Content
Rarely does anyone call onions their favorite product. But unlike tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, it is present on our table all year round. Along with potatoes, onions can be called one of the most commonly eaten vegetables. Rarely does any first or second course go without it, and if you add sauces, baked goods, preserves, various seasonings, and eat them fresh, you can call onions a universal food plant.
Onions have been known in culture for more than 5 thousand years, they are widely used in official and folk medicine, they are rich in vitamins, sugars, microelements, and other beneficial substances and have zero calorie content. This culture came to us from Asia and today it grows both in the southernmost regions of Russia and in the north-west, the Far East, and some species (for example, chives) even beyond the Arctic Circle. It is not difficult to grow it, but it is much more difficult to protect the future harvest from all kinds of diseases and pests. Various agrotechnical measures can help here, in particular, treating onions with potassium permanganate before planting.
General information
There are more than a thousand types of onions, many of which can be eaten.Undoubtedly, the most popular and widespread is onion, but other types often grow in our gardens: leek, chives, batun, slime, shallot, jusai, wild garlic, garlic (this is also a type of onion).
Of greatest interest to us is the cultivation of onions - they are invariably present in our diet and are grown everywhere. There are many varieties that differ in ripening time, number and size of bulbs in the nest, and taste. Each climate zone has its own varieties and hybrids; there are even local varieties of onions intended for cultivation in a specific region.
Onions are grown in two-year and one-year crops:
- most varieties require first growing sets from seeds (small onions with a diameter of about 1-2 cm), when planted, they obtain full-fledged products;
- Some varieties make it possible to obtain a marketable bulb in one year - directly from nigella (seeds).
The vast majority of summer residents grow onions by planting sets in the ground - this process is so simple that even a novice gardener, unencumbered by even basic knowledge of agricultural technology, can do it. What does an onion need? Fertile soil, well-lit place and no watering or rain at the time of ripening.
Onion pests and diseases
Unfortunately, on the way to obtaining marketable products, we are faced with many diseases and pests of onions - without treatment, some of them do not allow it to be stored for a long time, while others can significantly reduce or even destroy the harvest.
The most common problems encountered when growing onions are:
- shooting, which is not a disease, but a natural phase of development;
- onion flies They attack onions twice per season, pose the greatest danger and are especially active in rainy summers;
- secretive beetle, which lays larvae inside the feather;
- nematodes, living in the soil and deforming onion leaves;
- downy mildew - a disease manifested by grayish coating on feathers;
- rust - a problem that is relevant for the southern regions and looks like yellow streaks on the leaves;
- cervical rot occurs in rainy summers and does not allow onions to be stored for a long time;
- white rot of bulbs - a disease that develops in hot summers and has no treatment;
- bottom rot provokes onion fly in the southern regions;
- viral diseases, which cannot be treated and require immediate destruction of the plant.
Treating seeds and sowing before planting in the spring will help avoid most problems.
Why process onions?
Many gardeners plant onions in the ground without any processing, and get a good harvest. The question arises, why waste energy, time, money, since he will grow up anyway? If the plot is large, crop rotation is observed, the harvest is satisfactory, and you grew the seed set yourself and are confident in its quality, you don’t need to do any pre-planting preparation.
But pre-processed onions will give a larger harvest; if you spend time preparing them in the spring, in the summer you will be less likely to break out the arrows and fight pests and diseases. We cannot predict weather conditions; even an ideal seedling can get sick in rainy weather, and pests can move from neighbors’ beds.
If you are not sure about the planting material, it is not possible to maintain crop rotation, and you want to get a good harvest, you must treat the onions against diseases before planting.
Watch an interesting video in which you will learn about some ways to prepare onions for planting:
Pre-planting onion processing
There are many methods for processing onions, and most of them give good results. But there is no one magic remedy that would help against bolting, all diseases and all pests at once. In general, there are no remedies against viral diseases and white rot; the only way to protect the future harvest from them is to plant high-quality seedlings in healthy soil, and from the moment of planting adhere to the correct agricultural practices, which, by the way, includes processing the onions before planting.
