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Onions are a versatile vegetable crop that any family will want to have in their garden, because, in addition to being added as a seasoning to any dish, it also serves as an excellent remedy for many diseases. And it’s still not as difficult to care for him as for the same peppers or tomatoes. Onions are quite unpretentious and also cold-resistant culture. But still, in order to get a really good harvest, which, moreover, will be stored for a long time, you need to know its basic care requirements and provide the onions with all the conditions for full development and ripening.
It is often believed that onions do not need anything at all after planting, except for periodic watering. But it is not so. Onion fertilizers can help you grow nice large bulbs, especially in some soil types, but don’t overdo it. Onion care must be approached comprehensively, taking into account all the nuances.
General onion care requirements
Like many other crops, it is important to initially create conditions for onion, without which its growth and development will be limited.
Light and heat
First of all, it must be taken into account that onions are an exceptionally photophilous plant. No additional measures will help if it is planted even with the slightest shading. In this case, the leaves are formed two times less, respectively, this affects the size of the emerging bulb.
As for the temperature, on the one hand, onion, being a cold-resistant plant, tolerates even the lowest temperatures quite well, although the optimal conditions for the growth of its leaves are + 18 ° С – + 20 ° С. On the other hand, often gardeners do not take into account the fact that during the period of ripening and formation of bulbs it is desirable that the temperature rises to 27 ° C – 30 ° C. Unfortunately, such temperatures are far from always observed in the northern regions, so it is more profitable to plant onions there on high ridges that can warm up well in the sun. If the actual temperature regime does not meet the requirements of the culture, the bulbs will not be able to ripen to the maximum size even with ideal feeding. This fact must be taken into account in order not to overdo it with fertilization.
How to fertilize the soil for planting onions
Perhaps, it is for the cultivation of onions that preliminary soil preparation is a priority. It is important both in terms of introducing a sufficient amount of mineral elements into the soil, and because the soil must be as free from weeds as possible. It is especially important to free the land from weeds when growing onions from nigella.
A bed for planting onions begins to be prepared in the fall. The fact is that for the good development of plants, a properly selected and seasoned bed will be more than 50% success. For example, the culture is quite demanding on the content of basic nutrients in the soil, but at the same time, the introduction of fresh manure under onions is not recommended, as it can lead to the growth of various diseases. Therefore, manure is recommended to be applied under the onion predecessor crop. Cucumbers, different types of cabbage, as well as legumes: peas, beans, lentils are best suited as such.
Onions prefer light loams or sandy loams with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. It does not tolerate acidic soils, so many of the soddy-podzolic and peaty soils of the middle zone must be additionally limed before planting.
If you are not going to plant onions before winter, then it is best to apply organic fertilizers to the ground during the autumn preparation of the beds – 1 bucket of compost or humus per 1 square meter. Otherwise, during the autumn preparation of the land, it is better to apply mineral fertilizers to it. It should be borne in mind that the onion is sensitive to an increased concentration of salts in the soil solution. Therefore, mineral fertilizers for onions should be applied in medium doses:
- urea – 10 g per sq. meter,
- superphosphate – 25-30 g per sq. meter,
- potassium chloride – 15-20 g per sq. meter.
To disinfect the soil, it is shed with a solution of copper sulfate (15 g per 10 liters of water). This amount is enough for approximately 5 square meters. meters of beds. Processing with copper sulphate is carried out one day before the introduction of the main complex of nutrients.
In autumn, you can also combine the use of organic matter and mineral fertilizers to feed onions. In this case, one sq. meter is introduced 5 kg of humus in combination with 35 grams of granulated superphosphate.
Getting a turnip from a black onion
Obtaining marketable bulbs from nigella onions is rarely used by gardeners, since this method of growing is too long in time – it usually takes two years to get a full harvest. But it allows you to save on planting material, and is economically beneficial when growing large volumes of onions.
Seeds or onions are sown either in early spring or before winter. Before winter, it is better to sow dry seeds in slightly frozen soil, and in early spring it is advisable to pre-soak them in a solution of trace elements for 8-10 hours. Usually, the soil is fertilized with mineral fertilizers in the above doses in the fall – in this case, in the first year of development of the seed bulbs, they do not need additional top dressing.
