Onion cultivation and outdoor care: how to get a good harvest

Cultivation of onions must be carried out in accordance with certain agrotechnical rules. This will allow you to collect a rich and high-quality harvest.

Biological characteristics of onions

Bulb onion belongs to the lily family (onion) and the monocotyledonous class. Homeland is considered to be Central Asia. This vegetable crop is grown in almost all garden plots. Spicy heads are used as seasoning and added to many dishes.

Onions are rich in nutrients.The taste and smell is due to the high content of essential oils. Their content can be different, it all depends on the growing conditions, the degree of maturity and storage of the harvested crop. Knowing the secrets of onion care and cultivation, you can get a he althy, rich and high-quality crop.

There are more than 400 types of onions, but only 10 of them have been introduced into the culture. The vegetable belongs to one, two and three-year-old group of plants. When sowing seeds (chernushka), sevok is obtained. The seeds are small, weighing only about 1 g, the sevka reaches 2 cm in diameter. When planting the sevka, large heads of onions are obtained. When they are planted in the third year, they again receive shooters with boxes in which seeds ripen.

Onion is a cold-resistant crop. Seeds germinate even at a temperature of about +3 degrees. However, growth and development occur best at an air temperature of +11 degrees.

The onion root system is poorly developed, so it makes great demands on the composition of the soil. In addition, during cultivation, onions need special care.

Onion varietal variety

Separate two large groups of onions intended for outdoor cultivation:

1. Group of varieties for the northern regions, where the day length is about 16 hours. Only with such a long day will large bulbs form and seeds develop. Northern varieties with a short daylight hours will have time to form only green feathers.
2. Southern onion varieties can form a large, dense and juicy bulb with a short daylight hours (day length is about 12 hours). If you plant such varieties in regions with extended daylight hours, then the bulb will be poorly formed and stored.

Currently, breeders are breeding varieties that do not respond to the length of daylight hours. When planted in both northern and southern areas, you can get a good harvest.

Before sowing in open ground, planting material of any variety is recommended to be treated with growth stimulants and disinfectant solutions.

By taste, onions are divided into groups

There are types of onions that can be divided by taste. It all depends on the ratio of sugar and essential oils in the composition of the bulb:

• Sharp.
• Peninsular.
• Sweet (salad).

If the sugar content of this cultivated plant is low, then the level of essential oils is low. Such an onion will not be very sharp and few green feathers will form.In addition, the taste is affected by proper care, and taking into account all the rules of agricultural technology. Breeders annually produce new types of onions for cultivation. Among the new varieties there are those that have a sweet taste without a hint of bitterness.

Sevok planted very early in the spring (late April or early May) or seedlings. Nigella seedlings begin to sow in mid- or early February. In two months, the seedlings will be ready for transplanting to a permanent place. In order for the culture to receive all the necessary nutrients, it must be properly looked after.

General approaches to onion farming

If all agricultural practices are observed, then you can grow a good crop of onions in the basement. To do this, make special wooden shelves with lighting. A plastic film is laid out at the bottom of the structure and the soil is covered. In the future, the cultivation technology is no different from caring for open-air beds.

Precursors and Compatibility

The reason why the onion did not grow in the garden is sometimes the wrong place for planting.

The best precursors for onions are vegetables such as cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, legumes.

Next to the onion beds, you can plant carrots, cabbage, beets, radishes, herbs (dill, parsley, cilantro).

Soil Requirements

In order for onion heads to grow large in the garden, the soil must meet certain requirements:

• The soil in the beds should be moist, especially in the first weeks after planting. But waterlogging should not be allowed, as this leads to a decrease in taste, rotting and a decrease in the shelf life of the crop.
• Must be neutral acidity. If the acidity is increased, then it is recommended to add wood ash.
• To grow a giant onion, the soil must contain a lot of nutrients, especially organic matter. In autumn, compost or humus is added to the soil at the rate of 5-6 kg per 1 sq. m.

Onions grow well in loose, loamy, sandy loam or black earth soil, which is characterized by high moisture capacity and moisture permeability. If the soil is heavy and acidic, then the harvest will be poor.

Environment requirement

Another unfavorable factor why the onion bulb does not grow is bad weather conditions. Onions are cold-resistant crops, so they can be planted in early May, when the air temperature is around +5 degrees. The soil temperature should not be below +10 degrees.

Cooling affects the rate of development and growth of the plant. Onion heads grow small, the plant has poor immunity, the harvested crop will not be stored well.

Specifics of growing turnip from sets

Large heads are obtained by growing onions in the Chinese way. Seed material is planted on a hill - ridges that are prepared in advance. The bulbs are deepened by 3 cm and sprinkled with a small layer of earth.

Preparing the soil for sowing

The soil for planting sevka begins to be prepared in the fall. It is recommended to dig the site deep (to a depth of 25 cm), at the same time potash-phosphorus fertilizers are applied. During the autumn processing of the soil, the ability to absorb moisture increases. With high soil acidity in autumn, it is recommended to add wood ash, dolomite flour or ground chalk.

