Onions are the most unpretentious crop in my garden. With him the least fuss, even a child can take care of the beds. Sometimes in the summer there is a shortage of crops, so I often plant onions before winter. Here's how to do it right.
Landing features
To make the onions feel good in the ground in winter, choose varieties that are resistant to cold for planting. The onion will calmly wait out the long hibernation period if it goes under the snow with at least five feathers. To protect against early frost, the garden bed should be covered.
When to plant onions before winter
For planting winter onions, it is important to correctly calculate the timing. If you do this early - the bulb will start to grow, too late - it will not have time to take root. In both cases, the plants will be doomed to die. I am waiting for the average daily temperature to be around +7 ° C. I live in central Russia, so I plant onions around late October or early November.
Landing technology
The soil on which the onion will grow must be fertile. Depleted soil will prevent roots from forming and the harvest will be poor. You can get a good harvest of vegetables by observing the correct crop rotation. Onions like to grow after cucumbers, courgettes, legumes, beets, rapeseeds, and tomatoes. Garlic, onions, cabbage, carrots, radishes, celery, parsley and parsnips are not recommended as precursors.
Garden bed preparation
I allocated a place for the onion bed well lit, protected from the wind. The soil is loose, and the groundwater is far enough away. After cleaning the predecessor, I saturated the soil in the garden with useful microelements, which I scattered over the surface before digging. I usually dig the ground to a depth of 20-30 centimeters and leave it unharrowed in order to improve the air flow to it.
Preparing the bulbs
For planting before winter, I select good and healthy bulbs up to 1 centimeter in size - wild oats. They grow more slowly, while rooting well. For two weeks, I lay the bulbs in one layer in the sun, which will allow the planting material to form the root system faster. Then I disinfect. You can do as you see fit, and I choose a weak solution of potassium permanganate for this. This procedure takes only 5 minutes. Then I lay it out on a cloth and dry it.
How deep to plant onions for the winter
The planting depth depends on the size of the bulb. For example, I have up to 1 centimeter, and I will deepen it by about 4 centimeters. If you have larger specimens, they can be buried 8 centimeters into the soil.
Landing scheme
How we plant onions depends on its purpose. Before winter, I plant bulbs up to 1 centimeter in grooves, the distance between which is 35 centimeters, and between vegetables, 5 centimeters.
Care features
After sprouting in the fall, I feed the vegetables with superphosphate or nitrogen. How much fertilizer you need, it is better to look in the instructions. In dry autumn, I sometimes water the rows. Closer to winter, I mulch the soil with straw, spruce branches, sawdust, tops from tomatoes. In winter, we come to the dacha, and if possible, I insulate the beds with snow. In the spring I clean the shelter, leaving it only for cold nights.
In spring and summer, I don’t do anything supernatural with onions: I loosen, water and weed.
When to harvest
The winter onions are ready when the feather begins to dry out. This usually happens in early summer. I plan to harvest the crop on a dry day so that the bulbs can be dried immediately in partial shade.
Conclusion
Planting onions in the fall allows you to get the first harvest already at the beginning of summer. Such vegetables are well stored and are practically not attacked by pests.
Read also: Effective natural ways to combat cabbage caterpillar
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