Content
Green onions in hydroponics are a good way to grow crops in small areas: in a closed greenhouse, apartment, or backyard. Thanks to the short growing season, fresh greens can be harvested every month.
Growing green onions hydroponically is easy and quick, even for novice gardeners.
What is hydroponics
Hydroponics is the growing of plants without the use of soil. With this method, seedlings receive nutrients not from the soil, but from the environment surrounding the root system - moist-air, well-aerated water or porous, moisture-absorbing and breathable solid (gravel, crushed stone, expanded clay, vermiculite).
All these substances ensure root respiration and require constant drip or just frequent watering with special nutrient mixtures prepared taking into account the plants’ needs for mineral and organic elements.
Hydroponics makes it possible to regulate the process of growing plants:
- ensure proper nutrition of the root system and vegetative parts, which will fully satisfy the crop’s needs for nutrients;
- regulate the content of carbon dioxide in the environment in an amount acceptable for the process of photosynthesis;
- maintain the desired temperature and air humidity;
- provide comfortable lighting and daylight hours.
All this allows you to create ideal conditions for growing crops and get a good harvest of environmentally friendly vegetables in a short time.
In hydroponics you can grow greens in several tiers
Advantages
Like any other method of growing vegetables indoors, hydroponics has its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
- space saving;
- high productivity;
- 100% absorption of nutrients by plants;
- no need to use pesticides and herbicides;
- high viability of the resulting planting material;
- saving water and nutrients;
- the ability to control the condition of the root system;
- year-round cultivation of plants;
- low labor intensity compared to cultivation in soil (there is no need to loosen the soil, remove weeds, or control pests).
Flaws
Despite all the advantages, this growing method also has disadvantages:
- the danger of losing the harvest if growing conditions are violated;
- the need for constant support of a certain microclimate;
- the impossibility of growing some crops, in particular root crops, in hydroponic systems;
- the need to buy expensive equipment.
Hydroponics has many more advantages than disadvantages.
Methods for growing onions using hydroponics
There are three ways to cultivate onions hydroponically. They differ from each other in the type of growing environment and care rules.
Air
When forcing onions to grow by this method (aeroponics), its root system is in an empty dark tank, that is, in the air. Such crops receive nutrition by spraying the roots with an aqueous solution of a special mixture.
Aeroponics involves regularly moistening the roots
Water
The traditional method of cultivating onions in hydroponics is the water method, in which the roots are dipped into a specially prepared nutrient solution.
For normal growth and development of onions, the aquatic environment in which the culture resides is regularly enriched with oxygen. When producing on an industrial scale, special compressor units are used for this purpose, and when cultivating at home, you can get by with a small aquarium compressor.
Oxygen supply ensures respiration of the root system
Substrate
This hydroponic growing method involves immersing the roots in a moist substrate. Crushed stone, gravel, vermiculite, expanded clay, sawdust, peat, moss, and hay are used as the latter. The basic rule for caring for plants in this case is to maintain the necessary humidity in the environment in which the roots are located.
The substrate for hydroponics should be light and permeable
Which onion varieties are suitable for hydroponic forcing?
For hydroponics, separate forcing varieties are used. The list includes:
- Spassky;
- Ural family;
- Union;
- Seryozha;
- Strigunovsky;
- Bessonovsky.
Productivity largely depends on the number of primordia. It’s good if there are at least three of them.To select high-quality planting material, it is recommended to cut a couple of bulbs from a batch of the same variety and see how many rudiments are in it.
Not all varieties are grown hydroponically; Strigunovsky is one of the suitable options.
How to grow onions hydroponically
The process of growing onions hydroponically is not particularly difficult. However, certain rules of agricultural technology will still have to be followed.
Preparing the bulbs
It is better to select planting material for forcing onions to grow in hydroponics from last year’s harvest. The diameter of the prepared bulbs should be no less than 2 and no more than 4 cm. In addition, they should not show signs of disease or mechanical damage.
Selected bulbs are left for 3-5 days in a warm room, after which the top layer of dry husk is removed and bubbled, that is, saturated with air.
