Content
Onions are the main product on the Russian table. It is grown on a large scale by many agricultural producers. Gardeners also cultivate this vegetable crop on their plots. Onions are an amazingly resilient plant. It is grown not only in regions with mild climates, but also in Siberia and the Urals.
The features of obtaining a valuable and healthy vegetable in the Urals in different ways, the features of planting, and caring for onions will be discussed in our article.
Varieties of onions for the Urals
The climatic conditions of the Urals are not mild. Spring comes late and autumn comes too early. The growing season for comfortable development of onions is limited. But local residents manage to grow a good harvest of healthy vegetables.
What varieties of onions are best to plant in the Urals? When choosing, they focus on seeds and sets of vegetables adapted to the climate. For short summers, early-ripening and mid-ripening varieties of onions are more suitable. Most often grown in the Urals:
- Arzamas;
- Bessonovsky local;
- Buran;
- Botherus;
- Myachikovsky 300;
- Siberian Annual;
- Strigunovsky local;
- Exhibition;
- Timiryazevsky;
- Karantalsky;
- Cabo;
- Stuttgarden Riesen (Dutch selection).
Of course, this is only a part of the onion varieties. Each gardener in the Urals decides for himself what seed to use.
Ways to get turnips
You can grow onions in different ways, all of them are suitable for the Urals:
- The seedling method involves sowing nigella seeds in a container in an apartment some time before planting in open ground.
- Sowing seeds directly into the garden bed in early spring.
- Planting onions- sevka. With this method, onions are obtained in two years.
Let's take a closer look at each of the methods of growing onions in the Urals, as well as the features of caring for plantings in a region with a harsh climate.
Seedling method
This method of growing onions is effective in garden plots. Gardeners in the Urals receive turnip seeds from seeds in one season. Before planting in the ground, seedlings should be up to 30-35 days old.
Setting the stage
The soil for sowing nigella must be fertile. You can add ammonium nitrate, potassium sulfate and wood ash.
The soil is poured with boiling water with the addition of potassium permanganate to kill the spores of fungal diseases.
Preparing and sowing seeds
There are no special secrets when growing onion seedlings in the Urals.
Without stimulation, nigella can sit in the ground for a long time. To awaken onion seeds, they are soaked in warm water for several hours.
For the Urals, the right time for planting will be the beginning of March, then in the last days of April, when the earth warms up, it will be possible to plant the seedlings in the ground.
The seeds are planted in the soil in rows at a distance of at least 1.5 cm. There should be approximately 5 cm between the rows. The crops should be covered with a layer of soil no more than 1 cm. Then the soil is patted tightly with the palm of your hand to ensure adhesion between the nigella and the soil.
After careful watering, the container with future onion seedlings is covered with cellophane and placed in a warm place. In order for onion seeds to germinate faster, you need a temperature of at least + 18-+ 20 degrees. When the first shoots appear, the shelter is removed and the temperature is reduced to 15 degrees. At this time, the plant needs good lighting so that the seedlings do not stretch out.
Seedling care
Picking onion seedlings is not required if the seed sowing has not been thickened. There are no particular difficulties when caring for plantings. The seedlings are watered as the soil dries.
Planting seedlings in open ground
As a rule, in the Urals they begin planting onion seedlings at the end of April. Onions do not need warm soil; they feel good at a temperature of 7-8 degrees.
Why it is necessary to plant onion seedlings at such a time and at such a temperature is often asked by beginning gardeners. The fact is that onions have the most important pest - the onion fly. At this time, it does not fly yet, the plant has time to take root well and grow stronger. The pest becomes less dangerous.
Cloudy weather is chosen for work. If it’s hot, it’s better to start planting in the evening.
Containers with onions are watered to make it easier to select plants. Each sprout undergoes pre-sowing preparation: the roots are cut to 2 cm, and the tops are shortened by a third. Each plant is disinfected in a clay mash or mullein infusion.
Place the seedlings on a slope, sprinkle only the roots and bottom with soil. The roots of each plant are straightened, pointing them down. Plant onions in furrows every 5-6 cm. There should be at least 20-25 cm between rows.
You can plant the plants in a furrow and thicker if you want to get early greens and will occasionally pull out the onions for eating.
When all the seedlings are planted in the garden bed, they need to be watered with clean water and mulched. Watering is carried out regularly until the onion firmly grips the soil.
Sowing nigella in the ground
You can grow onions in the Urals from nigella by direct sowing into the ground. Only in this case you need to take seeds of early ripening onion varieties. Seed consumption will be much higher than with the seedling method.
Prepare nigella in the same way as with the seedling method. Sow seeds on high, level ridges. Furrows are made in increments of 25-40 cm. The seeds are sown thickly, at a distance of 1 cm. To better see where the seed has fallen, the ground is dusted with chalk.
The crops are covered with soil no higher than 1-2 cm. After watering, the plantings are mulched to retain moisture and prevent the formation of a dense crust on the surface of the earth.
At this time, night frosts are not uncommon in the Urals.To make onion seeds germinate faster, the bed can be covered with any non-woven material.
When sprouts appear, the plants need to be watered and the rows loosened. The grown plants are broken through several times so that eventually, by the time the head is set, the distance between the plants is at least 15-20 cm.
Onions for turnips, sown with seeds in the ground, require special feeding. When two feathers appear, the bed is watered with mullein.
