What could be better in winter than fresh herbs grown on your own windowsill? Growing green onions in a plastic bottle at home is very simple. This will not require special costs or too complicated care. All you need is a plastic bottle and bulbs.
When do they begin to plant onions?
Usually, onions in a plastic bottle are planted, starting from the autumn period, when it is no longer on the beds, and a long winter ahead with its vitamin deficiencies. You can also grow it on greens throughout the year. Especially this can be a good solution when closer to spring you want green salads, and onions begin to sprout, spoiling at the same time. In order not to throw away and get the maximum benefit from such bulbs, they can be planted in a plastic bottle and enjoy fresh herbs, because they sprout very quickly.
Why in the bottle? Firstly, this method does not require the cost of buying special pots and trays, and secondly, this method does not help to force all the available window sills in the apartment or house with onions, but to get a good yield of green mass in a fairly small area.
How to prepare a container?
Onions in plastic bottles are grown in two ways:
- The first is to cut off the side of the bottle, use it like a regular pot, with a slightly larger area. For these purposes, you can use both one and a half, and two-liter, as well as 5 and 6 liter containers. It all depends on their availability and desire.
- The second is more convenient and profitable. For him, 5 and 6 liter containers or even larger ones, in which all the surfaces of the bottle are used, except for the bottom, are suitable.
Onions in a plastic bottle. Container preparation
Let us consider in detail only the second method, since with the first one everything is quite clear and understandable, and the way of leaving and the composition of the soil are completely different. So, in a 5-liter bottle, cut off the upper part, where the neck and handle are located; for greater stability, it is better to cut the neck a little higher from the place where it begins to narrow. Along the perimeter of the side walls, we make round holes of slightly smaller diameter than the bow that we are going to plant. The holes are made as close as the size allows. To measure the gaps between them, you can add several bulbs together and determine what distance from top to top is required. And from each hole lay precisely such segments in the side and up.
Thus, in one bottle, standing in the usual, vertical position, depending on the size of the bulbs, you can grow up to 30-60 pieces. Now just imagine how much space this way saves!
The soil
Onions in plastic bottles can be planted in purchased universal soil or intended for leafy plants. It is better to avoid soils for flowering plants, since the minerals that contribute to flowering contained in them can provoke the growth of arrows, which are completely unnecessary. When they appear, they must be plucked, otherwise the onion will cease to produce lateral tender leaves, for which we grow it.
You can also prepare nutritious soil yourself, for this you need to mix ordinary garden soil with humus, you can add peat or organic fertilizers. As a substrate for onions, you can use wood sawdust or sand, but in this case, if the onion cultivation is planned for a long time, it will need to be periodically fed with fertilizers. But this method will reduce the possibility of contamination of the windowsill with soil flowing from the bottle.
The same effect can be achieved if the onions are planted in a plastic bottle tightly enough, and the holes are made quite small, sufficient only for its germination. For this purpose, onions are watered exclusively in the center of the container, this is also necessary because the roots are located here, and when watering the earth along the edge of the bottle, it is possible to cause rotting of the bulbs.
Disembarkation
Onions in a plastic bottle, in which the sidewall is cut, sits in the same way as any other plant, there are no special methods for this. It is enough to simply deepen the bulb so that at the top there is only a small part “with a tail”, where green shoots appear. The bulb should not be completely buried, it can extend the time of its germination and add dirt, as the ground will look through the holes.
In the second method of planting, pouring a little earth on the bottom of the bottle, it is necessary to lay the first layer of bulbs, sticking each out into the prepared window. This layer is covered with earth and slightly compacted. The second, third and so on layers also land. Having landed the last layer, from above it is necessary to fill it with earth, at least four centimeters thick. On the site of the former narrowing of the neck of the bottle, also in the horizontal position, as usual, you can plant more bulbs.
Thus, one tank replaces the whole bed. And growing onions in a plastic bottle will not be difficult, even for those who have never grown anything.