is dry. In addition, already introduced into the soil mineral fertilizers that are distributed 2-3 times during the onion growth period. Such fertilizers need to be applied shallowly into the soil.

How to get a good harvest of onions

You can plant sevok both in spring and autumn. You can do this with seeds or already small bulbs. To get green feathers in early spring, you need to plant sets in the fall. In the spring, it is grown for storage when receiving planting material.

You can grow onions several ways. Each of the methods is good in its own way, but if you follow the basic rules for caring for the plant, the harvest is good, regardless of the method of cultivation. The most common way to get onions is from sets.

Sevok- These are small bulbs that were grown from seeds last year. Of these, this year, you can get larger heads of onions, which are already used for food throughout the year. You can plant seedlings in open ground both in spring and autumn.

plant sowing in the spring begins in late April - early May. By this time, the earth should dry out and warm up well. The smallest bulbs are planted first, the diameter of which is up to 1 cm. The distance from the bulb to the bulb is 4–5 cm. The larger bulbs are planted next, at a distance of 8–10 cm from each other.

Previously, the sevok needs to be processed. To do this, a weak, bright pink solution of manganese is prepared, and the onion is immersed in it. There he spends at least half an hour. Further, special grooves are made for onions in the ground, and holes are made in them. The distance between the rows can be 20–25 cm. The sevok should be planted in the ground to a depth of 2–3 cm, while sprinkling it with earth and lightly slapping it with the palm of your hand. If the ground is very dry, then it is recommended to water the seedlings.

First shoots green Feathers will be noticeable in 3-5 days. It is now desirable to water the young onion every evening. When the onion grows up, it needs to be spudded and weeds removed. To get a large fruit as a result, as it grows, it is necessary to hill up two more times.

Onion care

This procedure should not be postponed until greenery appears, it must be done regularly, on time, even before it appears. Despite the fact that the sowing is planted and watered abundantly, it is necessary to prevent the formation of a dense crust. The soil needs to be loosened regularly, and especially after watering.

Weeding beds with vegetable crops is carried out as it overgrows weeds. Weeds damage seedlings by increasing soil moisture. Because of this, the plant can be affected by fungal diseases. Moisture will be superfluous for the bulbs, which can cause it to deteriorate and rot during storage.

As mentioned above, at the initial stage of onion growth and development, it needs regular watering. Already from mid-July, when the bulbs begin to ripen, they do not need excess moisture. At this time, onion watering is reduced. Before harvesting the onion, 2-3 weeks before, it is not necessary to water the onion at all - it should stand in the ground, but without watering. An exception may be very hot and dry summers. To plant not sluggish and there was no delay in the growth of the bulb, you still need to water the family crop.

Summing up, you need to highlight a few points, thanks to which you can get a good harvest Luke:

loosening;
watering;
weeding;
top dressing;
prevention and treatment of diseases.

As for top dressing, it plays an important role in obtaining a high-quality, large onion crop. The first time top dressing is carried out only 14 days after planting the sevka. It could be bird droppings or slurry. You need to breed litter 1 kg per 15 liters, and slurry - 1 kg per 10 liters of water. Such fertilizer is consumed per 1 sq. meter 10 liters of solution.

Three weeks after the first top dressing, you need to make a second top dressing.

If you prefer mineral fertilizers, then first apply nitrogen-containing which include ammonium nitrate. Its consumption per 1 sq. meter - 10-15 grams. And three weeks later - potash fertilizers in the same amount.

In the ground such fertilizer brought in:

dry;
in the form of a solution.

Dry fertilizers can simply be sprinkled on the garden bed before watering or before rain. You can fertilize in the usual way- dissolve them in water and water the beds with the resulting solution.

To deal with any disease its easier warn than to treat later. This applies to onions that need to be treated against fungal diseases and onion fly. You need to make the following solution: mix 1 tsp. blue vitriol or copper oxychloride and 1 tbsp. l. liquid soap. Dilute the resulting mixture in 10 liters of water and spray onion feathers with it.

Such processing should be done when the height of the feathers reaches 12–15 cm.

For prevention, you can dust the plants and the ground under them wood ash or tobacco dust. Repeat this procedure can be done only after 20 days.

Onion harvest

Maturation bow depends on:

landing time;
onion varieties;
climate features.

