Description of onions, planting, growing and care in open ground

Onions are a common plant that is grown by many summer residents on their plots. The popularity of this vegetable is due to the fact that it is added to many culinary dishes. Without it, some dishes simply seem tasteless and bland.

Getting a high-quality onion harvest is quite simple.To do this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the vegetable and the nuances of its cultivation.

Onion vegetable: description

People knew about such a plant as onion back in the days of Ancient Egypt. The first images of this vegetable crop were found on tombs dating back to 2800 BC. In those days, onion heads were actively used in folk medicine to treat pestilence and other common diseases. Nowadays they are most often used to prepare delicious dishes.

Before you get started growing bulbs, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the basic description of the plant. Onion is a perennial plant, from the seeds of which in the first year of cultivation small heads measuring 1–3 cm are obtained. The following year, the resulting harvest is used as seed to produce normal onion fruits. You can find out what onions look like using photos that show the plant.

Bulb varieties and sizes

To obtain large bulbs, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the varieties of onions. The fact is that this vegetable has different varietal requirements for daylight hours and growing conditions.

Southern

Plant varieties that are grown in the southern regions are popular among vegetable growers. Their peculiarity is that normal bulb formation will occur with 15–16 hours of daylight. In this case, the plant will quickly increase its vegetative mass and begin to ripen.

In the northern regions, planting such varieties is not recommended due to unsuitable climatic conditions. In northern climates in summer, daylight quickly reaches its maximum and therefore the bulbs do not have time to fully form and ripen.

Northern

Northern varieties of onions with an elongated and elongated shape cannot be planted in the southern regions. In the northern regions, onion bushes constantly form leaf mass. Even with time, the formation of the bulb does not begin, since the plant does not have enough light to move to the next phases of growth.

Selection and storage of seed material

To obtain a large quantity of high-quality harvest, you need to prepare onion seeds in advance. You can buy them in specialized stores or grow them yourself. The latter option is complicated by the fact that you will have to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of storing seed.

When preparing seeds for planting yourself, you will have to divide them into three groups in advance:

• Group 1 - with a diameter of 0.4–0.6 cm.
• Group 2 - diameter 0.7–1.4 cm.
• Group 3 - 1.5–2.4 cm in diameter.

To achieve maximum yield, seeds belonging to the second and third groups are selected. Selected onion seeds are stored in a room with a temperature of about 2–3 degrees Celsius. They can also be stored in apartments if the temperature does not exceed 20 degrees. Violation of the temperature regime negatively affects the yield. Therefore, if the seeds were stored in a too cold or warm room, it is better not to plant them.

Onion growing technology

Before you start planting, you need to familiarize yourself with the technology of growing onions.

Predecessors of onions

When choosing a site for growing onion bushes, you must find out what plants grew there previously. Some vegetables are incompatible with onions and therefore seedlings grow green mass much worse after them.

Potatoes, tomatoes, beets and cucumbers are considered excellent predecessors.Also, the bulbs develop well in areas where carrots, radishes and legumes were grown.

Seed planting period

To figure it out how to grow large onions from sets, it is necessary to determine the optimal period for planting the plant. Bulbs are planted in early April or late November for winter growing of the vegetable. However, most vegetable growers prefer spring planting because winter produces unfavorable growing conditions that will result in small onion heads forming.

When choosing a planting period, the region where onion bushes are grown is taken into account. Gardeners in the southern regions of the country plant the plant at the end of March or the first half of April. Residents of the northern regions will have to wait for the end of night frosts, since temperatures below -3...5 degrees completely stop the development and growth of bushes.

Soil requirements of onions

Before planting, you should study the basic requirements of the plant for the soil in which it will grow.

Many varieties of onions do not cope well with fresh organic matter and soil with a high level of acidity. Therefore, it is recommended to prepare the area for planting vegetables 2–3 months in advance. To do this, lime is added to the soil to reduce acidity and rotted humus. Instead of lime, ash is sometimes used in an amount of 200–300 grams per square meter of garden.

After adding lime or ash, the acid level of the soil is measured. Indicators should be in the range of 6–7 pH.

Fertilizer application

To grow onions, you need fertilizers, which are added to the soil before planting the vegetable. There is no need to feed the plant, as this negatively affects the development of the bushes.Therefore, a small amount of fertilizer is added to the soil, which will help increase the vegetative mass.

Before adding fertilizer to the soil, a preliminary digging of the area is carried out using half a shovel. Then rotted humus is added to the ground. No more than 3–4 kg of fertilizer is consumed per square meter of garden. Green manure is also added to the soil, which will make it more loose and airy.

How to plant onions in open ground?

Before you start growing onions, you should familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of planting them.

Spring planting

When planting in spring, the single-row method is often used. In this case, the distance between each bulb is made at least 10–15 cm. However, sometimes the distance changes during the growing process. If you plant a plant using the “shoulder to shoulder” method, the density between each plant does not exceed 2–3 cm. 10 days after planting, the seedlings are thinned out and their distance increases to 5 cm. A month later, repeated thinning is carried out, in which the distance increases to 15 cm between every bush.

Planting onions before winter

Onion varieties are planted before winter in the second half of September or early October.

During planting, the surface of the earth is compacted and leveled with a rake, after which holes 5–8 cm deep are made in the area. When the holes are created, their bottom is sprinkled with organic and mineral fertilizers. If the soil is dry, it is moistened with heated water.

After planting, the entire area with planted bulbs is mulched with pine needles or dried leaves. At night, the rows of onions are covered with film, which will protect the seedlings from frost.

Onion care

The technology for growing onions also includes proper care of planted plants. Proper care is the best way to obtain a quality harvest.

Feeding

When growing, it is necessary to carry out fertilizing onions in open ground. Fertilizers are first added 15 days after planting the seed in the soil. To do this, add a mixture prepared from 10 liters of water and 30 grams of urea to the ground. Some gardeners use nitroammophoska or nitrophoska instead of this fertilizer.

The next fertilization is carried out 20 days after the previous application of fertilizing. In this case, a mixture created from 15 grams of potassium salt and 25 grams of superphosphate is added to the soil.

Watering

Before how to water onions, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of watering this plant. In the first month of cultivation, the plant is watered twice a week. If the weather is too dry, you can moisten the soil 2-3 times a week. A month before harvesting, the bulbs are transferred to dry watering, during which the soil is not moistened at all and is only loosened.

Protection from diseases and pests

To obtain a healthy harvest, it is necessary to protect plants from pests and diseases, which often lead to the death of onions. To determine the presence of a disease on the bushes, it is enough to carefully examine their condition. In diseased plants, leaves curl and change color. When such symptoms appear, all onion bushes should be sprayed with bioinsecticides. These mixtures can be safely used, as they are safe for plants and people.

Harvesting onions

To collect onions for storage, you need to make sure that they are fully ripe.To determine the ripeness of the bulbs, carefully examine their leaves. If the bushes turn yellow and begin to wither, then it’s time to harvest. This is done on sunny and dry days so that the soil is not too wet. When digging up long-lasting varieties of onions, all the bulbs are cleared of soil and dried. Then the entire harvested crop is placed in a cellar for winter storage.

Conclusion

All gardeners who like to grow vegetables engage in growing onions. To properly grow this vegetable, you need to familiarize yourself with the features planting onion heads and caring for planted plants.