Growing Onions From Seeds

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

← Read the previous part "Growing onions through a set"

Growing turnip onions in a seedling way

Seedling lengthens the growing season by 1-1.5 months and makes it possible to grow turnip onions of late varieties in one year in the north of Russia. To do this, use southern semi-sweet and sweet high-yielding varieties, such as Krasnodar G-35, Kaba, Buran and others. This method of growing small-germinated varieties of the middle belt - Strigunovsky local, Skvirsky local, Danilovsky 301 - accelerates ripening and significantly increases the yield of bulbs.

Onion seedlings can be grown in the same cultivation room (greenhouse, greenhouse) with cabbage seedlings, since the microclimate regime for them is almost the same. Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked for a day, changing the water 2-3 times. They are sown in mid-March - early April in sowing boxes or on beds in furrows with a distance of 6-10 cm, at the rate of 13-15 g / m². The seeding depth is about 1 cm.

The seeds are covered with earth, slightly compacted, if necessary, watered and covered with a film on top (in amateur vegetable growing, you can use paper), which is removed when the first shoots appear. The temperature is maintained until sprouting at + 18 … + 20 ° С, with the appearance of the first plants, it is reduced to + 14 … + 15 ° С during the day and + 10 … + 12 ° С at night.

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A higher temperature causes strong sprouting of the onion, the plants stretch out, become pampered. Such plants do not tolerate transplanting well, they get sick for a long time, so the room where onion seedlings are grown must be constantly ventilated. When growing onion seedlings, the soil should not be allowed to dry out, otherwise the plants will quickly stop growing and form small bulbs. They take root very poorly, and the formed bulbs remain small.

If necessary, seedlings are fed 1-2 times: the first time with full mineral fertilizer, the second - with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. A week before planting, the seedlings are hardened by keeping the plants at the outside temperature. To do this, boxes with seedlings are taken out of the room or the windows and doors are left open in the greenhouse at night, and the frames are removed in the greenhouse. To increase the yield of southern sweet varieties, it is recommended to keep onion seedlings for 10 days for a short 10-11-hour day before planting. For this, plants from 6-7 pm to 8 am are without access to light. A good seedling should be stocky and strong, with 3-4 true leaves and a false stem diameter of 0.6-0.7 cm.

Seedlings are planted at the same time as the seedlings. On the evening before planting, it is well watered so that it is better removed from the soil. After removal, the leaves from the seedlings are cut to 1/3 of their length and the roots are dipped in a dung-clay mash to avoid wilting. Seedlings are planted in the same way as the seedlings. The distance in the row is 5-7 cm, depending on the variety: with medium-sized bulbs it is less, for large-bulb ones - more. When planting, care should be taken that the roots of the seedlings are not directed upwards. Such plants will be inhibited and significantly stunted.

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To prevent the soil from drying out after planting, it is mulched with humus or peat. When planting and mulching, the growth point (the top of the false stem) must not be covered, otherwise the plant will die. When the onion plants take root and start growing, they make nitrogen-potassium dressing. During the summer, the soil is kept in a loose, weed-free state. All onion care does not differ from the care that is carried out when growing turnip onions from sets. It is necessary to monitor soil moisture. Rare, untimely watering leads to premature formation of small bulbs and a significant decrease in yield.

With any method of growing turnip onions, it must be remembered that the soil cannot be rolled onto the plants, otherwise the formation and maturation of the bulbs will be delayed. After inter-row cultivation, it is necessary to make manual setting of the plants.

Growing onions from seeds in an annual crop

The successes of breeders make it possible, even in the Non-Black Earth Zone, to grow onions from seeds in 1 year. This method allows you to get cheap onions with the least labor and cost. However, it should be remembered that this growing method does not always produce mature bulbs in the Northwest. The success of growing turnip onions from seeds in an annual culture depends on the selection of varieties, sowing dates, plant density and care.

Since onion seeds germinate slowly, cultivated, structural, fertile, well-seasoned and weed-free soils should be set aside for an annual crop. Cold, heavy, clayey and especially clogged soils are completely unsuitable for growing onions. On such soils, not only the germination of seeds is delayed, but they cannot break through the crust formed on the surface of the soil, and sometimes mass death of seedlings is observed. Blocked areas are also unacceptable, since at first the seedlings are suppressed by rapidly growing weeds.

