Onions have long been used in the preparation of many different dishes. That is why almost every housewife, choosing a crop for cultivation, prefers to plant several varieties at once. Various types of onions growing in the garden give you the opportunity to cook different masterpieces, as well as improve your gardening skills.
There are many varieties of onions, among which lettuce occupies a special place.
Sweet onions are called lettuce onions. It can be either white or red, or classic brownish. Salad onions (photo below) are almost not bitter at all. That is why it got its name, as it is often used to make fresh salads.
Salad onion varieties
In terms of taste, such onions can be sweet or semi-sharp. Sweet varieties include: Exhibition, Y alta, Ermak.
To the peninsula: Black Prince, Alvinu, Albion, Red Baron, Carmen, Zolotnichok, Yesaul, Classic, Master, Odintsovets, Retro, Champion.
Polettuce onions can be white (Exhibition, Albion), red (Y alta, Black Prince, Alvina, Carmen, Retro, Red Baron), classic brown (Ermak, Zolotnichok, Esaul, Odintsovets, Champion, Master, Classic) and green (Legionary, Baia Verde, Green Banner, Emerald Isle).
Description of sweet varieties
Exhibition white lettuce is very sweet and juicy. Its ripening period is 130 days. Its turnip is round and very large - it can reach 500 g, but there were cases when it weighed 700-800 g. The only disadvantage of this variety is a short shelf life (up to 3 months).
Y alta variety is a sweet salad onion belonging to red varieties. It is highly valued for its taste. The turnip ripens in 140-150 days. The shape of the bulb is flattened from above and below, and the color is with purple tones. Its weight reaches 200 g. The shelf life, like that of the Exebishen, is small - only four months.
Ermak is the record holder for the speed of maturation. Its crop can be harvested within 75-95 days after sowing. It has a soft and juicy texture. The size of the turnips is average, and it can be stored until the next season. Another plus in favor of this variety is its good immunity to the effects of the external environment.
Description of peninsular varieties
The Black Prince variety has dark purple outer scales. The ripened turnip is dense and weighs about 100 g. It belongs to mid-season varieties, since the ripening period is 100 days. Differs in high productivity. It has a universal purpose - canbe used for salads, and for main dishes, and for canning.
Another wonderful mid-season semi-sharp onion variety is Alvina. The turnip grows flat with purple outer scales. Full maturation takes 100-105 days. Its weight does not exceed 100 g, but the variety is characterized by a stable yield.
A hybrid like Albion also has all the qualities of a salad onion. It is white, sometimes even translucent. From the moment of germination to ripeness, it takes from 90 to 120 days. The outside of this 100g onion is dry, but there are juicy scales inside.
Red Baron is a semi-sharp red lettuce onion, picky about external conditions. It gives a good harvest even in dry summers. Red-purple flattened turnips weigh 50-120 g. The bulb is dense and juicy. Used in salads and in processing.
Green varieties
Green lettuce is most often referred to as immature onion feathers, but it also has its own varieties.
It was cultivated several thousand years before our era and is actively used to this day. It grows, like ordinary onions, on the territory of all inhabited continents.
It is often grown from onions, but you can also use batun or shallots. Given the taste, it is better to harvest it during the period when the turnip is not yet fully ripe.
There are the following varieties of green salad onions:
- Legionnaire. Powerful longfingreen plant, on the surface of which a slight wax coating is visible. When it ripens, the bulb does not form.
- Baia Verde. This onion-batun hybrid has very large feathers. Such a selection move made it possible to significantly increase the yield compared to other green onion varieties.
- Green banner. The earliest variety, the crop from which can be cut after 40 days from the moment of germination. It has a mild, slightly spicy taste.
- Emerald Isle. Very storage-resistant variety - can be stored for a long time without special conditions. It grows well no matter when it was sown.
Cultivation of sweet onions
It is impossible to grow onions from sevka, because such varieties do not exist. The reason is that almost all varieties of sweet and semi-sharp onions are stored for up to 4 months. Growing real lettuce onions is possible only from seeds. In practice, the division of onions according to taste characteristics (spicy, semi-sharp, sweet) is conditional, since the taste of turnips can change. It depends on where the onion grows.
Lettuce onions have a medium density and contain a large amount of water, which gives the inner scales juiciness. These varieties are grown most often in the south. Onion varieties are very demanding in terms of sunlight. Southern varieties need 13-14 hours of daylight for normal growth.