Winter onions ripen first. Harvesting takes place in July, when the feathers of the plant begin to dry. This is the signal for the harvest. During such a period, it is this work that needs to be done so that the plant does not begin to re-grow roots.

The collection of onions, regardless of its variety, must take place in period between the appearance of morning dew and evening cooling. This condition is important, it must be observed, otherwise the vegetables will not be stored well.

The collected seed crop must be dried. To do this, the selected bow is laid out in the sun. If it is cloudy outside, or it is raining, then it is dried under a canopy. During this period, all nutrients from the leaves enter the bulbs themselves.

When the crop dries, the dried feathers and remnants of the roots are cut off. Further, it is transferred to dry in a warm room, where the temperature will not be lower than 25 ° heat. There it stays for another 10 days, which makes it possible for it to dry out even better, and at the same time, it can be stored longer.

dry onion miscellaneous varieties are stored separately. Storage space can be:

in canvas bags;
in wooden boxes;
in plastic boxes;
in wicker baskets;
on armored nets from old beds.

The main thing is that it is not directly on the ground. It is advisable to put all these devices on a pallet so that the air under the storage container can circulate freely.

You need to regularly inspect vegetables in order to remove spoiled or rotten product from the whole mass in time. Regardless of the type of product, it tends to deteriorate.

If it is humid in the onion storage room, then you can save the situation with a container of ash or lime - they are good absorb excess moisture.

If, sorting through the onion, you do not cut off dry onion feathers, then you can weave a braid out of them. In this form, onions of any variety can be stored not only in the pantry, but also in the house. Besides that useful product will always be at hand, it, in this form, will become an excellent interior detail, and will protect the house from germs.

For planting onions in open ground, it is advisable to choose a sunny place, or light partial shade.

Place to land vegetable crop it is advisable to change every year. Re-at certain place it can be planted only after 3 years.

To speed up the emergence of seedlings, sets, regardless of variety, soaked 4 days before planting, then dried and planted immediately.

Sewing should not be planted deeper than 2-3 cm, as the bulb will change shape and ripening will be delayed. If the hole is made smaller, then the bulb will become bare and its growth will stop.

It will not be possible to store onions in plastic bags for a long time - it rot.

It's time for us to talk about growing onions, about one of the very first plants that a person began to grow, because it is believed that onions were “cultivated” about 4 thousand years ago.

It is almost impossible to imagine any cuisine in the world without this “tear-producing” vegetable, because many dishes without it will seem insipid and tasteless.

And although there are a great many types of onions, each of them finds its admirers. This is onion, and more tender and delicate; perennial and can decorate our summer cottage no worse than flowers, but, for example, slime successfully combines the taste of onion and garlic.

I have listed far from 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 bit of history

The bow was well known in ancient Egypt. On the paintings of the tombs, and the oldest of them dates back to about 2800 BC, images of onions were found.

The Egyptians highly valued it as a very effective remedy for a general pestilence and, therefore, grew onions everywhere. It was necessarily included in the daily diet of the slaves who built the pyramids in order to avoid various epidemics, since their number reached 100,000 people, and on a relatively small construction site.

And the Roman legionnaires believed that the consumption of a large amount of onions increases their energy and makes the warrior fearless.

The ancient Germans crowned brave warriors who distinguished themselves in battle with onion flowers.

In the era of the Crusades, the bow 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 was not a single disease in which the onion, if prepared in the proper way, would not benefit the patient.

In Russia, onions also made their invaluable help during the years of terrible epidemics - plague, cholera, typhus. To prevent any infection from entering the room and to purify the air, onion bundles were hung in living quarters.

Useful properties of onions

In preparation for writing an article about onions, I re-read a large amount of literature about him and was simply amazed at how much useful properties at the bow. Of course, I already knew that he had healing properties, but that in such quantity!!!

Now I really regret that in my childhood I really didn’t like onions and almost didn’t eat them, as well, 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, anti-scurvy, antiarrhythmic, antimicrobial, antifungal, antisclerotic, antithrombotic, antispasmodic and hypotensive, antihelminthic, antihemorrhoid.

Onion can be of great benefit to people with circulatory system disorders and edema of any origin, as it is able to stimulate and regulate cardiac activity and secretory activity of such organs as: bronchi, liver, kidneys, pancreas.

