Why did onion feathers turn white and what to do?

Many people think that growing onions is easy, however, it is not always possible to reap a good harvest, and a brightened feather reminds that not everything is in order with the bush.

Why do white spots appear?

One of the reasons for changing the color of the leaves is the increased acidity of the soil. On such soil, the culture develops poorly, does not please with bright greenery, large bulbs. All varieties of this plant adore loose soil, into which air easily penetrates.

What to do if one of the important indicators of the soil does not meet the norm, experienced gardeners know.Since autumn, digging up a bed, they bring into the soil a mixture of slaked lime, vegetable ash and dolomite flour, which is made on the basis of calcium. This helps to reduce acidity.

If the onion feathers turned white due to the fact that the earth was not alkalized, you can fix the problem by watering each bush with a glass of a special solution. To do this, 60 g of calcium nitrate must be diluted in a bucket of water. To reduce the acidity of the soil, many gardeners use ash, 200 grams of which is poured with a liter of boiling water, left for a day in a 10-liter container. A standard bucket of such a solution is used per square meter of onion beds.

Besides alkalization, wood ash saturates the crop:

sodium;
phosphorus;
magnesium;
calcium.

It promotes growth, provides onions in the garden with nutrients for almost the entire season. Thanks to this organic matter, the water balance is normalized, the leaves acquire a he althy rich color.

Micronutrient deficiency

Besides excess acid in the soil, there are other reasons why onion feathers turn white. What the plant lacks can be understood by carefully examining the bush:

With insufficient nitrogen in the soil, the culture develops poorly, the leaves lose their bright color and turn yellow, the tips become covered with white spots.
When potassium is deficient, feathers lighten and curl, greens are weakly formed, defective bulbs are formed.
With an excess of peat, the plant often lacks copper, to which it reacts with whitened tips.

To eliminate the lack of nitrogen, you need to feed the earth, for this you need to dilute 3 tablespoons of calcium nitrate in a bucket of water, spray the leaves with a solution of ammonia, which is prepared in the same proportion. The deficiency of this trace element is felt by a culture that grows on beds covered with straw, loosened soil, which protects the roots from drying out and frost.You can prevent a decrease in the amount of nitrogen in the ground if you pour urea on the mulch. Half a glass of granules is taken on a bucket of water.

When there is not enough copper in the soil, the beds are treated with a composition of 0.1% of its oxychloride (10 g per 10 l). Onion root is fed with Bordeaux mixture, or blue vitriol.

A whitened feather may be a reminder of a potassium deficiency. Thanks to this component, greenery grows, heads are formed. If the lack of a trace element is not replenished, the leaves turn white and begin to curl. The feed mixture is prepared by dissolving 3 tablespoons of potassium chloride or 2 cups of wood ash in a bucket of water.

When does the whole plant change shade?

If the bed is poorly insulated, frost can damage the onions. Then frozen feathers turn pale. The soil needs to be better mulched, and the leaves should not be cut off. In the spring, while the earth has not yet had time to thaw, it is necessary to scatter ammonium nitrate in the form of granules over it. The onion will gradually move away and turn green.

With excess or lack of moisture, the feathers turn yellow. In hot weather, it is necessary to water the culture every evening with warm, settled water. No more than a bucket of liquid should be used per square meter of beds. When it gets cold, the norm decreases by 2 times.

After rain, humidification stops for a while.

So that the feathers do not turn yellow:

Onion is not planted in the same place, it should be done every 4 years.
The bed is dug deep before sowing.
Need to fertilize in time.
Discolored leaves must be removed and burned.

Subject to all the rules, the plant pleases with large bulbs. But sometimes that's not enough.

What is sick?

There are other reasons that lead, if not to the death of a crop, then to a deterioration in its yield. When the spots on the feathers are covered with bloom, most likely powdery mildew has appeared. To prevent the development of this fungal disease, the leaves are sprayed with copper sulfate.

When plants are infected with peronosporosis, the entire bed is treated with fungicides, the affected bushes are removed along with the head. Some gardeners advise watering the culture with a solution of potassium permanganate or s alt. Repeat the procedure a couple of times.

Powdery mildew affects the plant during the wet period. From a diseased bush, spores are carried by the wind over a long distance. 3 weeks after infection, the tips of the leaves fade. Spots appear on them, covered with a bloom of purple. The bulbs do not ripen well, they are not stored for a long time.

Crop pests

Feathers turn yellow when tobacco thrips start on the leaves.A microscopic insect drinks juice from them. Since the pest hibernates in the ground or in the bulbs, the heads left for planting are lowered first into hot, then into cold water. To destroy insects, plants need to be sprayed with Confidor fungicide.

Feathers change color when a stem nematode damages the bulb, causing it to rot, the leaves first turning yellow and then dying. This little worm lives in the ground for years, causing great damage to crop plantings.

Vegetable growers get rid of the nematode by treating feathers with insecticides in the form of Fitoverm, Nematofagin. Some gardeners claim that they cope with the pest by watering the ground with a solution of marigolds. Two kilograms of these flowers are infused in a bucket of water.

The onion fly appears when the heat lasts for a long time, it does not rain. The insect butterfly lays its eggs in the ground. The light yellow caterpillars that emerge from them climb onto the feathers and gnaw through the fabric, causing the leaves to turn pale and wither.

Fight pests by scattering ashes or tobacco on the garden bed, spraying the ground with a solution of garlic.

Leaves turn yellow and dry up when they are eaten by the larvae of the secretive proboscis. If you do nothing, the entire crop plantation will die. You can defeat this pest only with fungicides.

To grow large bulbs that will be stored for a long time, you need to follow the rules of agricultural technology, care requirements, monitor the condition of the leaves, and fight diseases and pests in a timely manner.