Don't dig the soil too deep in the spring, as the loose substrate prevents the seeds from germinating. It is better to loosen the area slightly with a rake in the spring and apply nitroammofoska.

How many days an onion grows depends on the variety. On average, a vegetable needs 2.5-3 months to grow. They plant it in May, and begin to dig it out in August. Even if the onion head has not grown large enough, you should not overexpose it in the ground after ripening. As soon as the feathers turn yellow, dry and lie down on the ground, they start digging.

Preparing the set

If a set of any onion varieties was bought in a store, then it must be dried by distributing it in one layer on cardboard or fabric material away from heating appliances. If the sevok was grown on its own, then it must be thoroughly warmed up before planting in order to activate growth. It is necessary to heat for two weeks at a temperature of +20 degrees, then for 8-10 hours it is heated at a temperature of +35 degrees.

You can simply pour the seedlings with hot water for 15-20 minutes before planting (the water temperature should be about 45 degrees). After that, the seedlings are transferred to cold water.

After the warming procedure, it is useful to place the planting material in solutions that stimulate growth. For this purpose, drugs such as Zircon, Growth, Humisol are used.

Onion seeds are disinfected before planting in open ground. For this purpose, it is placed in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or in a solution with copper sulphate (5 g of copper sulphate is taken per 10 liters).

Planting sevka

Planting seedlings is best in mid-May, when stable warm weather is established. The soil should warm up to +12 degrees. The best place to land is an elevated place where groundwater does not pass.The site should receive sunlight without obstruction all day long.

Furrows are made in the selected area at a distance of 15-18 cm, 3 cm deep. After that, the furrows are watered with warm water and the seedlings are planted at intervals of about 8-10 cm. land.

After planting, the sevok needs special care. You need to water twice a week, you should not allow the spread of weeds, and after two weeks you need to carry out the first top dressing.

Feeding

Proper care of onions in the open field is the timely application of fertilizers:

• The first feeding is carried out 15-17 days after planting, when the phase of active growth of greenery begins. If the feather grows weak, thin and pale, then micronutrients can be applied earlier. Use a solution based on urea, which is poured under the root, nitroammophos.A liquid solution of mullein is suitable as a first dressing.
• The next fertilization is carried out in mid-June, three weeks after the first top dressing. At this time, the underground part of the plant is actively developing and it is important to introduce potassium-phosphorus compounds. You can prepare a solution of superphosphate and potassium s alt.
• The third top dressing with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers (without nitrogen) is carried out only if the soil is depleted, and the plants themselves look weak and do not develop well.

If organic matter was introduced in the fall, all plant residues were removed from the site, then this is usually enough to get a good harvest.

Irrigation

Another point to consider when growing onions is that they love moist soil. In the first month after germination, onions should be watered once every two weeks. If the weather is dry and hot, then the number of waterings increases to once a week.

Water for irrigation must always be warm and it is better to pour it between rows. The procedure is preferably carried out in the evening or early in the morning.

Loosening the soil is carried out after watering. This procedure allows you to destroy pests and their larvae, prevent the formation of a crust and allow oxygen and nutrients to quickly penetrate the roots of the plant.

After watering, the soil should be wet to a depth of 10 cm. During the formation of the bulbs, the abundance of watering increases.

Two weeks before the expected harvest, watering is stopped, carrying out only dry loosening. This will allow all the nutrients to accumulate in the head and not form a crust on the soil surface.

Loosening, thinning

As the onion grows, thinning is carried out.With a dense planting, two thinnings are carried out. Remove the weakest and smallest plants. At the first thinning, leave a distance between plants of 4 cm. The second thinning is carried out a month later, leaving a distance between the onions of 8 cm.

Loosening is carried out after watering the soil and after rains. This procedure prevents the spread of weeds and allows oxygen to reach the roots without obstruction.

Whether it is necessary to rake the ground from the bulbs, the decision is made by each vegetable grower independently. But it has been noticed that the procedure allows you to move the ripening period faster, since more light and heat penetrate the bulb. Rake the ground a couple of weeks before harvest.

Protection from diseases and pests

Vegetable beds are often attacked by pests and various infections. To reduce the risk of these misfortunes, preventive treatments are carried out onion beds. Both folk formulations and ready-made, store-bought drugs can be used.

For preventive purposes, onions can be treated with a solution based on copper sulphate. Dissolve 5 g of this component in 10 liters of water and add 30 ml of liquid soap.

Wood ash, ground pepper, tobacco dust help protect against diseases and pests. A mixture of these components is sprinkled between the rows of onions. Between the rows, the soil can be watered with a saline solution (200 g of table s alt is diluted in 10 liters of water).

Helps to destroy the larvae of pests loosening. Loosen onions as often as possible, especially after watering or after rain.

Harvesting

Harvesting begins after a third of the onion leaves turn yellow, dry and fall to the ground. The neck of the bulb at the same time becomes soft, thinner and dries.

After digging, the crop can be dried right in the garden. If the weather is rainy, then the onions are removed indoors. It takes about two weeks for the bulbs to dry completely.

To store the onion crop, it is better to choose a cool, dry, dark room with good ventilation. The air temperature should be around +3 degrees.

Recommended