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Today on sale there is a wide range of chemicals for feeding tomatoes and combating their pests and diseases. However, instead of expensive and toxic substances, it is better to pay attention to affordable natural products that are equally effective. One of them is onion peel, the beneficial properties of which have been known since ancient times. Onion peel, as a fertilizer for tomatoes, is successfully used by gardeners to feed tomatoes and other vegetable and fruit crops.
Onion scales, with regular use, will be an excellent fertilizer for tomato seedlings, due to their high content of nutrients.
Chemical composition
The amazing properties of onion peel are due to its unique chemical composition. Organic and mineral compounds contained in the scales are characterized by high biological activity.
Provitamin A
Carotenoids, which are part of the onion peel, perform several important functions:
- they are indispensable as a source of vitamin A, which has protective properties in the fight against fungal diseases;
- these compounds are known to be good immunostimulants;
- their antioxidant effect is explained by the ability to bind atomic oxygen formed during photosynthesis.
Antimicrobial volatiles
Phytoncides secreted by onions are highly effective in combating pathogenic microorganisms that multiply in the soil layer and fungal diseases that affect tomato seedlings. The concentration of phytoncides is especially high in onion scales. These volatile substances are better preserved in its water infusion.
Vitamins of group B
Interacting with phosphoric acid, thiamine forms cocarboxylase, a coenzyme that accelerates metabolic processes in plant cells. Due to this, when feeding tomatoes with an infusion of onion peel, the growth rate of seedlings increases, their root system strengthens, and the fruiting stage begins faster.
Vitamins PP
The nicotinic acid contained in the onion and its outer scales contributes to the development of the root system of tomatoes, even on unfavorable clay soils. The combined action of vitamins B1 and PP increases the rate of absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus and other minerals, accelerates the formation of chlorophyll in tomato leaves.
quercetin
Onion peel contains a high content of one of the natural flavonoids with strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties – quercetin. Especially a lot of it in red onion scales. It is good for the health of young, still weak tomato sprouts.
Ascorbic acid
The action of vitamin C has not yet been sufficiently studied, however, it has long been known as a strong antioxidant. And recent studies by scientists have found that ascorbic acid contributes to the production of a special enzyme necessary for plant growth.
Feeding tomatoes with onion peel
Infusions and decoctions made from onion scales are a universal fertilizer for tomatoes. They have many useful properties.
Their benefits
Onion scales are a natural product with a number of characteristics that distinguish it from others:
- it will never harm young tomato sprouts;
- attract its availability and lack of need for material costs;
- it is non-toxic and does not require the use of chemical protection;
- recipes for preparing infusions of onion peel are simple and easy;
- the concentration of trace elements and vitamins in the husk is higher than in the bulb itself.
What is the benefit of such a fertilizer
Regular feeding of tomato seedlings with onion scales is useful at any time, from the moment they are planted to the period of fruit ripening:
- when the leaves of tomatoes turn yellow, they can be treated with a dilute infusion of onion peel;
- light spraying of seedlings every week will help speed up the formation of ovaries;
- watering and spraying will increase the yield of tomatoes and contribute to the improvement of microflora;
- the absence of nitrates in the onion peel ensures their safe disposal.
The watering rate for each tomato bush is 0,5 liters of liquid in the first weeks after planting, and after a month it triples.
Onion scales as a medicine for tomato seedlings
Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, onion peel is an excellent remedy for combating various diseases that affect tomatoes and harmful insects:
- infusion of a glass of dry raw materials per liter of water, aged for 24 hours, helps against the disease of the “black leg”;
- to get rid of aphids and spider mites, tomato bushes are sprayed with the same solution with the addition of laundry soap shavings;
- spraying and watering with water infused with onion scales will help to prevent bacterial cancer of tomatoes and in the fight against tobacco thrips;
- watering with a diluted infusion will prevent the appearance of black or gray rot, 5-6 days after planting the seedlings, as well as when it blooms.
Features of the use of bulbous scales
Onion peel is indispensable for feeding tomatoes in any form – decoctions, infusions or dry chopped raw materials.
The decoction is prepared very simply:
- onion scales are poured with water in an enamel bowl;
- the mixture should be boiled and cooled;
- after filtering the solution and, if necessary, diluting it, you can use it.
With this tool, you need to water the seedlings of tomatoes up to three times a week or spray the leaves to kill pests. A stronger decoction is used to disinfect the soil under the bushes. Such watering will become a good top dressing and strengthen the root system of tomatoes, contributing to their better growth and fruiting.
To prepare the infusion, you need to pour dry onion peel with twice the amount of boiling water and let stand for two days. Before use, it must be diluted with three or five times the amount of water, depending on the purpose of use. Tomato seedlings must be watered with infusion three days after planting. During growth, it is also necessary to treat tomatoes with it to prevent diseases or pests. Spraying should be carried out during the period of fruit ripening. Beforehand, a small amount of laundry soap should be dissolved in the infusion for better adhesion to the leaves.
Onion peel as a fertilizer for tomatoes can be applied to the soil before planting seedlings or sprinkled under tomato bushes. When watering, nutrients will be washed out of dry scales, and saturate the soil under the plants. The material must first be prepared as follows:
- sorting through the raw materials, select healthy onion scales;
- dry them using any available method – in the oven, microwave or in the fresh air;
- crush and apply to the soil, while loosening it.
They will be an excellent top dressing for tomatoes.
Infusion recipes
The concentration of infusions depends on the purpose of application. For spraying tomatoes against harmful insects, it is made more saturated – two glasses of dry scales are poured with a glass of boiling water. The infusion is aged up to four days, and then diluted with a double volume of water. Before processing, the shavings of laundry soap should be dissolved in it. Three times spraying should be repeated after a week break.
To disinfect seedlings of tomatoes and the soil around them, an infusion is prepared from one bucket of water and a glass of dry raw materials. The mixture is brought to a boil, then infused for several hours. The resulting solution is used to water the tomatoes and process their leaves on both sides.
You can treat tomato seedlings from aphids by pouring a glass of scales with a bucket of boiling water. After standing for 12 hours, it is necessary to strain the solution and treat the affected bushes with it. The procedure should be repeated every four days. The recipe is also suitable for the preventive treatment of tomatoes.
Top dressing of tomatoes with onion peel is popular with gardeners due to the two-in-one effect that it provides. Processing it with infusion is not only an excellent fertilizer for tomato seedlings, but at the same time disinfects the soil and the plants themselves from the effects of harmful microorganisms.
