Step-by-step guide to planting shallots before winter

Shallots are a vitamin-rich and tasty addition to the diet at any time of the year. If you want to surprise your family and guests, prepare Iranian sauce from shallots and natural yogurt. It perfectly complements meat dishes - for example, shish kebab.

It’s not difficult to grow shallots yourself, and they ripen earlier than turnips. In this article you will find detailed information on how to plant shallots before winter and get an early harvest.

Winter landing

Shallots, or family onions, are a nesting variety of onions.. From one bulb 6-12 daughter bulbs grow.

Its heads are smaller (20-50 g), so they ripen faster. Family bow grown for greens or for turnips.

Is it possible to plant shallots before winter? Yes, you can. Planting in autumn allows you to harvest 2-3 weeks earlier and reduce the amount of spring gardening work. And the development of plants during the period of snow melting allows rational use of moisture in the soil.

In addition, when planted in winter, the heads grow 15-20% larger than the same varieties planted in the spring.

Sowing dates

The optimal timing for sowing family onions in the fall is determined based on the timing of soil freezing. From the moment of planting until the soil freezes, 2-3 weeks should pass. During this time, the heads have time to take root, but do not grow.

The best predecessors

When planting onions in winter, do not forget about the rules alternation of crops - crop rotation.

Reference. The main rule of crop rotation is that one crop should not be grown in the same bed for more than two years in a row.

Planting onions in the same place will lead to the dominance of onion flies, shredding of the bulbs and loss of yield.. The crop is returned to its original place no earlier than after 4-5 years. The longer the break, the better.

Then why plant onions in the fall? For pre-winter sowing, choose beds on which pumpkin plants had previously grown. (cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchini), tomatoes, legumes, grains. It’s a good idea to sow after beets, mustard, and rapeseed.

Do not plant onions after any other varieties, garlic, parsley, parsnips. Other undesirable precursors are potatoes, alfalfa, and red clover. Otherwise, there is a risk of onion being damaged by nematodes.

Varieties for autumn planting

Cold-resistant varieties are chosen for sowing in autumn, since the bulbs must have time to take root and not freeze in winter.

Among the popular cold-resistant varieties are:

1. Sire 7. A variety bred for cultivation in the northern regions. It has good keeping quality and average yield. Forms up to eight bulbs in a nest.
2. Sophocles. This variety is distinguished by large bulbs up to 50 g (7-9 pieces in a nest). The taste is spicy. The color of the bulbs is red, with a purple core. Undemanding to soil composition and high-yielding.
3. Yellow Kuban. Suitable for southern regions. The variety is distinguished by its semi-sharp taste, fast ripening time and high yield. Its keeping quality is high.
4. Siberian amber. Not afraid of cold weather, resistant to diseases. The bulbs are medium in size, weighing 25-30 g (5-8 pieces in a nest). The taste is semi-sharp.
5. Family. Resistant to cold weather and diseases, ripens quickly. The average weight of the heads is 25 g. Up to five onions are formed in each nest.It has a mild taste.

Preparing for landing

Preparation for autumn sowing of shallots consists of: selection of material for planting, its processing and preparation of beds.

Selection of planting material

When sowing before winter, it is important to choose the right planting material.

Attention! The size of the bulb you plant affects the formation of the flower stalk. The larger it is, the higher the likelihood that the plant will shoot arrows.

Small heads, on the contrary, successfully overwinter and form lush greenery without arrows in spring. A bulb weighing 10-15 g and 2 cm in diameter is the most preferred planting material.

Shallots are propagated mainly vegetatively (by bulbs). When sowing seeds, the yield is lower and the ripening time is longer.

But when grown with bulbs, shallots lose their varietal qualities after 3-5 years, accumulates diseases and reduces productivity. In this case, they sow seeds or purchase new planting material from manufacturers.

When sown with seeds, a bulb of five small heads grows in the first year. They are planted the following year. In the second year, a large nest with a large number of bulbs is formed. After this, shallots are propagated vegetatively for 3-5 years.

Tillage

Sowing beds are made in a lighted area. The earth is dug up, cleared of weeds, fertilized and moistened. It is better to dig in advance so that the soil has time to settle.

Fertilizers include organic substances and mineral supplements: humus or compost (5-6 kg per 1 sq. m), double superphosphate (60-80 g per 1 sq. m), wood ash.

Before sowing, moisten the soil. Then the plants will form a powerful root system and successfully overwinter.

Preparation of planting material

Before planting, shallot heads are sorted and sorted.. Specimens with signs of disease, rot, or mechanical damage are removed.

Selected bulbs are disinfected to prevent the development of diseases. For this they soak in a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate for 20-25 minutes.

