How to process onion sets before planting to get a crop

How to process heads

For planting, small bulbs with a diameter of not more than 1-3 cm are used, which were grown from seeds. Sevok can be bought at a specialized store or you can grow it yourself. Preparing a seed before planting requires following a few simple processes. First, all the bulbs must be sorted out, healthy and diseased bulbs sorted. Bulbs that are slightly flaky, rotten or black moldy, or dried out are not suitable for sowing. Further, the selected bulbs must be warmed up a couple of days before the date of planting in the ground. To do this, it is enough to melt a sheet of paper or newspaper near a radiator or stove, and spread the seed in one layer. 

Temperatures of 35–40 degrees Celsius will be quite sufficient for warming up. If you missed this moment, then on the day before planting, you can carry out an emergency “awakening”: pour hot, but not boiling water for a couple of minutes, and then lower it into cold water for one minute. Such processing is necessary so that the planted onion sets “do not go” into the arrows. Heated seed requires pre-soaking in a nutrient substance. To feed the bulbs, you can use any complex fertilizer. After placing the bulbs in a net or bag, leave them for 10 hours in a nutrient solution or in a solution of ammophoska, nitroammophoska (10 tablespoon of the composition is used for 1 liters of liquid).

After, the next “bath”: without washing, lower the net with onion heads for 10 minutes in a solution of copper sulfate. The composition is prepared on the basis of the following proportions – 10 teaspoon of copper sulfate is placed per 1 liters of water. Such water procedures prevent fungal attacks in young heads of onion sets. After rinsing with clean water, the seed is ready for direct planting in the ground. Alternatively, you can treat the onion before planting with a regular saline solution. Salt kills fungal spores of an unpleasant onion disease – nematodes. 3 cups of table salt are placed in one bucket of water, and for 24 hours you leave the small heads to “soak” before planting.

Protection against diseases

Disease protection is an important step for getting a good harvest after planting. A variety of pests and diseases prevent the growth of onion sets, turning green feathers yellow and the bulb itself soft or rotten. It is unlikely that it will be possible to save such a crop in autumn and winter, therefore, before sowing, take care of the quality protection of onions from diseases.

Among the most common diseases of onion sets, two can be distinguished:

• onion fly;
• downy mildew.

Affected plants of the onion fly wither and dry from the top of the feather down, while the central leaf breaks off easily, because it rots from the very base. If you look closely, then pest larvae are visible inside or around the bulb. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to treat the seeds with a solution of TMTD or fentiuram. If we are talking about affected seedlings, then wood ash or charcoal crushed into crumbs, which is sprinkled on the soil around the seedlings, will come to your aid. For young plantations, you can use nexion (0,1%) from the consumption of 1 liters of solution per 0,5 meter of soil. Repeat watering every two weeks.

White spots on the feathers of the set, which increase over time and become covered with a gray coating, are a sure sign of downy mildew. The cause of the disease is too humid air or soil. When the first signs of the disease appear, treatment is required every week with one of the following compositions:

• 80% cuprosan (0,4%);
• ditan M-45 (0,20%);
• Bordeaux liquid 1%.

To protect against diseases, it is recommended:

• early sowing;
• timely removal of weeds;
• top dressing and sufficient watering;
• collection and removal of diseased crops;
• fertilizer before digging and deep digging of the soil in the fall.

Video “Tips for processing onions before planting”

In this video you can hear valuable tips on processing onions immediately before planting.

Features of care and cultivation

The root system of onions does not have much power, and the fibrous structure allows you to actively respond to various top dressings. In autumn, the first stage of preparation is carried out: the introduction of rotted manure. It must be applied at the rate of 20–40 kg per 10 sq. m, after which the site is dug up. It is strictly forbidden to use fresh manure, as the plant can become ill with Fusarium.

Onion sets respond well to nitrogen, potash and phosphorus fertilizers. The application rate is as follows: 0,6–0,9 kg per one hundred square meters of land. In the autumn, it is best to apply phosphorus and potassium, but in the spring, apply nitrogen fertilizers. It is important not to overdo it with the introduction of nitrogen, as its excess can adversely affect the long-term storage of the crop. Pre-sowing fertilizer is applied to a depth of 10–15 cm.

There are two ways to plant onion sets: in rows and two-line ribbons. The distance between individual bulbs varies from 3 to 6 cm, depending on the size of the onion head, but the average planting depth is 4–6 cm. After a week or two, you will already see the first shoots. After planting, all care comes down to timely watering, feeding and protection from pests. For the entire period of growth, it is worth watering the onion 5-7 times. And 21 days before harvesting, watering is stopped.

Young shoots should be fed as soon as the first rows appear. Bird droppings or fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) are used as top dressing. In the second growing season, the application of nitrogen fertilizers should be limited. If the bow gives arrows, then they must be immediately broken off, then the bulb will be full. By listening to our recommendations, you will certainly get a good harvest of onions, which can easily be stored until the next sowing.

Video “All about onion sets and its processing”

In this video, you can hear many important and interesting facts about onion sets, as well as hear options for processing onions before planting them.