Sowing seeds is carried out either in early spring, or before winter. A plot for sowing onions is prepared in the fall. Soil preparation and fertilization are the same as for growing onions from seedlings.

For early spring sowing, areas are allocated, which are freed early from under the snow. Seeds are sown in late April - early May. On a bed with a height of up to 15 cm, 4-5 rows are placed with a distance of 20-25 cm between them. 0.8-1.5 g of first-class seeds are sown on 1m². The seeding depth of seeds is 1-1.5 cm. To accelerate the germination of seeds, they are soaked in water for a day before sowing, changing the water 2-3 times, or in running water.

The slow growth and development of onion plants from seeds, especially in the first half of summer, necessitates careful care of it. The first loosening should be carried out before the emergence of onion shoots, in order to facilitate their appearance. After that, the aisles are loosened in 15-20 days 5-6 times per summer. The number of loosening can be reduced if the crops are mulched with humus or peat. Weeding and watering are carried out to ensure the rapid growth of the leaves of the onion.

It is very important to timely and correctly thin out the seedlings. At the first thinning, which is carried out on the onion 15-20 days after germination, when the first or second true leaf appears, 1.5-2 cm is left between the plants, at the second, after 60-65 days, 4-5 cm are left. Delay in thinning can lead to excessive thickening, plant oppression and the formation of small bulbs. The selected plants, at the first thinning, are used for replanting in those places where the seedlings were thinned out. In the second thinning, the removed plants are used for greenery. Such additional products can be collected up to 1 kg / m².

To obtain high yields of onions by sowing seeds in the ground, it is necessary to feed the plants in the first half of summer, when they are still poorly developed. In the second half of summer, when the plants get stronger, feeding should be stopped so as not to delay the ripening of the bulbs. The first feeding is done 13-15 days after germination, and the second and third at intervals of 15-17 days. In the first top dressing, more nitrogen fertilizers should be given, in the second - phosphorus-potassium, and in the third only phosphorus-potassium.

With early spring sowing, onion-turnip ripens at the end of August. Harvesting should start when 70-75% of the plants are ripe. If more than half of the harvest is unripe bulbs, it is advisable to harvest the onions along with the green leaves for immediate consumption. You can harvest it separately: first, remove all the unripe onions with a thick neck for immediate consumption, and then the ripe onions, which, after drying and ripening, are stored and used in October-November. The yield reaches 1.5-2 kg / m². It should not be forgotten that onions grown from seeds in the North-West of Russia in one year, as a rule, are less well stored and cannot be left for long winter storage.

When sowing under winter sowing, they are sown in the same way as in early spring, with dry seeds at a rate of 1-2 g / m². Sowing dates are set so that the seeds swell, but in no case germinate before the onset of winter. To be more sure that this will not happen, you can use seeds for sowing, covered with special hydrophobic moisture-proof polymer materials that prevent their premature germination.

Winter crops of onions must be mulched with peat or humus 2-3 cm thick. This technique prevents the formation of a crust, contributes to better moisture retention and warming up of the soil in early spring, and therefore, faster seed germination, protects delicate onion shoots from damage by spring frosts, which are often infect plants unprotected by mulch. Good results are obtained by covering subwinter crops in early spring with lutrasil or plastic wrap.

Plant care consists in repeated loosening, if necessary, in additional weeding and mandatory watering with the slightest moisture deficit.

Ripening of onions with podzimny sowing is faster than with spring sowing. The bulbs are ready for harvest in the middle or third decade of August. The yield reaches 3 kg / m².

The main requirement for growing turnip onions from seeds in one year: strict adherence to the deadlines for all work. Delays in terms, violation of agricultural practices, primarily moisture deficit at the beginning of plant development, lead to a sharp decrease in the yield and its marketability.

Continue reading "Vegetative propagation of onions" →

All parts of the article "Growing onions in the North-West region"

• Part 1. Biological characteristics of onions
• Part 2. Interesting varieties of onions
• Part 3. Preparing the soil for planting onions
• Part 4. Growing onions through the set
• Part 5. Growing onions from seeds
• Part 6. Vegetative propagation of onions
• Part 7. Growing green onions