Sowing seeds before winter
For some gardeners in the Urals, planting onion sets before winter is a completely acceptable undertaking. At the end of October, the bed is prepared in accordance with agrotechnical standards. Onion seeds are sown in the same way as in the spring. The difference is that the seeds are not soaked, and the plantings are covered with a thick layer of compost.
What does this method provide? The seeds are hardened naturally over the winter. As soon as the sun begins to warm up, the snow melts, the shelter is removed from the garden bed. If the soil is wet, you don't have to water it. The seeds hatch quickly. When two feathers appear, the plantings are thinned out.
Obtaining turnips from sets
Growing onions from sets is the most common method not only for the Urals, but also for other regions of Russia.
Preparation of planting material
To make the onion sick less, the sets need to be prepared. A month before planting in the ground, which is the end of April in the Urals, the seedlings are placed in a warm room for warming up - freezing. This is necessary to prevent bolting. A good place for sowing is a cabinet in the kitchen. Planting material is scattered in one layer into a box.
Before planting, the sets are calibrated, that is, selected by size, focusing on diameter:
- Bulbs smaller than a centimeter are suitable for earlier sowing.
- The best material for obtaining onions is considered to be 1-2 cm bulbs.
- A larger set is called a sample. Such planting material will not provide you with onion heads, since, most likely, it will go into the shoot.
After sorting, the sets are soaked for two days in an ash solution, adding a little fertilizer so that the onions are saturated with moisture. Pests and pathogens can overwinter on onion sets. To prevent them from multiplying during onion cultivation and infecting neighboring plants and soil, the sets must be disinfected. You can use a dark solution of potassium permanganate. The planting material is kept in it for two hours, then washed in clean water.
For a liter of water you need 1 tablespoon. This is an excellent prevention against onion fly. The sets do not need to be washed.
Planting sets
Seedlings are planted in the Urals when the soil warms up to +12 degrees. Higher soil temperatures can cause onions to bolt. The planting material is placed (not pressed!) into a groove in moist soil at a distance of 15-20 cm; depending on the variety, the distance may be greater. Look at the photo of how a vegetable grower in the Urals does this.
After this, the plantings are covered with earth. It is important that the tail of the onion set sticks out a little. The bed is rolled with a roller so that the onion adheres tightly to the soil. Watering is required. After a few days, the first shoots appear.
Preparing and planting seedlings:
Winter onion sets - a sensation or not
At all times, gardeners experiment. As you know, in the southern regions of Russia onions and garlic are grown using the winter method. Why not try this technique in the Urals? Some vegetable growers managed to find a middle ground and obtained marketable onions from sets planted before winter. Work begins in mid-October, before the ground freezes.
Before planting, small seedlings are selected. It is very difficult to preserve in winter. The planting material is not soaked and is planted dry. The grooves are made at a distance of 20 cm, the bulbs are placed in moist soil in increments of about 8 cm. The grooves are filled with soil. To prevent plantings in the Urals from freezing, a layer of dry compost, humus, sawdust is poured onto the bed, and straw is placed on top.
In the spring, as soon as the soil begins to thaw, the cover is removed. Onions sprout quickly.
Onion care
Regardless of how onions are grown in the Urals, care for the plantings is carried out in the same way.
Preparing the beds
The rules of agricultural technology require the use of crop rotation. The onion can be returned to its original place only after two years. The best vegetable predecessors are cucumber, potatoes, legumes, cabbage, carrots, and dill.
Some gardeners in the Urals plant onions in the same bed with carrots. The row spacing is made wider. Look how it looks in the photo. What are the advantages of such a neighborhood? The onion fly does not like the smell of carrots, and the carrot fly is repelled by the aroma of onions.
Onions produce a good harvest on fertile, loose soils with a neutral or slightly acidic environment. Before digging, add humus, compost or peat, and wood ash. You can use superphosphate or nitroammophos (1 tablespoon each). You need to dig the soil to a shallow depth.
The bed needs to be leveled, compacted and watered with a solution of copper sulfate (one large spoon per bucket of water). Two liters of solution will be required per square. For two days, the ridge is covered with film so that the destruction of existing pests and disease spores is more effective.
Watering, loosening
Onions require watering in the first half of the growing season. If it rains, the amount of water is reduced. In the heat of May and the first ten days of June, up to 10 liters of water are needed per square meter, watered after 7 days. In June, water every 8-10 days. In July, the amount of watering is reduced. Before harvesting, watering is stopped three weeks before harvesting.
Afterwards, surface loosening is carried out. The beds should not be allowed to become overgrown weedsso as not to provoke fungal diseases.
Feeding
During the growing season, onions in the Urals, grown by seeds or sets, are fed 2-3 times. Mullein and nettle infusion can be used as nutritional compositions.
To prevent powdery mildew, plants can be treated with a solution of copper sulfate, adding diluted laundry soap for better adhesion of the solution. Gardeners in the Urals spill onions with salt water: 100 grams of salt per bucket of water. This type of watering helps get rid of the onion fly larvae that live on the bottom.
Conclusion
Growing onions in the Urals in different ways is not only interesting, but also useful. You can get a harvest of a valuable product that is safe. After all, gardeners, unlike industrial cultivation, do not use any chemicals.
Onions can be used until the new harvest, the main thing is to collect them on time, dry them and put them in a dry place for storage.
