Nowadays, buying turnips in the store is not a problem at all. On the shelves, the heads are just a feast for the eyes, one is more beautiful than the other, and real giants come across in size. However, growing onions per head does not lose its relevance. This is understandable: what vegetable can compare with what is harvested from your garden? It is 100% environmentally friendly, which means it is definitely he althy.
From seed or sevka
This question is especially relevant if you plan to grow a root crop in harsh Siberian conditions. The hostesses, having tried different varieties and methods of growing crops, stop at one. Growing onions per head can be done from seeds in one season. But the time costs will be enormous, a lot of labor will have to be invested, and as a result, the harvest is quite mediocre, since there are a lot of little things. Therefore, if you are interested in a good harvest, then it is best to buy ready-made sets (small bulbs) and plantspring in the garden.
Store seed material
The best time to do this is in the fall. At this time, the prices for seed are much lower, and the choice is huge. Growing onions per head is fairly easy, but first you need to decide how many root crops you want to grow. For example, if 5-6 buckets of onions are enough for the winter, then in the fall you need to buy about one kilogram of small sets. It is small heads that give the best harvest, the onion grown from it does not shoot, regardless of whether the sets were kept warm or cold.
Choosing a place for future landings
You need to choose a sunny place for the beds, and planting in partial shade will also be successful. But heavily shaded areas are not suitable for onions. The feather will stretch and fall early, and the bulb will not form. Growing onions from sets is best done in 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 per head can be started in late autumn - this will save you time in the spring, when you can forget about a he althy vegetable for all the worries. What are the benefits of fall planting? Small sevok at home can dry out,while in the ground it will be preserved in the best possible way. Before planting, you need to prepare a bed, namely, add humus, phosphorus and potash mineral fertilizers to the soil. Seeds must be kept for 15-20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate. Then the bed is dug up, and the soil is mulched. The bed needs to be well watered. Now you can wait for the onset of the first cold weather to land. After the sowing is planted, the bed is covered with mulch and covered with dry grass, sawdust and other available materials.
Another technology for growing onions
If you are late with the autumn planting, it does not matter - everything can be made up for in the spring. To do this, you need to take a box, fill it with slightly damp soil, lay out the onion heads and cover it with earth on top. You need to store in a cool place so that the seeds do not hatch ahead of time. It is best to prepare a bed for spring planting in advance to protect seedlings from onion flies and other pests. 2 weeks before sowing, around mid-March, you should take your bulbs out and leave to warm at home temperature. At the same time, you should stretch a small greenhouse to warm the bed. Two days before the planned sowing, it is necessary to soak the seeds in water with the addition of potassium permanganate. Thus, the cultivation of onions in the ground is greatly accelerated, since dry heads hatch only after 20 days, and soaked ones - after a week. Planting dates in the spring can vary greatly depending on the region. Onions cannot be planted in cold soil, so that they do not go into the arrow, but alsoyou can't be late. In dry soil, it will be difficult for him to take root. The optimum soil temperature is +12 degrees.
Growing from seeds
As you can see, there are different ways to grow onions. The longest is the option of growing nigella. To do this, onion seeds are sown in the garden in early spring. During the summer, a large number of small heads grow from them. It is they who are called sevkom. Now they can be planted before winter, or wait for spring and sow in the ground. If you regularly grow onion sets, then you will always have material for planting. This makes it possible to harvest an excellent harvest at minimal cost.
Plant pattern
Growing onions in the ground is carried out during the summer period. Small bulbs are planted at a distance of 5 cm from each other. Medium ones need to be planted in increments of at least 10 cm. The seedlings are planted with the bottom down, deepening into the ground to the height of the bulb. From above you need to fall asleep with humus. Onions grow very quickly, releasing green feathers. After about 20 days, it needs to be fed, for this an infusion of mullein or ordinary nettle is well suited.
Now the bulb is starting to gain mass. At the same time, it is impossible to hill the plant, on the contrary, when loosening, it is worth raking the earth from the bulbs. If you plant carrots and onions nearby, then this land is just right for hilling carrots so that the roots do not turn green in the sun.
Onion care
Planting onions is done in early spring tohe managed to get stronger even before pests appeared en masse, as well as numerous diseases. Watering after planting the seedlings is not required, since the ground is still quite wet in spring. 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 amount of watering is reduced. Now we irrigate every 10-12 days. About two weeks before harvesting, watering is stopped completely. Now the plant must dry out so that the root crops are well stored.
Feeding
Don't forget to fertilize if you want good onions. The growing conditions of this unpretentious culture can be any, but during the growing season, the culture should receive 2-3 complete nutritional complexes. The first feeding is done when the plant is just forming green feathers. They are now poorly developed and have a light color. In 10 liters of water, it is necessary to dilute mullein or bird droppings, as well as a tablespoon of urea. After two weeks, top dressing must be repeated, but now we change the active substance. In 10 liters of water, it is necessary to dilute 2 tablespoons of nitrophoska and pour onions at the rate of 5 liters per square meter. As soon as the bulb is formed the size of a walnut, 2 tablespoons of superphosphate are diluted in 10 liters of water. It is this feeding scheme that is considered optimal. It does not take much time, but it gives excellent results. If athe gardener forgets to feed, the harvest will be much worse.
Diseases and pests
Most often planting attacks onion fly. At the same time, the leaves of the plant turn yellow and wither, and if measures are not taken in time, your garden bed will be completely destroyed. For prevention, as we have already said, carrots are planted nearby. To protect plantings, it is necessary to plant 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 must be mixed with a tablespoon of soap and a bucket of water. Pour the garden bed with the resulting solution.
Another popular pest is the onion moth. She lays her eggs on the underside of the culture's feathers. A week later, larvae appear that eat away the pulp, leaving the leaf shell intact. Caterpillars can damage inflorescences and even penetrate inside the bulb. Control methods - systemic insecticides.
Onion diseases and their treatment are a separate topic. Most often, plants are affected by neck rot. This is a disease caused by a fungus. Signs are gray sunken spots. During storage of such heads, the spots spread and capture the scales, as well as the bottom. The best way to fight is timely treatment with modern antifungal drugs. If by the time of harvesting you see signs of a disease, then you must thoroughly dry the heads at a temperature of 20 degrees for 14 days, and then hold them at a temperature of 35 degrees for another 3 days.
We discussed the mostcommon onion diseases and their treatment. But they forgot about one disease. This is downy mildew. This is also a fungal disease. At the same time, pale green spots appear on the leaves, then a purple bloom forms in their place. In this case, the green part of the leaves turns yellow and dies. The fungus overwinters in the soil, and develops especially rapidly in rainy weather. As a control measure, one can consider the location of the beds in a sunny place and the pre-treatment of the seed. If the disease has already spread in the garden, then it will be almost impossible to save the crop. Do not forget that any disease is easier to prevent than to cure.
