Family onions: planting, growing and care in the open field with a photo

Family onions as one of the varieties of a common vegetable crop are ignored by many vegetable growers because of the small heads. But only the correct cultivation of onion crops will help change the attitude towards the multi-germ type of vegetable. The family has many advantages that will appear if you know the rules for planting and caring for the plant. So that the land is not empty, you need to pay attention to the cultivation of family onions in the open field.

Features of the family look

The difference between a family onion and an ordinary onion, which gives one large head, is the formation of a nest with several fruits.No wonder such an onion is called a family. In the nest there are from three to ten bulbs weighing 15-50 grams. The shape of onion heads are round, oval, cuboid, oblong. From above, the heads are covered with thin scales of a golden, purple, reddish hue, depending on the variety. And juicy tender pulp with a different color - from white to pinkish. The greens of the family are thin, pungent in taste, and do not coarsen for a long time. The height of the leaves of the plant reaches 30-50 centimeters. When you are satisfied with the taste of a vegetable, its advantages over other varieties of culture, you need to learn how to grow a large family onion.

The family vegetable also produces seeds similar to the onion variety, but smaller in size.

The features of the family include the fact that the plant:

gives high yields;
reach maturity 50-80 days after planting;
stored until spring;
does not shoot even at low air temperatures;
disease resistant;
undemanding to soils and care.

To harvest large-sized bulbs, choose the right varieties of family onions.

Varieties of family onions

To select a variety, proceed from the area where vegetables are grown. What grows well in the middle lane is not suitable for the climate of Siberia. The description of the variety also plays an important role, you need to know how the family bow looks in the photo:

Distributed in the northern regions of the European part Old Believer bow. The variety has a sharp taste. And Veliky Ustyug - gives large bulbs, 6-10 pieces in each nest.
Albik onion ripens early even in Siberia. This variety has rounded flat bulbs covered with yellow husks. Heads weigh up to fifty grams. Appreciate the plant for the abundant return of green feathers.
Produces a crop with a mass of greens in two hundred grams variety Grant. In the nest up to 10-12 heads with yellow scales, juicy flesh with a sharp taste.
A variety of shallots has varieties with a delicate sweetish taste according to the description and photo. Among them is Pesandor with purple flesh. The vegetable gives a rich harvest of twenty heads in the nest.
For Siberia and the middle zone, varieties have been bred, among which are Grasshopper, Sprint, Krepysh, Siberian Yellow.
In the southern regions, varieties of the family are cultivated - Russian violet, Rostov, Kuban yellow.

The family is selected taking into account the taste of the bulbs, the timing of the ripening of the vegetable. Among those producing large heads is the Kvochka variety. It is worth paying attention to it in order to get multi-colored fruits suitable for salads and cooking.

Growing and care

The family is not difficult to cultivate, because the cultivation and care of the vegetable is the same as for the ordinary onion. The vegetable grows well, it needs to be provided:

low air temperature ranging from +2 to 15 degrees;
wet ground;
additional watering during dry summers;
competent preparation for landing.

Caring for family onions in the open field is simple. With proper care of the plant, creating favorable conditions, you can get a crop of large heads of vegetable crops in any region.

Preparation of planting material

To get a large family bow, it is necessary that the planting in the open field takes place at the optimum time. It is important to prepare seed material:

having cleaned the heads of dry scales, leaving juicy ones;
soaking the bulbs for twenty minutes in a solution of copper sulfate (a tablespoon per ten liters of water);
by immersing planting material in nutrient solutions of complex fertilizers;
cutting the heel to white scales;
putting the onion in a container in a cool room to germinate roots up to five millimeters.

The family is not planted with whole bulbs, otherwise they will get small heads in the nest. The sowing head is cut in half in the center. Halves and beds are planted.