Growing onions from seeds is preferable to growing from sets as there is no need to contend withvarious diseases and pests. The reason for this is the widespread downy mildew, white rot, viruses and pathogenic nematodes that threaten the set.
However, planting sevkom also has its advantages: a high level of germination, a powerful assimilation apparatus is formed earlier (as a result, larger bulbs), resistance to weeds growing nearby is developed. It is these advantages that attract when choosing a landing method.
If onions are sown on a small plot, and not on a hundred hectares of a field, growing seedlings becomes more profitable.
Growing seedlings
You can grow seedlings both in a greenhouse and on a windowsill. The best age for planting seedlings is 50-60 days.
Seeds are sown in early spring (mid-March). The seedling container should have a hole in the bottom. Before the ground, a little expanded clay should be poured into it to create drainage. You need to fill it with the composition by 15 cm, preheating it and disinfecting it. You can also use ordinary peat soil for sowing seeds, but it should not contain "living earth".
It is necessary to lay out the seeds on the prepared soil and cover them with a layer of soil 0.5 cm thick. The field of this container is covered with a film and placed on the windowsill. As necessary, moisten and fertilize the soil.
The optimum temperature for seeds will be 20-25 °C. After the first shoots appear, the film is removed, and the temperature should be reduced to 16-20 ° C. Hightemperature causes the sprouts to stretch and weaken.
A month after the first shoots, secondary roots appear in the sprouts. At this time, the soil must be saturated with moisture and a weak soil solution. This contributes to the normal growth and development of seedlings. Top dressing should be done once a week.
When the sprouts are strong and ready for planting, in warm weather they can be left outside and hardened for 2-3 days.
Planting seedlings
Planting seedlings is pretty easy. Often, the soil in the container is well watered and seedlings are taken out (dig out). You need to act carefully so as not to damage the roots of the seedlings. It should be noted that the root hairs covering the onion roots dry out quickly, so the planting process should not be delayed.
Seedlings can be planted when the soil warms up to 10°C. You need to plant it at the same depth at which it grew before, but before that you should straighten all the roots. Row spacing should be at least 15 cm. After planting seedlings, it is necessary to irrigate with repetition in a week.
Further care is no different from caring for plants sown directly into the soil. They are mulched with humus or peat. The layer of fertilizer should not exceed 2-3 cm. When caring for the onion, it should be remembered that its root system is very poorly developed, so an excess amount of fertilizer can lead to the death of the plant.
Seedlings from seeds do not differ in the feeding regime from plants grown from sets. Sweet varietiesmore potassium is needed, but nitrogen should not be zealous.
Plant fertilizer
The amount of fertilizer needed depends on soil and weather conditions. It is not recommended to use manure as a fertilizer, as this delays the ripening process of the bulb. In addition, fresh organic fertilizer introduces many weeds.
Aged compost is a good choice as fertilizer. It is necessary to fill the soil with phosphorus, potash and nitrogen fertilizers in certain quantities.
Growing greens
Green salad onions are grown in the same way as turnip onions. All stages are repeated, but it is planted more densely. The method of growing green onions from seeds is very laborious, so it is used less frequently. Often green feathers are cut from young onions.
The period from seed germination to the first cutting of greenery is 70-80 days, with subsequent cutting of new feathers after 40-50 days. The amount of time until subsequent cuts depends on lighting, soil moisture, top dressing and air temperature.
The height of a fully ripe green onion depends on the variety, but averages from 50 to 70 cm. You can cut the greens earlier, but in this case, young feathers will not have as many useful substances as mature ones.
In order for the crop to be continuous, the seeds are sown every 2 weeks.
Using salad onions in cooking
Different types of onions are suitable for cooking different dishes. It depends on the taste of one or the other.varieties.
Brown salad onions are especially popular with housewives because they are the most common. It is used to prepare dishes from fish, vegetables (including salads) and meat. In addition, it is suitable for decorating s alted fish and mushrooms.
White varieties are much softer and sweeter than classic brown (yellow). It is stuffed, grilled, stewed, added to salads, sauces and marinades.
Red lettuce is the most fragrant, so it is often used in salads, side dishes, marinades and pastries. It is also crumbled on top of already prepared dishes. Cooking such onions is not advised, as it loses its color when cooked.
Green chives are often used as an addition to salads, meat and vegetable dishes, and cold soups. It is added in its raw form to places where the taste of ingredients can be distorted due to onions (for example, to cottage cheese).