And 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 found numerous carbohydrates in onions - sugars, pectins, fiber, proteins, a large number of various vitamins, minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, zinc, selenium, sulfur), phytoncides.

For therapeutic purposes, onions can be used in any form: raw, boiled, baked, dried onions, fresh leaves, upper 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 useful 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 have their own contraindications. So, for example, onions are contraindicated in 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 the onion is not the most fastidious culture, it still requires attention to itself.

It is important for him that the soil in the beds is loose and nutritious. It is best to take an open, well-lit area for planting onions, as the plant reacts sharply to the intensity and duration of lighting. Daylength is one of important conditions when growing it.

Onions feel great and grow well with low humidity. But at the same time, the soil should be moderately moist. Watering the onion is important at a time when there is a mass regrowth of the feather and the formation of bulbs, and already at the end of the growing season, excessive moisture is not welcome, as it will delay the ripening of the onion and reduce its keeping quality.

In those areas where ground water come close to the surface, it is better not to plant onions.

He also does not like weeds very much, so onion plantings must be regularly weeded.

Onion beds are best done in those places in 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 onions be planted in a site that was occupied by any type of onion, because: 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 those nutrients that are necessary for the growth of onion plants.

And it is not advisable to plant onions after plants such as: garlic, carrots. In the same place, onions can be planted no earlier than after 3 years, and best of all after 5 years.

Does not like onions to grow on acidic soils, because plants in this case absorb nutrition much worse and are more often affected by such a formidable disease as false powdery mildew(peronosporosis). Having become ill, the plant weakens and can no longer fully fight pests.

Preparing a plot for planting onions

It is best to prepare the soil for planting onions in the fall. We dig the earth to a depth of 15-20 cm, having previously introduced well-rotted manure or peat-dung compost.

It is not advisable to introduce fresh manure, as this can cause onion diseases, and weed seeds can also get into the soil with manure and it will not be so easy to get rid of them later. And the introduction of fresh manure will provoke an increased growth of the above-ground part of the plant, due to which the bulbs will not be able to fully mature.

If the soil is acidic in your area, then in order to get a good onion crop, it is necessary to liming the soil in the fall. But here it is necessary to take into account the fact that it is extremely undesirable to introduce manure and lime into the soil at the same time, since the nitrogen content in the fertilizer decreases.

To avoid this, it is better to add to the soil instead of lime dolomite flour, ground limestone, ground chalk, wood ash.

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 are very negative about 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 top dressings during the growing season.

Onion

In the previous sections, we have been introduced to general conditions that need to be done in order to successfully 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 species are most common, these are: onions, shallots, batun, chives, slime onions, leeks, multi-tiered onions, wild garlic.

Let's start our acquaintance with the onion family with the most famous species that all summer residents grow - this is onions. Most often onions are grown from onion sets, which can be purchased at gardening stores or grown from seeds.

Breeding sevka is a rather laborious process, because it is necessary not only to put a lot of effort into its cultivation, but also then to properly preserve it.

Therefore, I do not dare to grow onions from seeds, although I would have to try. In the next article, we will take a closer look 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 sevok in a store, then immediately after purchase, dry it in any warm place, scattering it in a thin layer, but not on the battery.

If you have a sevok that you yourself grew and which was stored at a low temperature (below 18ºС), then you need to warm it up in order to set in motion the growth processes.

It is best to warm up the sowing in several stages: first, we keep it at a temperature of 20ºС for 15-20 days; then we raise the temperature to 30-40ºС, but only for 8-10 hours.

Warming up is necessary not only in order to activate growth, but also to prevent archery in the future. At the same time, it is very important to prevent overheating of the set, since in this case the germination of onion sets will decrease very noticeably.

If you did not manage to gradually warm up the set, then before planting, be sure to fill it with hot water (45-50ºС) for only 10-15 minutes, and then immediately cool it in cold water.

It is very good if, after warming up, we still treat the seeds with some kind of growth stimulator (for example, Zircon, Humisol, Growth-1), or, instead, you can hold it in a solution of complex mineral fertilizer for 5-6 hours.

And in conclusion, it remains only to disinfect the sevka bulbs in a solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) or in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Well, now the sevok is ready for landing.

