Onions are an indispensable vegetable in the kitchen of every housewife. It is not only added to different dishes, eaten just like that with bread, but also used in the treatment of almost all colds. Onions began to be used by people more than 5 thousand years ago. The homeland of the vegetable is considered Central Asia. Today, no cuisine in the world can do without this vitamin-rich product. And thanks to agronomists there are more and more new varieties suitable for cultivation in different conditions.
Peninsular and long-lasting onion Chalcedony
The value of onions of this variety lies in several properties at once. It has excellent maturation - when the time comes for harvesting, good fruits account for at least 92% of the total planting. Chalcedony is resistant to mechanical damage and can also be stored for a long time. In any case, the harvested crop will be enough for a new crop, this is said by all who cultivated this variety. Bulbs grow approximately the same, slightly oblong, larger than average size. The most important thing that you need to provide a planted onion is a good drainage of the soil. Another great quality of this variety is its early maturity. The growing season for Chalcedony is only 90 days. Onions Chalcedony is frost-resistant - its seeds can germinate even at a temperature of +3 degrees, which for a normal variety will be simply fatal.
Growing
The traditional scheme for growing onions looks like this: sprouted seeds, small onions, a full crop. Everything about everything took two years. Chalcedony onion seeds germinate immediately into full-fledged fruits - this is an annual plant.
Experts recommend first to sprout seedlings, as well as with cucumbers and tomatoes, and only then plant it in open ground. When transplanting, care must be taken not to break the sprouts, and also not to severely damage the root system. It is best to initially sow seeds in a plastic container, for example, from under a salad. It is necessary to sow densely, and after that it is necessary to cover with a film and watch when the first loops of shoots appear. Of course, we should not forget about watering - the more abundant it is, the juicier the onion will be (however, it is also not worth pouring, as this can lead to rotting of seeds).
Land preparation for sowing
Many gardeners believe that it does not matter when to prepare the soil for sowing - in autumn or spring, shortly before sowing. However, some preparation requires onions Chalcedony. The cultivation and results of labor in this case will depend on the soil directly. Therefore, its processing is worth doing in the autumn. The earth should be carefully dug up, carefully removing the weeds from it. You can leave large pieces of land without breaking them - then more air will enter the soil. But in the spring, when re-digging, the soil needs to be loosened to a “down” state. The most important thing during processing is to preserve the capillarity and structure of the soil. Sow the seeds as early as possible.
Sowing seeds
Accurate seeding is what Chalcedony onions love. Growing from seeds is only the first stage, after which no less important follows: transplanting into open ground. By the way, in order for the seeds to sprout faster, they are pre-soaked in warm water and left for a day. After this follows the mandatory disinfection - a solution of potassium permanganate of medium saturation. After that, the seeds are washed again with clean water. It should be borne in mind that with early sowing there is the possibility of frostbite of the shoots with the last frost. Therefore, seedlings are covered with a film. It should be stocked up in advance lowland peat, which performs a very important function. They are sprinkled with beds so that they do not form a crust, and also peat is an excellent heater. If the transplant was successful, then after 7-10 days it will be possible to observe stronger seedlings.
Too thick places are recommended to thin out immediately - for this, the plant is not just torn out of the ground, but is scooped to the side and removed along with the roots - Chalcedony has a very strong and tenacious root system. Between plants, it is necessary to adhere to a distance of 6-8 centimeters.
Care
After thinning the beds (and it is better to do this when the onion has grown a little, and it can be used for salads), you will need to look after the bulbs. After the first rains, under the warm sunlight, the beds will quickly become covered with weeds. It is categorically not allowed to give them germination and growth. Therefore, to be lazy in such a case is completely inappropriate. The onion variety Chalcedony loves watering in dry weather, and also grows better if it is fed periodically.
Top dressing can be done with watering. It is necessary to start feeding the plant from the moment when the phase 3-5 of this leaf begins, as well as in the period when the fetus itself begins to form. Top dressing is carried out with full mineral fertilizer with trace elements in liquid form. On depleted soils can be applied humus at the rate of 7 kilograms per square meter. After spring tillage, minerals - potassium and phosphorus, which must be distributed at 20 grams per square meter, are introduced without fail.
What is the difference between onions grown from seeds?
Onion Chalcedony grown from seeds differs from bulbs grown from seed. Initially, the difference is that you do not have to spend time on germinating the seed itself, as well as on maintaining it until the planting season. Onions, which are grown directly from seedlings, do not go into the arrow, but retain their quality until the new harvest season.
In comparison: many varieties of onions during storage begin to deteriorate from the middle of winter, until the spring season, at best, half of the harvest is left. The rest of the onion is rotting and rotting. Chalcedony grown from seedlings also becomes a real giant - bulbs weigh on average up to 120 grams, and from one standard bed you can collect up to 5 kilograms of this golden miracle, by the way, bred by Moldovan vegetable growers.
Features of agricultural technology
Still, there are several factors that need to be addressed. The quantity of the crop will directly depend on this, but also, of course, its quality.
The plot on which Chalcedony onion will be planted should be located in a sunny place - the bulbs will be poured more quickly with juice, especially with good watering. Also in the garden should certainly be present light loam or sandy loam soils of increased fertility. If you determine the soil by acidity, then it should be slightly alkaline. Try to regularly fertilize the soil with proven folk methods such as ash, dolomite flour and fluff lime. In autumn it is advisable to generously cover the land with rotten manure - in terms of quality it will be the best top dressing. And yet - the soil in which Chalcedony will be planted should be in a four-year rest from the last onion planting. Ideal for soil preparation will be planted under onions on the eve of peas and pumpkin.
What you need to know more?
There is a list of certain diseases that Chalcedony onion is susceptible to. You will find a description of them below. The list looks like this: onion moth and fly, stem nematode, cervical rot, peronosporosis. The moth butterfly is not as dangerous as the larvae - it is they who eat the plant. It is necessary to destroy the moth at the caterpillar age, and then do not plant onions in this place for at least a year. A fly infects a plant so that it withers and dies. You can get rid of it with a solution of tobacco and soap. The nematode kills the entire crop at once. For prevention, the earth is treated with a salt solution - 2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water. Rot affects the plant, forming gray spots.
From it will help chalk or charcoal powder. Peronosporosis kills the crop to the end. After infection of plants, planting onions in this place is not possible for at least 4 years. Top dressing and watering is stopped 20 days before the harvest (so that the bulbs do not rot later). Harvested onions are left in the furrow, and then transferred to a room for complete drying.
So what is Chalcedony onion good for? Reviews of vegetable growers come down to one thing: it is tasty, stored for a long time, non-whimsical, frost-resistant and prolific.