For most gardeners, onions are one of the main vegetable crops. And this is no accident, since a good housewife uses onions in almost every savory dish that she cooks. And when the time comes for preparations for the winter, not a single twist can do without it. Well, even children know about the beneficial and healing properties of onions. In addition, in the garden, due to its phytoncidal properties, it often acts as a repeller of various harmful insects. But if the experience of gardening is still small, then many sometimes find it difficult to accurately determine the timing of onion harvesting. But the extent and duration of its storage in the winter depends on how timely the onion was removed from the garden.
What determines the timing of onion harvesting
Even from their grandparents, many have heard that onions need to be removed when the leaves begin to turn yellow, dry and fall. But after all, only experience makes it possible to distinguish yellow and dried leaves due to diseases from onion feathers that dry out naturally. In addition, it happens that it is already August in the yard – and the onion continues to turn green as if nothing had happened. What to do in this case? It is necessary to figure out for yourself when you still need to harvest onions in the Moscow region and what these terms depend on.
After all, if it is removed ahead of schedule, then it may not have time to form covering scales, and its neck will remain thick and open. Pathogens of various diseases can easily penetrate through it even when the bulbs are in the garden. Therefore, during storage, these bulbs will quickly deteriorate.
If the onion is overexposed in the garden, then cracking and falling of dry scales may occur and the roots will begin to sprout again, which will also adversely affect the further storage of the bulbs.
It is at the time of yellowing and lodging of green onion feathers that the maximum amount of nutrients usually accumulates in the bulbs. In this case, the false stem usually softens, loses its elasticity, and the formed bulb acquires a color characteristic of the planted variety.
Accordingly, the timing of onion harvesting directly depends on the variety of plant that you planted.
Therefore, if you planted onions in the traditional terms for the Moscow region – mid-late May, then the time for harvesting the bulbs should be at the end of July – mid-August.
In general, novice gardeners can be recommended to record the date of planting the onion sets in the ground and after 70 days check whether it is ready for harvesting or not.
Wait two or three days. If during this time the stem begins to move out of the neck again, it means that the onion has not yet ripened.
Let him sit in the ground for another week or two. If you do not notice any changes, you can safely dig it out.
But at the same time, it should be borne in mind that the ripening of the bulbs is greatly influenced by weather conditions: temperature and rainfall. If the summer was quite warm and dry, or even hot, then the bulbs are able to ripen much faster than the due dates. If in the first summer months there was a lot of rain, and the temperature could be called cool rather than hot, then by August the onions may not be ready for harvesting yet. If the terms that you have determined are already suitable, and its leaves still continue to turn green, the neck continues to remain juicy and thick, and the bulbs have inconspicuously colored scales, then you can try to speed up the ripening process in various folk ways.
This is especially important to do if the weather forecast foretells rainy weather soon. After all, it’s not enough that onion harvesting needs to be done in sunny and dry weather. After harvesting, it still needs to be dried thoroughly and for a long time.
So, what can be done to speed up the ripening of the bulbs:
- First of all, completely remove the watering of the bulbous beds 2-4 weeks before the expected harvest time.
- After the onion feathers have practically stopped growing, it is advisable to rake the ground and almost completely free the bulb. This technique is especially relevant for the northern regions and heavy clay soils, where the sun’s heat does not reach the bulbs hidden underground.
- You can also gently lift the bulbs with a fork, slightly tearing the roots and thereby reduce the supply of nutrients to the bulb. Some gardeners mow the leaves completely a week before harvesting – but this is not the best practice, as it leads to significant losses in yield.
- But the trampling of green onion feathers prevents the formation of flower arrows, and thereby saves a significant part of the crop.
It must be understood that the timing of the ripening of the bulbs also depends on their method of cultivation. If you grow onions from seeds, then the ripening time will increase significantly. There are also two options here. When sowing seeds (nigella) in winter, onions are usually harvested in the second half of August. If you sowed the seeds in early spring, then the bulbs will not ripen until early September. After harvesting and drying, onions must be sorted into the following types:
- Onions (at least 4-5 cm in diameter)
- Onion sets (diameter 1 to 4 cm)
- Onion sets planted before winter (less than 1 cm)
Onion harvesting features
It is most favorable to harvest onions in dry and windy weather. If the beds are light sandy soil, then the bulbs are very easily pulled out of the ground by the dried leaves. On heavier soils along the rows, it is necessary to raise the earth with a pitchfork or a shovel at some distance from the bulbs to avoid damaging them. In addition, when digging, it is better to choose the bulbs with your hands, because if carelessly pulled out, the bulb can lose its bottom and easily rot during subsequent storage.
If necessary, carefully remove the earth from the bulbs with your hands. Immediately after harvesting, the onions must be dried well. If the weather is dry, warm and sunny, then the crop is laid out right on the ground in rows so that the bulbs look in one direction and the leaves in the other. Plants need to be turned over every day so that the sun has time to warm up and disinfect all the bulbs. Such drying should last at least two weeks. Under adverse weather conditions (rain, cloudy weather), it is better to lay out the crop to dry under a canopy or in any ventilated room under a roof.
Even during the harvesting of onions, it must be sorted out, choosing damaged bulbs, as well as those that have a thick neck. They will need to be consumed first of all, since they are not subject to long-term storage.
Onion drying ends when all the bulbs have a thin and dry neck, and you can freely stick your hand into a bunch of onions. If the hand gets stuck, then the onion is not completely dried yet.
Unfortunately, the weather is not always favorable, and sometimes the onions have to be harvested in the rain and in the absence of the sun. In this case, the bulbs should be washed immediately, cleaned of greens and husks, cut off the roots and laid out in one layer in a warm, dry, ventilated room. After 18-20 days, the bulbs will have a new layer of outer husks. It can be laid out in cardboard boxes and stored in a dry, frost-free room.
If the onions were grown in soils that are too wet or rich in manure, then normal drying may not be enough. To protect such an onion from cervical rot during storage, it must be additionally dried at a high temperature. At a temperature of +42°+43°C eight hours of drying is sufficient, at a temperature of +32°+33°C it is necessary to dry for about 5 days.
Store onions braided into braids – in this case, dry leaves are not cut off. Or you can cut the leaves 4 cm from the neck and arrange them in cardboard boxes or nylon stockings and hang them up. In this form, onions can be stored for up to 18 months.
It is not difficult to determine the timing of harvesting onions – you just need to observe the weather conditions and the condition of the plants themselves.