By the end of summer, a full-fledged set is formed from the onion, which can be used both for sowing next year in the spring (1-3 cm in diameter) and for forcing greens (more than 3 cm in diameter). And the smallest bulbs (up to 1 cm in diameter) are best planted before winter around October. Before planting, they are soaked for several hours in a saturated salt solution (1 kg of salt per 5 liters of water), and then thoroughly washed in running water. This procedure helps to disinfect planting material from pest eggs and spores of fungal diseases. In addition to a good filling of the soil with fertilizers, no additional fertilizing is usually done before winter.
If you take a glass of onion peel, pour it with a liter of boiling water, insist for two days and dilute it with water twice, then an excellent top dressing for tomatoes or cucumbers is ready for spraying on the leaf.
Top dressing of onions from sevka
Most often, to obtain good and large bulbs, the sowing method of sowing in the spring is used. About winter sowing of small bulbs has already been said above. Preparation of onion sets for sowing is similar to the procedure described above, but, in addition to processing in salt, it is advisable to soak the onion after winter storage for half an hour in hot (+ 45 ° C – + 50 ° C) water so that it does not go to the arrow. In the spring, it also makes sense to soak the seedlings for several hours additionally in a solution of trace elements or in manure infusion (one part of the litter is dissolved in six parts of water) to accelerate germination and further development.
When planting onions in the ground, no additional fertilizers are used. Prepared seedlings are usually planted in April or May, depending on the region.
It is usually customary to focus on the blooming of leaves near a birch – these terms are considered optimal for planting a set.
The first top dressing of onions is carried out about a week or two after germination. You can focus on reaching a length of 10-15 cm with onion feathers. During this period, nitrogen and phosphorus are most needed for good development of the onion. If in the fall phosphorus was introduced into the garden with onions, then its use at this stage is not necessary.
For fertilizing with nitrogen, both mineral and organic fertilizers, as well as their mixture, can be used. Choose from the following options what suits you best:
- In 10 liters of water, 10 grams of ammonium nitrate is diluted, the resulting solution is enough to spill two square meters of beds.
- Water is added to the manure in a ratio of 1:10 and insisted for about a week. After that, 1 part of the resulting solution is poured with 5 parts of water, and onion plantings in the aisles are already watered with this liquid. Liquid consumption, as in normal irrigation.
- When using bird droppings as a fertilizer, it is diluted with water to make a working solution in a ratio of 1:25 and infused for about two weeks. Then another 5 parts of water are also added and watered in the usual way.
- At home, top dressing with humic acids, as well as preparations such as Baikal and Radiance, proved to be good. They contain complexes of microorganisms that begin to work actively in the ground, releasing nutrients in the most accessible form for onion development.
If you act according to the program of application of mineral fertilizers, then the second top dressing should be carried out approximately a few weeks after the first and during its implementation it is necessary to focus on the formation of a large bulb. This requires, first of all, phosphorus and potash fertilizers. If the soil is fertile and the leaves of the onion are saturated green, then there is no need for nitrogen at this stage. On poor soils, it can still be added, but priority should be given to other elements. To do this, 10 g of saltpeter is dissolved in 10 liters of water, 30 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium chloride are added. The resulting mixture is sufficient to process 2 square meters. m of onion plantings.
Also at this stage, it is possible to fertilize with any complex fertilizer for onions, such as Agricola, Fertik and others.
If you are an adherent of organic cultivation, then the best option would be to use herbal infusion in the form of top dressing. To do this, any weeds are filled with water and infused for a week. One glass of the resulting liquid is diluted in a bucket of water and onion plantings are watered with this solution.
If adverse signs appear (the leaves turn yellow, the development of the bulbs slows down), it is necessary to carry out a third top dressing when the bulbs reach 4-5 cm in diameter.
- In 10 liters of water, 30 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium chloride are diluted. This solution is enough to process 5 square meters. meters of onion plantings.
- If you take 250 g of wood ash and pour a bucket of boiling water, then the resulting broth is able to saturate the earth around the plantings with all the missing trace elements.
Fertilizers for onions on a feather
Growing onions on a feather is very popular for getting year-round vitamin greens at home. This is the easiest way to grow onions, which requires only compliance with temperature conditions (about + 15 ° C) and regular watering.
Bulbs are planted in the ground at 2/3 of their size, top dressing is carried out no more than twice during the entire growth period. The best effect will be from the use of complex fertilizers with a full range of trace elements.
It is only necessary to remember that it can increase the acidity of the soil, and the effect of it is mainly to increase the friability of the soil.
Growing onions is carried out in various ways and each of them requires its own attitude to feeding. It is only important to remember that, in addition to top dressing, for onions, it is necessary to observe suitable conditions for development.