A place for a family where the soil is loose, of a homogeneous structure. If the soil is poor in nutrients, then five kilograms of humus or compost are added per square meter, then a solution of a teaspoon of superphosphate, urea and 2-3 tablespoons of wood ash.Work is carried out in the fall, and in the spring they only fertilize the bed with nitrogen.

Preparation of the soil and planting material is carried out in advance.

Plant pattern

For planting a family, they build a garden bed by making grooves in it. Many gardeners prefer to plant seed material in a checkerboard pattern. If the variety gives large onion heads, then the sets are planted at a distance of 25-30 centimeters from each other. Small bulbs should be planted at a distance of 15 centimeters.

Deployment of planting material into the ground should be 5-8 centimeters. A shallow location of the set will cause the roots to dry out.

How to grow large family onions in the middle lane? It is necessary to correctly determine the timing of planting, choose a variety that gives large bulbs. It is important to place planting material on the bed so that medium-sized heads are formed.

Planting family onions

Onions can be planted in early spring, and for the winter, in October.

Plots for family bows are those that are located in the sun and are well ventilated. A vegetable needs air- and water-permeable soils. If the soil is clayey, it is diluted with coarse sand for looseness.

The acidity of the soil for the onion family is neutral. On acidic soils, work is carried out to introduce dolomite flour or slaked lime.

Zucchini, beans, peas are considered the forerunners of crop plantings. It is not recommended to plant a vegetable in the same place every year.

Bulbs are placed before planting in a solution of potassium permanganate or fungicidal. The beds planted in the spring are covered with a special material, removing after emergence. In winter, plantings are mulched with peat or humus.

Date of planting

The time for planting family onions is chosen depending on the region, climatic conditions. Do not wait for hot days to plant a family. During the period when the soil warms up to five degrees Celsius, it stops "smearing", planting begins.

The air temperature at this time reaches 10 degrees above zero during the day, and drops to -2 at night. But for a family bow, temperature changes are not terrible. It will slowly develop. Planting is not carried out too early because of the possibility of sharp frosts in the morning, and later it is impossible, as arrows may appear. And the onion fly infects young shoots of onions.

When a vegetable begins its growth process, it needs long daylight hours and warmth. Then more closed scales will appear on the bulb, and the heads will last longer.

Plant care

Mulched beds retain moisture for a long time, and the bulbs develop without watering and fertilizing. Fertilizers are applied for family onions in the open field when the leaves grow ten centimeters. Here the soil will require watering, and feeding the vegetable is required.

It is better to water the family once a week abundantly. As soon as the bulbs separate, the extra ones are removed, leaving 3-5 pieces in the nest.

In early July, watering the beds is stopped. The earth is raked from the bulbs, leaving the vegetable heads in the sun. So they ripen faster and will give large yields.

In addition, family bow care includes:

loosening the soil 1-2 times a week;
weed removal;
feeding with manure in a ratio of 1:10 or bird droppings - 1:15;
mineral fertilization.

Fertilizer contributes to the growth of green mass, therefore, before harvesting, they stop feeding the onion beds a month before harvesting. Then all the forces will be spent on the formation of large bulbs.

Harvesting

Onion fully ripens in July-August. The fact that it is time to start harvesting family onions will be indicated by wilting of leaves, lodging. The neck of the stem becomes dry, and the onion heads become covered with scales.

When you need to remove family onions depends on the region. In Siberia, in temperate latitudes, warm sunny weather is needed to harvest. After all, the bulbs need to be given time to dry. In the middle lane and in the south, they begin to dig bulbs in July, where they ripen faster.

It is best when the dug heads dry out in the garden. But if the weather turns bad, then you will have to carry the crop under a canopy. There the bulbs will dry for ten days. At the same time, the layers are constantly turned over.

Before laying the crop, roots and dry leaves are pruned. Someone lays out the fruits of the vegetable in boxes, lowering them into the basement or cellar. You can braid bulbs by hanging them in a dry and cool place.

Family onions retain their useful qualities well until the next harvest.