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Many gardeners have seen from personal experience that winter onions planted in autumn grow larger and ripen faster than spring onions. A special cultivation technology allows you to get a decent harvest of winter vegetables even in difficult climatic conditions. So, for example, a cold winter is not terrible for plants if the planting of onions before winter in Siberia is carried out correctly and in a timely manner. About when and how to plant onions in the fall in this region, and we’ll talk later in the section.
Advantages of the method
Winter sowing of onions has become increasingly popular among gardeners over the years, because the technology really shows amazing yield results. Winter onions grow large and juicy, they are resistant to diseases and pests, require less attention and are unpretentious in care. It ripens 2-3 weeks earlier than the onion that was planted in the spring.
Sowing sevka before winter allows you to free up some time for spring sowing of other crops, which is very important for a farmer. Having planted the sowing into the ground, you don’t have to worry about storing the “capricious” planting material until warm days, and the sowing in the fall is much cheaper than in the spring. Thus, winter sowing of winter onions has a lot of advantages that every gardener can appreciate if they wish.
Winter varieties
Onions are by nature a perennial plant that can successfully overwinter. But most varieties, after suffering low temperatures, give an arrow and do not grow the bulb. That is why breeders offer a number of special varieties that are resistant to wintering. “Shakespeare”, “Radar”, “Stuttgarten Risen” – it is these varieties that are distinguished by the best qualities and are most often used by gardeners for sowing before winter.
Of course, for the conditions of Siberia, it is recommended to choose special varieties of winter onions, but if necessary, each gardener can independently choose the appropriate variety, focusing on the following rules:
- Particularly sharp varieties of onions winter best.
- The zoned varieties of sevka are genetically adapted to the existing climatic conditions of the region.
- The most resistant to low temperatures are onion varieties with yellow husks.
- “Colored” and sweet onions after wintering more often give an arrow.
- Early ripe onions have good frost resistance.
When choosing a variety for the conditions of Siberia, one should give preference to a special winter onion, but if this is not possible, then a suitable winter-hardy sevka variety can be chosen independently, based on the theses proposed above and personal preferences.
Optimal timing for planting onions in Siberia
Timely planting of winter onions is the most important condition for the successful cultivation of vegetables. At the same time, it is not possible to name the exact dates for planting winter onions in Siberia, since from year to year the weather now and then shows its surprises. But still, some guidelines for determining the optimal landing time must be highlighted:
- Farmers recommend sowing onions in Siberia in late September – early October. But these terms are only a recommendation. In fact, it is necessary to follow the weather forecast and sow onions in the ground 30-40 days before the arrival of stable frosts.
- After planting onions, the daytime temperature in the region should not rise above +50C. At the same time, night temperatures should be at the level of -5 … 00C. Such conditions will help the seedlings to take root and will not allow the bulbs to germinate.
Only after evaluating the promising weather forecast, it is possible to set the optimal date for planting the seedlings.
Preparing the bow for planting
For winter sowing, it is important not only to choose a winter-hardy variety, but also to select the best planting material. Before sowing, the seedlings must be calibrated: large heads can only be sown on 
On the surface of the sevka there should be no signs of damage, rot. Selected onion specimens must be processed three times:
- Soak the sevok in salt water for 20-30 minutes, then rinse with a clean liquid to destroy pests possibly hiding in the husk;
- additionally treat the seedlings with a solution of potassium permanganate to reduce the likelihood of developing fungal and putrefactive diseases;
- soak the seedlings for several hours in the Epin nutrient solution to activate the growth of the root system.
The complex of all measures will help the onion to protect itself from the influence of harmful microflora and successfully take root before the onset of a harsh winter.
The sevka processing process is well demonstrated in the video:
The video also describes in detail the planting and care of winter onions.
Site selection and soil preparation
Onions love the sun and heat; stagnant moisture poses a threat to it. Choose a site for growing crops on a well-lit hill or slope. The soil should be light and nutritious. It is preferable to plant sevok on sandy loam or loam with the addition of organic and mineral fertilizers. In the presence of heavy soil, additional care should be taken to add sand.