For this:
- 1 kg of planting onions is poured into 10 liters of warm water (+38-40 °C).
- Hot water bottles are attached to both sides of the container with onions using tape or rope.
- Lower the aquarium compressor into the bowl with the soaked planting material and turn it on.
The bubbling process must continue for at least 15 hours without interruption.
Onions need to be soaked before planting.
Preparing the container
The choice of container depends on the amount of material prepared for laying. On an industrial scale, gardeners use a professional hydroponics system to grow onions. When distilling for home use, you can get by with a ready-made plastic container, which consists of a water tray and a lid with cells, or you can make the container yourself.
To make it you will need:
- plastic container with a tight-fitting lid, approximate dimensions - 80x40x20 cm;
- small compressor for an aquarium;
- two lamps;
- two pieces of PVC pipe with small holes made in them, a knife.
Work algorithm:
- Using a sharp knife, cut holes on the lid so that there are approximately 50 of them (10x5 cm).
- Additional holes are made for pipes that will connect the container to the aquarium compressor.
- Close the container tightly with a lid.
- Using tubes and a compressor, air is supplied to the pan.
- Fill the tray with water through the upper holes (about 3/4) and insert the prepared onions.
- Place the hydroponics plant close to the outlet and install lamps above it.
In hydroponics, you can plant green onion seeds as seedlings. To do this, they are laid out in special cassettes with a damp substance and left until shoots appear. When the height of the shoots reaches 7 cm, the seedlings dive to a stationary place.
A regular container for seedlings is suitable for forcing onions.
Disembarkation scheme
The scheme for planting onions on a feather is simple:
- Pour water or nutrient solution into the pan.
- Cut off the top of the bulbs (this will speed up their germination).
- Place the bulbs in special cells with the bottom down.
Place the filled container in a dry and warm place.
The bulbs are laid out at a short distance from each other
Features of growing green onions hydroponically
The quantity and quality of green feathers directly depend on the conditions of its agricultural technology.Therefore, it is very important to provide plants with the correct microclimate, nutrition and comfortable lighting.
Temperature
One of the important conditions for forcing onions to grow in hydroponics is maintaining the correct microclimate. The air temperature during the entire growing season should be +25-28 °C. Overheating or hypothermia of plants can cause their growth to slow down and sometimes even die.
Light
Green onions do not require bright light. If the container is located in a well-lit place (on a balcony, veranda or window sill), it is not necessary to install additional lamps.
When growing onions in a poorly lit room, in order to avoid stretching, you will have to supplement the plants with special phytolamps or ordinary fluorescent lamps. When the length of the shoots reaches 15-20 cm, additional lighting can be removed.
Nutrient solution
It is also possible to grow green onions in ordinary water. However, excellent quality greens can be obtained only if special nutritional mixtures are used.
The solution for hydroponic onions must have the correct pH and contain a strictly defined amount of mineral elements. Therefore, unlike professional gardeners who can prepare it themselves, novice gardeners are recommended to purchase a ready-made product in specialized stores.
Hydroponic plants need the right temperature
Rules of care
Caring for green onions in hydroponics is not particularly difficult and includes:
- Regular moistening of the root system. A hydroponic installation for growing onions provides two irrigation methods - regular flooding, in which the root system is immersed in a nutrient mixture for a certain time, and drip irrigation, which ensures uniform moistening of the substrate.
- Aeration. During the entire growing season, onion roots are saturated with oxygen every day. When using industrial hydroponic systems, this procedure is performed automatically. At home, you can use an aquarium compressor to aerate the roots.
At full maturity, the feather length is 25-30 cm
Harvesting
Provided proper agricultural technology, green onions reach full maturity 20 days after planting. The degree of readiness is determined by the state of the vegetable - it becomes soft.
During the harvesting process, the used bulbs are removed from the cells, the old peel is removed and the roots are removed with a sharp knife.
Conclusion
If you grow green onions hydroponically in compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, you can get a good harvest throughout the year. The yield of finished products is approximately 80% of the mass of planting material.