Soaking in a solution of wood ash (250 g per 5 liters of water) within 5-10 minutes will save planting material from rot and nourish it with useful substances.

Winter planting technology

So, the seed has been selected and prepared, the beds have been dug, fertilized and moistened. You can start sowing.

Step-by-step instruction

They act in this order:

1. The soil on the surface of the bed is leveled and grooves are cut.
2. Onions are placed at the bottom of the grooves. The depth of planting the heads is approximately 4 cm. If the bulbs are larger than 3 cm in diameter, then 5-6 cm.
3. The head is placed bottom down. When planting shallots, the orientation of the bulb is important - if you plant it the other way around, the onion will not survive the winter.
4. After planting, the grooves are covered with moist soil and compacted.
5. The surface of the bed is mulched and cover covering material.

In Siberia and the Urals, for better wintering, the beds are covered with spruce branches. Without additional shelter, crops can withstand frosts down to -25°C; in more severe winters, insulation is indispensable.

Landing schemes

When sowing shallots, it is important to follow planting patterns. Thickened sowing will lead to the formation of small bulbs, since there is not enough space or nutrients for a large nest.

The grooves are cut at a distance of 35-45 cm from each other. Leave 8-10 cm between the heads in the row.

Common Mistakes

Beginner gardeners make When sowing family onions in the fall, such errors:

• use for sowing bulbs with signs of disease, damaged heads - such material will not give a high-quality harvest even with proper care;
• Shallots are planted from their own seed for more than 3-4 years - over time, the onion degenerates and it is necessary to grow new seed from seeds;
• thicken crops - shallot nests need much more space for growth and development than onions;
• choose large heads for planting (more than 2 cm in diameter) - such specimens shoot more often and overwinter worse than small ones.

Planting care

Caring for winter shallots is practically the same from caring for spring plantings.

In spring, the beds need to be opened after the snow melts., because greenery appears quickly. The soil is periodically loosened and weeds removed. Considering that during the growth period plants actively use spring moisture, the need for watering practically disappears.

If the soil was fertilized in the fall, then the autumn shallots will not need additional fertilizing.. Otherwise, after the growth of 3-4 leaves, nitrogen fertilizers (slurry, urea) are applied, and at the beginning of the formation of bulbs, potash fertilizers or ash are applied.

Diseases and pests

If spring turns out to be damp and cold, then plantings can be affected by downy mildew and neck rot. Affected plants are removed, the remaining ones are treated with special antifungal drugs.

Attention! After being treated with chemicals, green feathers are not suitable for consumption. If you grow onions for greens, then use only safe folk remedies

Of the pests for onions, it is especially dangerous onion fly. Sprinkling the beds with ash and watering with a solution of table salt (1 tbsp per 10 liters of water) helps combat it.

Features of cultivation depending on the region

When determining specific dates for planting shallots, they are guided by the weather conditions of the growing region.

The time is chosen so that the onion has time to take root, but does not begin to grow. This means that sowing is carried out 2-3 weeks before the arrival of frost.

Need to know. Often, shallot plantings freeze out not because of severe frosts, but because the bulbs have not had time to take root.

In Siberia and the Urals, the optimal timing for autumn sowing of family onions – period from late September to early October. In the Moscow region and Leningrad region - until mid-October. In the Krasnodar Territory they sow until the beginning of November.

Advice from experienced summer residents

Experienced gardeners advise growing shallots for green plumes. Shallot feathers do not become rough over time and retain their taste and nutritional properties. Therefore, it is often grown for commercial green purposes.

Important! Shallots are the most cost-effective onion for producing greens.

Shallot leaves are cut at a height of 20-25 cm, a month after planting. This early ripening is another advantage of shallots over onions.

Growing shallots for turnips also deserves attention. In addition to the earlier harvest, shallots are better stored in winter. Its heads are denser, and their small size is convenient to use.

It is recommended to sow heirloom onions in two separate beds.: for planting material and food. Large bulbs are planted on the seed - they create a nest of small ones, convenient for planting next year. And small onions are sown in the second bed, from which large heads grow.

Shallots are planted on soil fertilized with humus. and mineral soil fertilizers.

Advice. If you pluck a couple of heads from the nest during growth, the remaining bulbs will grow heavier.

Conclusion

Planting shallots before winter deserves attention, as it allows you to get early greens and bulbs. In addition, medium-sized shallot heads are perfectly stored and easy to use.

When planting before winter, it is important to choose the right place for the bed, taking into account predecessors, use high-quality seed material and follow planting patterns. And when growing in the Urals and Siberia, additionally insulate the crops for better wintering.