How to grow onions: a detailed guide

When to plant onions

The optimum soil temperature for planting onions in spring is 10–12 °C, and air temperature is 3–5 °C. In the central zone of Russia, such conditions are already in April. At this time, you need to have time to sow the onion seeds in the ground. But sevok can be planted in May. In both cases, you will have time to grow large bulbs. If you only need greens, feel free to plant sevok until the second half of August - the onion quickly kicks out the feather.

Both sets and seeds can be planted before winter, when the soil temperature does not rise above 5 ° C. Usually in most regions this time falls on the end of October - the beginning of November. In cold soil, the onion will not have time to germinate, it will go to wintering, and seedlings will appear only in spring. This sowing option allows you to get a crop 2-3 weeks earlier than when planting a vegetable in April.

How to prepare a bed for planting onions

Choose a sunny location for growing onions, and it should not be shaded by trees and other plants. Two weeks before the planned planting, you need to lay out in the garden compost or rotted manure at the rate of 5 kg per 1 m², also adding 1 kg of wood ash per 1 m².

2-3 days before sowing, loosen the soil with a pitchfork to a depth of 10-12 cm, pour plenty of warm water, and then cover the bed with a film. Immediately before planting the onion, you need to remove the shelter and level the soil with a rake - the surface should be as even as possible, and the soil should be loose.

How to plant onion sets

Choose a set

It can be found at garden centers, markets, and often in the vegetable section of grocery stores. Sevok is golden, white and purple - respectively, and the bulbs will turn out to be the same color. It is sold by weight or already packaged. In the second case, choose not bags, but a mesh - such packaging reduces the risk of rotting of the set.

After purchase, planting material must be sorted. Sevok with a diameter of about 1 cm or more is suitable for growing turnips, smaller bulbs can be planted for forcing greens. Also, during the sorting process, discard rotten, wilted, shriveled bulbs and those with mold spots. And cut off the dry ends at the top. It is convenient to do this with nail scissors.

Soak the sevoc

You can skip this procedure and immediately start planting onions. However, pre-soaking the sevka in a disinfectant solution helps to get rid of fungi and bacteria that can live in the bulbs and spoil the future crop.

To prepare such a solution, thoroughly stir 3 g of potassium permanganate in 1 liter of water. Leave the sevok in the resulting mixture for 2 hours. After that, you need to get the bulbs out of the liquid, lay them out in one layer on a newspaper or paper and dry at room temperature for a day.

Make grooves

Their depth should be 3–4 cm, and the distance between rows should be 15–20 cm. It is convenient to lay the grooves using a long plank or board - this way the marking of the beds will turn out to be even and neat.

Plant bulbs in the ground

To grow turnips, place the sets in the furrows at a distance of 8-10 cm from each other. For getting greenery plantings can be made thicker - after 1.5-2 cm. Fill the bulbs with soil completely and lightly compact with the palm of your hand. If the ground is dry, moisten the crops with a watering can with a diffuser nozzle so as not to wash the soil with strong water pressure.

How to plant onions from seeds

Buy and soak seeds

Onion seeds are easy to find at garden centers, markets, and online stores.

After buying, the seeds must be soaked - this increases the germination of the onion. You can lower them into water at room temperature for a day or for 30 minutes in a liquid heated to about 50 ° C. In addition, like sevok, onion seeds for disinfection are placed in a solution of potassium permanganate - 3 g of the product per 1 liter of water. After soaking, the liquid must be drained and proceed with sowing.

What to buy

• Golden onion, 176 rubles →
• Purple onion, 238 rubles →
• White onion, 76 rubles →

Sow the seeds

The distance between the furrows should be, as for planting a set, about 20 cm, but their depth is less - 2 cm. Sow the seeds quite thickly, as not all of them can sprout. After this, the recesses should be sprinkled with soil, slightly compacted with the palm of your hand and poured with water from a watering can with a diffuser, or even better sprayed from a spray gun so that the seeds do not go deep into the ground.

Wait for shoots

With winter sowing, sprouts will begin to appear in March - April, as soon as the soil warms up enough. With spring pecking onions, it can take up to 25 days. Seeds need moisture, so after planting, do not allow the soil to dry out and water the bed in time to speed up the appearance of the feather.

Thin out the onion

When shoots appear, you need to carefully pull out the extra ones, leaving at least 2-3 cm between them. After about three weeks, when the onion has 3-4 feathers, thin again so that the distance between the plants is at least 7 cm. This procedure is necessary for the formation of large bulbs. If you plan to grow only greens, the second thinning can be omitted.

How to care for onions

When growing from sets and from seeds, you need to act the same way.

Water the onion

In the spring, the beds should be watered approximately twice a week, provided the weather is dry. Since June, the earth has been moistened early in the morning every 8–10 days. If summer arid, you can do it more often, if it's rainy - less often. Focus on the surface of the soil - it should not turn into a dry crust and be slightly wet. Both in spring and summer, about 10 liters of water are needed per 1 m².

2-3 weeks before harvesting, watering is stopped altogether so that the bulb forms without the risk of rotting and infection with fungal diseases.

Loosen and weed the beds

The soil between the rows must be loosened after each watering to provide the roots of the plant with access to oxygen. Do this carefully with a small-toothed hoe, being careful not to damage the bulbs. Also, remove weeds from the garden in time - they take nutrients from the soil and interfere with the normal development of onions.

Feed the onion

Fertilizers should be applied between the rows, trying not to get on the bulbs and greens. And the next day after top dressing, it is worth watering the beds with clean water at the rate of 10 liters per 1 m². Here's how to feed your plants.

• After 2-3 weeks from the moment of germination, dilute 1 tablespoon of ammonium nitrate or urea in 10 liters of warm water and water the plants at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 m².
• 3-4 weeks after the first feeding, dissolve 20 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium sulfate in 10 liters of warm water or 2 tablespoons of nitroammophoska in 10 liters of water. On 1 m² of onion beds, you need to pour 1 liter of any of the nutrient mixtures.
• After another 3-4 weeks, when the bulb is the size of a walnut, carry out the final dressing. For 10 liters of warm water, take 40 g of superphosphate and pour vegetables at the rate of 5 liters per 1 m².

If you grow onions on a feather, you can carry out only the first top dressing or do without fertilizers at all.

What to buy

• Ammonium nitrate, 140 rubles →
• Urea from Fertika, 140 rubles →
• Potassium sulphate from "Hera", 267 rubles →
• Superphosphate from Fasco, 280 rubles →
• Nitroammophoska from Fertika, 163 rubles →

How to harvest onions

Onion greens can be pulled from the garden as much as you like, but if the goal is to get a turnip, you should know some subtleties.

Wait for the right moment

The appearance of the onion in the garden will tell you that you need to harvest soon: the feathers of the plants begin to turn yellow, lie down, and lose their elasticity. Also pay attention to the bulbs: they should turn golden, white or purple - depending on the variety. Stop as soon as you notice these signs. watering for 2-3 weeks and let the onion ripen.

Gather and dry onions

Pull the onion out of the soil, gently shake off the remaining soil from it, lay it out in one layer on thick paper or cardboard and leave for 1-2 weeks under a canopy in a ventilated place - for example, on an open veranda or in gazebo. After drying, cut off the roots of the bulbs, as well as dry stems, leaving a stump of 3–5 cm. After that, you can send the harvest to storage.