Why trim onions, and how to do it correctly for winter storage
After harvesting onions, it is important to properly prepare them for long-term storage. One of the required steps is trimming the feathers. The procedure allows you to keep vegetables fresh almost until spring and protects them from rot.
How to tell if an onion is ripe
Onions fully ripen in the first half of August, but the timing varies slightly depending depending on the region and climatic conditions. For long-term storage of crops, it is important to prevent vegetables from overripening or digging them up prematurely.
The approximate time for harvesting vegetables is about 80 days from the date of planting, if the variety was not planted early.
If the husk has not yet fully formed, the bulbs will quickly begin to rot even at the right temperature and humidity. On late-harvested vegetables, dry scales practically do not stick, they quickly fall off, and roots sprout. Overripe specimens become excessively watery and lose their sharpness and richness of taste. It is better to use such onions immediately or use them for preservation, but do not leave them for storage.
Signs
The main sign of ripe vegetables is dried and yellowed tops. She weakens and completely sinks to the ground. By the time of harvest, the bulbs are maximally saturated with useful substances.
Reference! Focusing on yellowed and fallen tops is not always correct: during rainy and cool summers, the feathers do not fall down.
Reliable external signs of bulb ripening:
- thinning and drying neck;
- Some of the dry scales peeking out from the ground do not peel off and look dry.
If the tops have not turned yellow before the scheduled harvest, they are not cut off immediately. The bulbs are left for 15–20 days under a canopy: during this time the feathers dry out and all the nutrients go into the turnips.
It can be useful:
Ultra-early and cold-resistant salad type of onion “Ellan”
How to properly harvest onions
Choose a dry, sunny day for harvesting. Watering is stopped after 10–14 days to increase the shelf life of vegetables. During prolonged rains, cover the area with waterproof material so that the onions do not dry out for a long time.
By the way! On peaty or sandy soil, turnips are easily pulled out, but on dense loamy soil they often remain without bottoms and quickly rot.
Onions are being collected in the morning, pulled out of the ground, left on the garden bed in even rows for pre-drying. In the evening, they are transferred to a barn or other room with good ventilation for 2-3 days. After this, the remaining soil is removed from the vegetables, and the root part is cut off to the very bottom.
High-quality drying is the key to long-term storage. If the bulbs are left wet, mold will quickly spread to them and cause rot.
Why do you trim onions?
Pruning is useful from a practical point of view: Without dried feathers, vegetables take up less space, look neater, and are more attractive to customers. The remaining feathers often begin to rot - the fungus is transmitted to the turnips, as a result of which the crop quickly disappears.
When pruning, it is important not to damage the tops, otherwise bacteria will get into the bulb itself.. Some gardeners leave feathers to braid hair for long-term winter storage.
Preparation and trimming
After collecting from the garden and drying, all vegetables are carefully inspected and sorted. Affected specimens are thrown away or consumed first. They are not suitable for storage.
How to properly trim an onion
To store for the winter, feathers are removed in such a way that the husks of the turnip are not damaged.. If the tops are dry and stretch well, they are torn off by hand, leaving a stem no more than 5 cm long. If the bulb has a large, thick neck, about 8–10 cm is left at the base, but such specimens spoil the first. To store the crop in “braids”, the neck is left up to 15 cm.
Important! If onions are harvested for more than 3 months, the cut site is treated with lime paste. This will reduce the risk of rot or sprouting.
How to prune sets
Planting material is not consumed, but stored until the next season.to grow full-fledged turnips. Harvesting and storing onion sets is somewhat different from usual; pruning also becomes more labor-intensive due to the size of the vegetables.
Feathers are cut off immediately after the seedlings are removed from the soil.. The root part is not removed, but only cleaned of soil residues. The tops are cut 10 cm from the base. During pruning, culling is also carried out immediately, removing damaged specimens from the total mass.
When not to prune
Sometimes trimming onions is absolutely useless. So, some gardeners use dry tops for tying instead of rope. Rotten or damaged specimens are removed from the total harvest to prevent damage to the rest. The vegetables are first laid out in the open sun on the site for 10–12 hours.
How to dry properly
Drying turnips and sets prevents them from rotting. In dry weather, the harvest is laid out on open beds, plywood sheets or boards, and in rainy weather - in a well-ventilated room, on burlap or a layer of paper. Vegetables are kept in sunlight for 10–15 days.
Onions are also stored in braids if it is not possible to arrange them in layers. Hang it in dry, ventilated areas (in a barn, veranda, attic). After complete drying, the braids are tied again, removing damaged specimens.
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Winter storage
The choice of location for onions is determined taking into account the capabilities and volume of the harvest. It is much easier for owners of private houses or garages to solve this problem than for apartment owners.
Main conditions:
- cleanliness of the room and selected containers;
- temperature - within 0°C;
- air humidity - 65-75%;
- regular ventilation and good ventilation.
It is allowed to store onions at a temperature of -2...-3°C, but without hesitation. In such conditions, vegetables are suitable for consumption for 8–10 months.
Where and how to store
Convenient to keep onions in a cellar or basement. They do this in several ways:
- in bulk (one mound up to 3 m high on pallets made of boards or on shelves with holes for ventilation);
- in wooden boxes covered with bags or blankets;
- in nets and bags;
- in the form of bundles.
If the room has poor thermal insulation, then In severe frosts, the crops are covered with blankets and straw. The main thing is that the material allows air to pass through.
At home
Apartments have much fewer conditions for storing crops. One of the storage options is the refrigerator, but in it the vegetables retain freshness and taste only for up to 1.5 months.The optimal place is the lower shelves or drawers for vegetables. The bulbs are not tied tightly in plastic bags, otherwise condensation will form. It is enough to place them in bulk or in paper bags.
Important! On the top shelves of the refrigerator, onions quickly rot and a specific smell appears.
On insulated balconies, where the temperature does not exceed +7°C and does not fall below 0°C, vegetables are placed in boxes or bowls. Do not place such containers next to potatoes: they actively release moisture, which leads to rapid spoilage of the crop.
Conclusion
Onions grown during the season successfully retain their presentation and taste throughout the entire autumn-spring period. It is important to properly collect vegetables from the garden, properly dry and trim them to protect them from rotting and loss of taste and nutritional qualities. Removing the feathers extends the shelf life of the crop and provides the family with a healthy product until the next season.