Technology for planting onion sets in spring: how to plant and grow correctly

Onions are a vegetable that is used all over the world, added to most first and second courses, and in some countries even to desserts. Many gardeners grow this crop on their plots, most often from seedlings. This method is suitable for collecting turnips and greens. Both cases have their own nuances of planting and care.

Let's consider when and how to plant onion sets, what rules of agricultural technology to follow in order to get a rich crop harvest.

When to plant onion sets in spring

Onion - a cold-resistant, unpretentious plant that is grown even in regions of risky farming.

The crop is planted in open ground when the soil at a depth of 10 cm warms up to +10...+12°C. In such conditions, the onion begins to grow actively. Sevok It is not afraid of return frosts and stops developing only when the temperature drops to -3°C.

The optimal time for spring planting depends on the region:

• areas with a southern climate - mid-April;
• regions with a temperate climate - end of April;
• northern regions - early May.

Onions are planted in unheated greenhouses 2 weeks earlier.

Lunar calendar for sowing for 2020:

Note! Onions can be grown on the windowsill for greens at any time of the year.

Preparing for landing

To increase and speed up the germination of seedlings, increase resistance to diseases and negative environmental factors, they are prepared for planting. The first stage of preparation is warming up.

To do this, dry the onions in a warm place:

• the first 3 weeks - at a temperature of +20...+24°C;
• 10–12 hours – at +30…+40°С;
• again at room temperature.

Warming up the vegetable will prevent it from going into the arrow.

Further processing includes several stages:

1. Sorting. Planting material is sorted out. Damaged specimens with dark spots are removed. The sets are sorted by size (separately up to 1.5 cm and more than 1.5 cm).
2. Soak. The bulbs are wrapped in a fabric bag and immersed for 10–15 minutes in water at a temperature of +50°C.
3. Hardening. Planting material is immersed in cold water for 5 minutes.
4. Growth stimulation. Prepare a nutrient solution (“Epin”, aloe juice, honey water, “Solution”), into which the seeds are immersed for 6 hours.
5. Protection against rot and bacteria. The onion is soaked for 2 hours in a solution prepared from 1 liter of water and 4 tsp. salt.
6. Disinfection against fungal infections. Planting material is disinfected for 2 hours in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).

Onion sets are prepared a month before planting in open ground, since just warming up takes more than 3 weeks.

Selection of a location on the site

Onions are a light-loving crop that grows in shaded areas, but show best results in sunny areas of the garden.

The bed is selected in an area where groundwater is not too close to the soil surface. At the same time, the plant does not like dry weather.

Sets are planted after cabbage, nightshades, and cucumbers. Unsuitable predecessors: other greens, carrots.

Attention! The crop is planted in the same place no earlier than a year later. During the break, spinach, lettuce, radishes, zucchini, carrots, and beets are grown in the garden bed.

Observe the correct proximity of plants: if you plant carrots near the onion beds, then pests will be less likely to attack both crops.

Soil preparation

Loose but nutritious soil is suitable for sowing. It must be slightly acidic, otherwise the risk of disease will increase.

In autumn, the soil is dug up, clearing it of plant debris. All insect larvae found are destroyed.

If the land is fertile, do not add organic matter in the fall. In this case, onions are planted in beds where crops that require autumn application of manure previously grew.

Humus (6 kg per 1 m2) and sand (2 kg per 1 m2) are added to clay soil in the fall. To reduce acidity, the earth is mixed with ash (0.5 kg per 1 m2). Additionally, superphosphate (25 g per 1 m2) and potassium chloride (15 g per 1 m2) are added. The soil is mixed with fertilizers, leveled with a rake or dug up.

Advice! At the end of summer or autumn, after harvesting, green manure (lupine, rye) is sown on future onion beds in order to obtain nutritious and fertile soil in the spring.

In the spring, the soil is dug up again, leveled with a rake and cleared of weeds. Additionally, ammonium nitrate is added (20 g per 1 m2).

For disinfection, water the ground with a solution of copper sulfate (2 tablespoons per 1 bucket of boiling water) or “Fitosporin”.

Head fit

For planting onions in the spring, different methods are chosen depending on what they want to get: turnips or greens.

To grow turnips, make grooves 3-4 cm deep at a distance of 25 cm from each other. A little ash is poured into the bottom of the grooves.

The interval between the bulbs depends on their size:

• up to 1 cm - 5 cm;
• from 1 cm to 1.5 cm - 8 cm;
• up to 2.5 cm - 10 cm.

The larger the planting material, the larger the vegetables will be.

The seedlings are sprinkled with peat or garden soil and watered.In warm spring, the bulbs are planted so that the tails peek above the surface. This will speed up the germination of vegetables. When it gets cold, the seedlings are completely covered to prevent them from freezing.

Some summer residents plant crops using the Chinese method. To do this, rows of ridges 15 cm high are made at a distance of 20 cm. The bulbs are buried in them, the bases of which are gradually exposed, warmed by the sun and dry quickly after precipitation. Often these vegetables turn out flattened.

Carrots or parsley are planted at the foot of the hills. Crops will mutually protect each other from pests.

