Nowadays, buying onion turnips in a store is not a problem at all. On the shelves of the head - just a sight for sore eyes, one more beautiful, and the real giants come across in size. However, growing onions on a head does not lose its relevance. This is understandable: what kind of vegetable can compare with what is collected from its garden? It is 100% environmentally friendly, which means it is definitely useful.
From seed or set
This question is especially relevant if it is planned to grow root crops in severe Siberian conditions. Mistresses, having tried different varieties and methods of growing crops, stop at one. Growing onions on a head can be done from seeds in one season. But the time costs will be enormous, you will have to invest a lot of labor, and as a result, the yield is quite mediocre, since a lot of little things come across. Therefore, if you are interested in a good harvest, it is best to buy a ready-made seedling (small bulbs) and plant in the spring in the garden.
Stocking up seed
It is best to do this in the fall. At this time, the prices for seeds are much lower, and the choice is huge. Growing onions on the head is a fairly simple task, but first you need to decide how many root crops you want to grow. For example, if for the winter you need 5-6 buckets of onions, then in the fall you need to buy about one kilogram of small sets. It is small heads that give the best crop, onions grown from it do not shoot, regardless of whether the set was stored in heat or cold.
Choosing a place for future landings
You need to choose a place for a bed sunny, and landing in partial shade will also be successful. But heavily shaded areas for onions are not suitable. The feather will stretch and weep early, but the bulb will not form. Growing onions from sevka is best done in the beds, where cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes and legumes used to grow. It is very good if carrots grow in the neighborhood - this will protect the plants from pests. It is even better to sow in rows in which onions alternate with carrots. So the onion fly will not find what is edible and what is not.
Winter sowing
Growing onions on the head can begin in late autumn - this will save your time in the spring, when you can forget about healthy vegetables for all your worries. What is the advantage of autumn planting? Small sevocs can dry at home, while in the ground it will be preserved in the best way. Before planting, you need to prepare a garden, namely to add humus, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to the soil. Seeds must be kept for 15-20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate. Then they dig a bed, and mulch the soil. The bed needs to be watered well. Now you can wait for the onset of the first cold weather to make a landing. After sowing is planted, the bed is covered with mulch and covered with dry grass, sawdust and other improvised materials.
Another onion growing technology
If you are late with the autumn landing, it doesn’t matter - you can catch up with everything in the spring. To do this, you need to take the box, fill it with slightly moist soil, lay out the onion heads and cover it with soil on top. Store in a cool place so that the seeds do not hatch prematurely. A spring planting bed is best prepared in advance to protect seedlings from onion flies and other pests. 2 weeks before sowing, approximately in mid-March, you should take out your bulbs and leave to warm at home temperature. At the same time, you should pull on a small greenhouse to warm the garden. Two days before the planned sowing, it is necessary to soak the seeds in water with the addition of potassium permanganate. Thus, growing onions in the ground is greatly accelerated, since dry heads will hatch only after 20 days, and soaked ones in a week. Planting dates in the spring can vary greatly depending on the region. An onion cannot be planted in cold soil so that it does not go into the arrow, but it is also impossible to delay. It will be difficult for him to take root in dry land. The optimum soil temperature is +12 degrees.
Seed cultivation
As you can see, there are different ways to grow onions. The longest is the option of growing nigella. For this, in early spring onion seeds are sown in the garden. Over the summer, a large number of small heads grow out of them. They are also called sevk. Now they can be planted in the winter, or wait for spring and sow in the ground. If you regularly grow onion sets, then you will constantly have material for planting. This makes it possible to harvest excellent crops at minimal cost.
Landing pattern
Growing onions in the soil is carried out during the summer period. Plant small bulbs at a distance of 5 cm from each other. Medium need to be planted in increments of at least 10 cm. Plant the northeast down, deepening into the ground to the height of the bulb. Top need to be covered with humus. Onion grows very quickly, releasing green feathers. After about 20 days, you need to feed him, for this, an infusion of mullein or ordinary nettle is well suited.
Now the onion begins to gain mass. In this case, it is impossible to spud a plant, on the contrary, when loosening, it is worth raking the ground from the bulbs. If you are planting carrots and onions near, then this land is just useful for hilling carrots so that root crops do not turn green in the sun.
Onion Care
Onions are planted in early spring, so that he has time to get stronger before pests and numerous diseases appear en masse. Watering after planting sowing is not required, since the ground in the spring is still quite humid. During the growing season, onions are very demanding on moisture. After about a week, if the weather is very hot, then after five days, it is necessary to produce abundant watering. This continues until the plants actively release green feathers. Around the middle of summer, the number of irrigations is reduced. Now we irrigate every 10-12 days. About two weeks before harvesting, we completely stop watering. Now the plant should dry so that the root crops are well stored.
Top dressing
Do not forget about fertilizing if you want to get a good onion. The conditions for growing this unpretentious culture can be any, but during the growing season, the culture should receive 2-3 full-fledged nutritional complexes. The first feeding is done when the plant only forms green feathers. They are now underdeveloped and have a light color. In 10 liters of water, you must breed a mullein or bird droppings, as well as a tablespoon of urea. After two weeks, top dressing must be repeated, but the active substance is now changing. In 10 liters of water, you need to dilute 2 tablespoons of nitrophosphate and pour onion at the rate of 5 liters per square meter. Once the onion is the size of a walnut, 2 tablespoons of superphosphate are bred in 10 liters of water. It is such a feeding scheme that is considered optimal. It does not take much time, but it gives excellent results. If the gardener forgets about feeding, then the harvest will be much worse.
Diseases and Pests
Most often, an onion fly attacks the landing. In this case, the leaves of the plant turn yellow and fade, and if you do not take measures in time, your bed will be completely destroyed. For prevention, as we have said, carrots are planted nearby. To protect the plantings, it is necessary to plant the plants as early as possible. If the attack has already occurred, then you can try to save the plants with a tobacco solution. To do this, 200 g of tobacco should be mixed with a tablespoon of soap and a bucket of water. Pour the bed with the resulting solution.
Another popular pest is onion moth. She lays eggs on the underside of the feathers of the crop. After a week, larvae appear that eat out the flesh, leaving the leaf membrane intact. Caterpillars can damage inflorescences and even penetrate the bulbs. Methods of control - systemic insecticides.
A separate topic is onion diseases and their treatment. Most often, plants are affected by cervical rot. This is a disease that is caused by a fungus. Symptoms are gray depressed spots. During storage of such heads, spots spread and capture the scales, as well as the bottom. The best way to combat is considered timely treatment with modern antifungal drugs. If at the time of cleaning you see signs of the disease, then you need to carefully dry the heads at a temperature of 20 degrees for 14 days, and then hold it at a temperature of 35 degrees for another 3 days.
We discussed the most common onion diseases and their treatment. But they forgot about one disease. This is downy mildew. This is also a fungal disease. In this case, pale green spots appear on the leaves, then a purple coating forms in their place. In this case, the green part of the leaves turns yellow and dies. The fungus winters in the soil, and especially rapidly develops in rainy weather. As a measure of control, one can consider the location of the beds in a sunny place and the preliminary processing of seed. If the disease has already spread to the garden, then it will be almost impossible to save the crop. Do not forget that any disease is easier to prevent than to treat.