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One of the main crops grown in our gardens is onions. We eat it all year round and use it almost daily. Growing onions is easy, but to get a good harvest, you cannot leave it unattended. This root crop has its own specific diseases and is affected by pests. If you do not recognize them in time and do not take action, the turnip will grow small and will not be stored for long.
Onions take little fertilizer out of the soil, its agronorm is only 19. Many owners ignore top dressing, do not fight pests, arguing that they want to get an environmentally friendly product, and then they are surprised at the scarcity of the crop. We do not stand for the thoughtless use of chemistry in unlimited quantities, but we note that no one has repealed the laws of nature or agricultural technology. Feeding onions with ammonia does not lead to the accumulation of nitrates, and also protects them from pests. This article will tell you how to apply it.
Onion ammonia fertilizer
Ammonia, or ammonia, is a clear liquid with a strong pungent odor, which is ammonium hydroxide dissolved in water. In fact, it is a nitrogen fertilizer, easily and quickly absorbed by plants, and when used in reasonable doses does not lead to the accumulation of nitrates. Ammonia does not affect all crops in the same way, for example, seedlings absorb it almost completely, and it has almost no effect on strawberries.
Onions are one of those plants that absorb ammonia nitrogen well. Using different dosages, you can use a solution of ammonia for root and foliar top dressing.
Ammonia in pest control
Using ammonia, we not only feed the onion, but also fight its main pests. Insects cannot stand the smell of ammonia, even at a minimum concentration.
To scare off the onion fly, it is enough to water the aisles every week in June-July with an ammonia solution prepared from 10 liters of water and 1 tablespoon of ammonia.
The secretive trunk, which is the most dangerous onion pest, requires two-time watering of plantings – the first time at the beginning of shooting, the second – 2 weeks later. To do this, 25 ml of ammonia dissolve 10 liters of water.
Fertilizing onions with ammonia
It is believed that it is impossible to overfeed the plant with an ammonia solution, moreover, its overdose does not lead to the accumulation of nitrates. But ammonia is a caustic compound, it can simply burn turnips or feathers at high concentrations. An excess of nitrogen fertilizers always leads to negative consequences – the development of green mass to the detriment of the growth of the bulb, promotes the development of putrefactive bacteria and reduces the shelf life.
When you need ammonia
First of all, ammonia is used to fertilize onions when nitrogen is urgently needed – foliar top dressing is not in vain called fast. Usually we take the white tips of the leaves of garlic and onions for nitrogen starvation. In fact, there may be several reasons and they should be distinguished:
- If only the tips of the leaves turn white, the feathers are even and normal green, then the onion lacks copper. Here ammonia will not help – you need to shed the aisles with a copper-containing preparation.
- The feather not only turned white at the top, but also twisted slightly – a lack of potassium. You can use any potash fertilizer, even chlorine-containing – onions and garlic tolerate it well.
- The whole stem becomes white – frost. Here you need top dressing with nitrogen fertilizer, which can also be ammonia.
- Onion feathers have acquired a yellowish or light green tint, and not just white tips – actually a lack of nitrogen. An ambulance is needed here, no fertilizer can do better and faster than ammonia.
Of course, the white tops of the leaves can be a sign of acidic soil, but we hope that you did not make such an unforgivable mistake and deoxidized the soil before planting the turnip. If not, add calcium nitrate, dolomite flour or lime. But this will only help to cope with excess acidity, and onions require slightly alkaline soils. Pour the garden bed with wood ash, preparing a solution at the rate of 2 cups per bucket of water.
Preparation of working ammonia solution
In order not to burn either the leaves or the onion turnip with caustic ammonia, it is important to properly prepare the solution. We give recipes for its preparation, assuming that you use a 25% pharmacy drug.
- For watering under the root 3 tbsp. l. ammonia is dissolved in 10 liters of water.
- For spraying take 5 tbsp. l. ammonia per 10 liters of water.
The point of spraying is to keep the active substance on the onion feathers as long as possible. To do this, add a sticky agent to the working solution, which is sold in any store or shopping center that sells fertilizers. But it is not necessary to buy it at all, everything you need to prepare it is at our fingertips.
- Add liquid soap or laundry soap previously dissolved in a small amount of hot water to the ammonia spray mixture.
- If you are growing feather onions, you should not use soap. Add to a bucket of water 2 tbsp. l. dry mustard.
- You can use the cheapest flea shampoo for dogs as an adhesive for a solution of ammonia, but only if you do not eat greens.
Rules for fertilization and treatments
Ammonia is a volatile compound. If you process onions with a sprayer, then simply do not deliver the working substance to the leaves in the right amount. Water the plants from a watering can with regular holes (the spray should be visible, not too small).
Foliar treatment with ammonia is carried out in dry calm weather early in the morning, at sunset or in cloudy weather. Pour water over the feathers of the onion, being careful not to raise the watering can too high. If you have a large plantation and you still do all the processing with a sprayer, switch it to spray (look at the instructions, even the most primitive manual preparations must have such a function).
If you grow onions on a turnip, first pour it with a solution of ammonia under the root, then give 2-3 foliar treatments, and then just water. When the feathers begin to dry out, stop nitrogen fertilizing altogether.
Safety measures
As we noted above, ammonia is a caustic substance. It, of course, is sold in pharmacies and is a medicine, and a cotton swab moistened with a drop of ammonia, due to its pungent smell, can bring a person who has lost consciousness to his senses. A drop! We are preparing fertilizer for onions, using this substance in fairly large quantities. Contact with the skin, mucous membranes, or inhalation of ammonia vapors can lead to serious consequences.
Just putting on latex gloves and a regular respirator is not enough. You must keep your hair under your headgear, wear goggles, a plastic apron and a gas mask or a special respirator that allows you to work with caustic volatile substances. Move others to a safe distance.
For all its harmlessness, after a short period of time, at the time of application, this volatile caustic compound can cause great harm to your body. With ammonia you need to be extremely careful.
Conclusion
Ammonia can be used as an ambulance for onions and garlic with a lack of nitrogen. It does not turn into nitrates even with an overdose, but it can burn the plant. Do not forget about the sense of proportion and precautionary rules – this will allow you to get environmentally friendly products at minimal cost. Have a good harvest!