Before planting onions, you should remember what kind of culture grew in this place in the future. So, in place of carrots, parsley, garlic or onions, it is not recommended to sow sevok, since such predecessors will negatively affect the sevok. If there is a choice, it is preferable to sow onions in a place where tomatoes, legumes or cabbage used to grow.
Prepare the site for sowing should be 2-3 weeks before sowing. Soil preparation consists in digging (loosening) the soil and applying fertilizers. Depending on the initial fertility of the soil, 3-6 kg of humus and 20-25 g of double superphosphate per 1 mXNUMX can be added as a fertilizer2 soil. Potash fertilizer for sevka can be potash salt in the amount of 10-15 g / m2. You can replace the chemical potassium-phosphorus fertilizer with wood ash. For onions, this natural fertilizer can be added in large quantities throughout the growing period.
From the prepared soil, it is necessary to form ridges. Their height should be approximately 20 cm. Higher hills can provoke freezing of the set, and on low ridges, with the arrival of spring heat, the set may rot.
The beds should be empty for some time so that the soil on them is compacted and saturated with nutrients. That is why it is recommended to prepare them well in advance of planting the sevka.
How to plant onions before winter
We figured out when to plant onions before winter, determined how to prepare planting material and a site, which means that now is the time to understand exactly how to plant onions in autumn in Siberia.
At first glance, there is nothing difficult in planting seedlings into the ground, but failure to follow certain rules can lead to a significant decrease in yield, so it would not be superfluous to recall the following nuances:
- On the beds, you need to make grooves 5 cm deep. A larger layer of soil will not allow the sowing to sprout in the spring, a layer of soil thinner than 4-5 cm will contribute to the freezing of planting material.
- The distance between the grooves should not be less than 15-20 cm.
- The distance between the bulbs in one row should be 5-7 cm.
It is the proposed dimensions of the placement of planting material that make it possible to obtain the maximum crop yield, occupying the minimum land area.
After planting, the seedlings need to be dug in with soil. If over the past few days there has been no rain and the soil is dry, then the crops must be watered. It is a sufficient level of moisture in the soil that is the guarantor of the successful rooting of the set.
To prevent freezing of the ridge with sevka, you need to mulch. Peat, straw, dry leaves can be used as mulch. Sealed polyethylene cannot be used to cover the ridges. It does not allow moisture to pass through and contributes to the decay of planting material. Only with the onset of severe frosts can black geotextiles be placed over the ridge, which will also prevent the set from freezing. An artificially thrown cap of snow in the garden can become an additional protection against severe Siberian frosts.
With the arrival of spring heat, shelter and mulch must be removed. As soon as the soil warms up, the green feathers of the set will break through the thickness of the soil. At this time, you need to loosen the crops, sprinkle the soil with ashes. You can speed up the process of growing green feathers by spraying the onion with a biological product, for example, Radiance-1, Epin.
Sometimes, for various reasons, some specimens of winter onions may suffer in winter and not sprout. In this case, in the spring, empty areas of soil must be sown with fresh sowing.
Caring for winter onions is quite simple: after the snow melts, the soil is saturated with moisture and does not require additional watering. Thanks to this, the onion develops rapidly and grows a turnip from the first warm days. In the summer, you should not use a large amount of organic matter or nitrogen mineral fertilizers; for successful growth, seedlings, as a rule, have enough of those substances that were introduced into the soil in the fall.
Planting onions in the fall, as a rule, does not cause any difficulties for the farmer. A lot of free time allows you to properly and timely prepare the soil, select and process planting material. Having sowed sevok, and having reliably covered the ridges from frost, you can not think about its safety, since winter and frost-resistant varieties can successfully withstand temperatures down to -180C. Such conditions are unlikely to be observed under thick mulch even in severe frost conditions. Already with the arrival of the first spring warmth, it will be possible to expect the appearance of greenery and enjoy a healthy, natural salad. By the end of summer, the winter onion crop will ripen well, which means that the heads will be successfully stored. Thus, sowing onions before winter has many advantages that farmers should definitely take advantage of, including those in Siberia.