Retail chains offer a variety of drugs that can protect the crop from most diseases; everyone decides for themselves whether it is worth using them or whether they can get by with folk remedies. An experienced sales consultant will not only help you choose the right chemical, but also give advice on its use if necessary.
Preparing to process onions
Before treating onions for diseases, sort and sort them. Even if all of it goes to turnips (small sets, up to 1 cm, can be planted on greens, and the largest ones can be used to produce nigella), bulbs of different sizes should be planted separately - this will make subsequent care easier. Without regret, throw away all dry, rotten, diseased and damaged root vegetables.
The sowing should be cleaned of the upper scales, which are easily removed and under which pathogens often live; the husks should not be forcibly peeled off. It is often advised to trim the top of the bulb (not the bottom on which the roots grow!) so that the greens germinate faster. It should be noted that this is not at all necessary and takes a lot of time. But if you nevertheless decide on this procedure, remember that you should trim the top “to the point of being alive” only when you are growing onions for plumes. For sets intended for turnips, simply remove the dry curled top, leaving the covering scales - exposing the neck increases the risk of infection of the onion.
How to reduce bolting
We will not analyze in detail why the sowing goes to the arrow. Suffice it to say that this is not a disease, but a natural process, which is how onions form seeds. If you grow your own sets and need to get nigella, you should plant the seed onions separately and do not treat them against bolting.
But if all the planting material is intended to produce turnips, it needs to be warmed up. The ideal option is to keep the bulbs at a temperature of 35-40 degrees for 2-3 weeks before planting. They are laid out in a thin layer on old newspapers or cardboard and kept next to heating appliances or on radiators.
If there is a lot of sets or for some reason you have not warmed them up, and the planting time is approaching, you can soak the onions for 10-15 minutes in hot water (45-50 degrees), and then immediately cool them by placing them in cold water.
Protection from pests and diseases
Gardeners are faced with the question of how to treat onions against diseases, not from a lack of drugs, but from their excess. We will try to draw your attention to simple and effective means.
- The easiest way to destroy pests on a set is to put it in a plastic bag, spray it with karbofos and tie it up. In a day it will be possible to treat onions against diseases. But this should not be done in a city apartment, since the drug is very toxic. Think twice about whether it is worth using it to process onions.
- A saline solution will help greatly against nematodes; sometimes it is recommended to use it simply in a monstrous concentration. One tablespoon of salt dissolved in a liter of warm water is a sufficient proportion for soaking the sets. Treatment lasts 6-8 hours. It is often recommended to treat onion plantings with a saline solution. Perhaps it will help with many problems, but at the same time it will ruin your soil for years.
- A tablespoon of birch tar per liter of water will help cope with pathogens, infections, and can also repel the onion fly during the first summer.
- Potassium permanganate will help destroy pathogens. Prepare a rich pink solution, immerse the seeds in it, process for 10-15 minutes, and then be sure to rinse with clean water.
- Treatment with copper-containing preparations will perfectly protect the sowing from diseases. There are many of them on sale, they are used according to the instructions, it makes no sense to recommend any specific one.
- Treatment with phytosporin protects onions from diseases and bacteria.If you are not yet familiar with this unique drug, we suggest watching the video:
- Treatment of seedlings with soda for diseases has shown low effectiveness; it is better to use something else.
When starting to process seedlings, you need to remember:
- The above treatments are carried out not in advance, but immediately before planting the onions.
- You can destroy pathogens and pest larvae on the sets, but this does not guarantee that the bulbs will not become infected later, and the pests will not move from another place or simply fly in like the onion fly.
- Appropriate fungicides can help greatly against diseases.
Stimulation
In order for the seedling to take root faster, germinate earlier, resist diseases better, and form a large turnip, it must be treated with humate or any fertilizer intended for this purpose before planting. It is very good if you add epin or zircon – fertilizer and stimulant can be combined.
Conclusion
As we have already said, treating onions before planting from pests and diseases is a desirable procedure, but if crop rotation is observed, it is not necessary. But we still advise you to choose drugs from the specified list and soak the seedlings in them. Believe me, you will be pleased with the results.