By the way! The answer to the question of when is the best time to plant onions also depends on the size of the set: specimens up to 1 cm are sown 2 weeks earlier than larger ones.

Planting greenery

Sowing on greens differs from planting on turnips: in this case, all the beneficial substances of the plant are given to the ground part.

Bulbs from 2 to 4 cm are suitable for forcing feathers. They produce the thickest greens.

How to properly plant onion sets in spring:

1. Intervalless method: vegetables are planted close to each other, without intervals between rows. It is important that the bases of the bulbs remain above the soil surface.
2. Mostovoy: make grooves at a distance of 10 cm from each other. Seeds are planted in them close to each other. The planting depth does not change.

In the first case, the vegetables will not increase in size, but the greens will turn out thick and tasty.

Advice! To speed up the appearance of feathers and increase their number, cut off part of the base of the onion.

Grow without intervals in winter sowing for greens at home. The bridge version is used for greenhouses.

Mixed planting

If there is not enough space on the plot, a different scheme is used to obtain turnips and greens: the base of the onion is not cut, grooves are made 7-8 cm wide, and the bulbs are sown in 2 rows in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 5 cm from each other.

The seedlings are buried so that they are completely underground. Some of the plantings are used for feathers, and the other for turnips.

Advice! Each furrow is additionally watered with “Fitosporin” to reduce the risk of the crop becoming infected with fungal infections.

Care

To get a good harvest of turnips or greens, the plantings are properly cared for. Although this crop is unpretentious, in unfavorable conditions the greens begin to turn yellow and lose their taste, and turnips become bitter.

Onion care rules:

1. The crop is watered once a week after planting with water at room temperature. In rainy summers, the soil is moistened much less frequently.
2. After each watering and rainfall, the soil in the beds and between the rows is loosened, simultaneously removing weeds. This will destroy the earthen crust, which impedes air exchange and provokes rotting of the bulbs.
3. Feeding is applied three times per season: at the end of May, mid-June and 2-3 weeks after.
4. To protect the bulbs from pests and negative environmental factors, the beds are mulched with straw, hay or humus. This will reduce the frequency of weeding and loosening and retain moisture.

In May, nitrogen preparations are used. They accelerate crop growth and promote the development of the root system. The rest of the time, complex products with potassium and phosphorus are used.

Greens and bulbs absorb harmful substances from the soil, so when growing vegetables, many farmers refuse chemicals. In this case, the best fertilizer for planting will be a herbal infusion.To prepare it, 3/4 of a bucket is filled with chopped nettles or other weeds without roots, seeds or signs of disease. The rest of the volume is filled with water at room temperature. The mixture is infused for 10 days in a warm place.

The resulting composition is filtered. For 10 liters of water, take 2 liters of infusion, add 1 tbsp. ash. 1 liter of product is used per 1 m2 of land.

Diseases and pests

Onions are affected by various diseases:

1. Downy mildew. The leaves become covered with light green spots, on which a purple coating soon appears. Often the disease is accompanied by infection with a semi-parasitic black fungus. As a result, the feathers turn yellow and dry out completely, the turnips do not develop and are deformed. For treatment and prevention, use chemicals (“Fitosporin”), pharmaceuticals (light pink solution of potassium permanganate), and homemade (add 10 drops of iodine to 1 liter of skim milk or whey).
2. Gray rot. Onions are attacked in the second half of summer, when the greens are already beginning to dry out. It develops during crop storage, leading to the appearance of grayish rot in the upper part of vegetables. The disease has no cure.
3. Bacteriosis. It infects plants in the soil, but manifests itself during storage. Brown, smelly rot is found in the middle of the turnip. The disease cannot be cured.
4. Fusarium rot. The bottoms of the onion become covered with a white coating and gradually begin to rot, which leads to the death of the plant. The diseased vegetable is removed, the beds are watered with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.
5. Bacterial rot. It affects the crop in the soil, but manifests itself during storage when the turnip core rots. As a preventative measure, the soil is treated with the preparation “HOM”.

Most of these diseases have no cure.To prevent them from occurring, the rules of crop rotation are followed, the watering regime, the soil and planting material are disinfected.

No less dangerous for onions peststhat lead to crop loss:

1. Onion fly. Eats plants, looks like an ordinary fly. To combat insects, plantings are watered with a mixture prepared from 10 liters of water, 10 drops of iodine and 1 tbsp. l. ammonia.
2. Onion mite. Small white arachnids attack turnips and feathers, causing them to dry out and die. Pest control is impossible without the use of chemicals. For prevention, the beds are watered with nettle infusion every 2 weeks.
3. Onion thrips. It lays larvae in the feathers of the plant, which become covered with white spots and then dry out. To combat the pest, plantings are sprayed with infusion of celandine (1/3 of a bucket of celandine is filled with water and left for 2 days).

Conclusion

Growing seedlings is a simple process that even a novice gardener can handle. Although the crop is unpretentious, if it is not watered correctly and disease prevention is not observed, the vegetable can be affected by infections and pests.

To get a rich harvest of turnips or greens, the sets are pre-heated, soaked, hardened and disinfected. Planted in suitable soil, taking into account crop rotation.