Planting sevka

The timing of planting onion sets is directly dependent on weather conditions. If the spring is early and warm, then you can plant sevok at the end of April, and if it is cold, then you need to wait until the earth warms up to the depth of a finger.

It makes no sense to plant onions in unheated ground (temperature below 12ºС), as it will go to the arrow. But it is also impossible to be late with landing, especially if the spring is warm and dry.

This can lead to the fact that at first the plant will intensively develop green feather, a 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 proverb “If you throw it in the dirt, you will be a prince” fully applies to the bow too. You can only clarify - in the warm mud)))

We plant onion sets on the prepared beds in rows, having previously sorted them by size. So we plant sevok with a diameter of up to 1 cm at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other; up to 1.5 cm in diameter - at a distance of 6-8 cm; up to 2 cm in diameter - at a distance of 8-10 cm.

The distance between the rows is best to take about 20 cm, so that it is better to process the onions and so that the plantings are better ventilated.

The planted bulbs are pressed tightly with earth and covered with a layer of mulch about 2.5-3 cm thick on top. A week after planting, the first shoots may appear.

Landing care

loosening. It is possible (even necessary) to start caring for onion plantings even before germination, since at this time one should try to prevent the formation of a dense crust of the earth.

Therefore, we will often loosen the soil, which will also help us get rid of weeds. And in the future, loosening the soil should be carried out regularly to ensure a constant supply of a sufficient amount of oxygen to the roots of the plant. Especially onions need loosening the soil after watering.

When our onions reach an average size, we begin to gradually rake the ground from them (unravel). This is done so that they grow larger and mature faster.

Watering. As mentioned above, onions need watering in the first half of the growing season. At this time, 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 2-3 weeks before harvesting the onions.

The only thing is that if the summer is very hot and dry, plantings can be watered occasionally to avoid wilting and stunting of the bulbs.

Weeding. It is also necessary to prevent overgrowth of onion plantings with weeds, as they create high humidity which contributes to the development of fungal diseases.

In addition, onions growing on unweeded beds form a thick juicy neck, which makes it difficult to further dry the onions and, accordingly, store them. Therefore, let's pay special attention to weeding onions.

top dressing. The first time we feed about 15-20 days after planting and, preferably, diluted slurry (1 kg of manure per 10 liters of water) or bird droppings (1 kg of droppings per 15 liters of water). Fertilizer consumption is calculated at the rate of 10 liters of solution per 1 sq. m.

The next time such a nutritious top dressing can be done in three weeks.

If you are going to feed onions mineral fertilizers then add nitrogen first. It can be ammonium nitrate - 10-15 g per 1 sq. m.

And in three weeks it will be good to nitrogen fertilizers add potassium in the same amount.

Mineral fertilizers can be applied dry by 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: 1 teaspoon of copper sulfate or copper oxychloride, 1 tablespoon of liquid soap, dilute 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, it is also possible to dust plants and earth with wood ash, tobacco dust. After 20 days, the treatment can be repeated.

onion harvesting

Onion ripening time largely depends on the weather and ranges from July to early September. The main signals of onion readiness for harvesting are: the cessation of the formation of young leaves, lodging of leaves, as well as their yellowing and drying, the bulb neck becomes soft and thinner, the bulbs acquire a characteristic color for this variety.

And here it is already impossible to delay the cleaning, otherwise the plants may begin to re-grow roots and such an onion will be stored much worse.

In addition, we must try to remove the onion until the air temperature at night has decreased and the morning dew. The bulbs, together with the tops, are carefully removed from the ground and laid out to dry and ripen in a well-ventilated area.

Ideally, of course, it is better to dry it right in the garden under the sun, but at this time the weather is very changeable and there are usually no such fine days (7-10) in a row. So it's better not to risk it.

During the drying time, all the nutrients from the remains of the leaves pass into the bulbs. Then we cut off the dried leaves and the remains of the roots, leaving a neck 3-4 cm long and lay out the onion for additional drying, but already in a heated room.

Within 8-10 days, the onion is kept at a temperature of 25-30ºС. If possible, it would be good at the end of this drying for 10-12 hours to hold the onion at a temperature of up to 40ºС.

This procedure well disinfects the onion from various pathogenic infections and increases its keeping quality during storage.

That seems to be all I wanted to tell you about general requirements to the cultivation of 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 onion turnips in one year.

See you soon, dear readers!