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Multi-tiered onions are a frost-resistant, unpretentious crop that is grown for greens and small bulbs. Used in salads and for pickling. Plants can exist in one place for a long time and require regular watering. They are resistant to most diseases and pests.
What is a multi-tiered bow
Multi-tiered onion is a perennial crop from the Allioideae subfamily. This is a herbaceous plant that has many other names:
- horned bow;
- viviparous;
- walking;
- Egyptian;
- Canadian.
The culture comes from China - it was from there that it came to European countries and spread throughout the world. It has an unusual appearance. It is used mainly not for decorative purposes, but for food, like the usual onion varieties.
Multi-tiered onions produce flower stalks-arrows with a height of 60 cm to 1 m. Moreover, 1, 2 or 3 arrows are formed in one season.At the top there are bulbous heads - bulbs, the average weight of which is 15-25 g. They grow in tiers. The name of the species is associated with this structural feature.
Large heads with a diameter of up to 3 cm appear in the lowest tier; small fruits are formed in larger quantities on the upper rows. The color of the bulbs ranges from yellow and brown to purple, depending on the variety. The root system is represented by an underground wide tuber (also bulbous in shape).
Varieties of multi-tiered onions
The culture has several varieties. The most popular of them are:
- Chelyabinsk is a productive variety that produces almost 3.5 kg of greenery per square meter and up to 1 kg of the bulbs themselves. Greens contain a lot of vitamin C (70 mg per 100 g).
- Memory - during the season it produces up to 4 kg of greens and up to 750 g of bulbs. The taste is pleasantly sweet, spicy, the feathers are crispy.
- Likova produces strong, crispy onions, suitable for pickling. The color is brown-red or purple. The green harvest is up to 4 kg per square meter.
Advantages and disadvantages
Multi-tiered onions have an interesting appearance and pleasant taste. The plant is unpretentious and frost-resistant, so most varieties can be grown even in the Urals and Siberia.
Pros:
- can be planted in the same place;
- greens are collected throughout the season;
- high productivity;
- winter hardiness up to -40 degrees;
- disease resistance;
- early ripening.
Minuses:
- sensitive to weeds;
- needs regular watering;
- The heads are small; greens are often used for food.
Growing multi-tiered onions in open ground
Multi-tiered onions can be grown in most regions of Russia. The rules for planting and care are simple, but there are several features.The basic rules of agricultural technology are described below.
Landing dates
The crop can be grown in three periods:
- Late August – early September. At this moment, the seeds are collected (or purchased) and planted in open ground.
- Early spring – beginning, mid-March.
- It is also possible to plant multi-tiered onions before winter. In the middle zone this is done at the end of October, in the southern regions - closer to the last days of November, when during the day the temperature will not be higher than 5-7 degrees Celsius.
You can try to plan winter sowing in other regions by preparing mulch for cover in advance.
Site selection and soil preparation
The place for planting multi-tiered onions should be:
- open (no shadow);
- dry without stagnant moisture (not lowland);
- protected from draft winds if possible.
The site is prepared in advance in the fall or spring. The soil is dug up and organic matter is added - compost or humus in the amount of 5-7 kg per 1 m2. If the soil is clayey, sand or sawdust 500-800 g is also covered over the same area.
Preparation of planting material
Planting material is pre-prepared. When planting bulbs, the tuber is divided into several parts. Sorted by size. For long-term cultivation, the largest fragments are selected. The remaining fractions are planted together.
Planting scheme
Planting multi-tiered onions is easy to do, but there are some secrets here. They are related to the depth of seed placement and the interval between seedlings.
Bulb size | Depth, cm | Interval, cm |
Large | 8-10 | 25-30 |
Average | 8 | 8-10 |
Small | 5 | 6 |
Large bulbs are planted in furrows up to 10 cm deep
Caring for multi-tiered onions
Care is easy, since the culture is unpretentious. It is worth considering that watering should be regular. Periodically, the onions are fed, weeded and loosened.If the variety is grown as a perennial, pruning must be done for the winter. At the end of October, the green feathers are removed, and if the bulb has sprouted new shoots at this time, they are no longer touched, but simply laid on the surface and covered with mulch.
Watering
Multi-tiered onions need watering. If there is a drought, water is given 3-4 times a week. It should be moistened until harvesting, since the rhizomes are not harvested anyway (unlike onions). It is better to stand the water in advance so that it is not cold.
Top dressing
Fertilizers for multi-tiered onions are applied annually. In April they give urea (40-50 g per 1 m2), in June - superphosphate (50 g) and potassium salt (45 g) for the same area. In the fall, you can repeat the same fertilizing, eliminating nitrogen compounds.
Weeding and loosening
When growing Egyptian onions, do not forget about weeding and loosening. Weeds take away water and nutrients and attract pests, which inevitably affects crop yields. Therefore, weeding is carried out 2-3 times a month, monitoring the appearance of foreign plants.
Loosening the soil must be done regularly - preferably 1-2 days after watering or rain. Thanks to this, the soil will not be compressed, and oxygen will flow to the roots. To make the work easier, it is recommended to lay straw, sawdust or other mulch next to the plantings.
Garter
A multi-tiered bow requires a garter, since the bulbs are heavy and the arrows begin to bend towards the ground. Therefore, wooden pegs or other supports are installed near the plantings. The garter is done as the bulbs increase in size. It is worth keeping in mind that this procedure is not necessary, for example, if the crop is grown only for greens.
Pest and disease control
With proper care, multi-tiered onions are rarely affected by diseases. But sometimes the crop can suffer from peronosporosis. The fungus affects the roots, bulbs and feathers (they begin to turn yellow). For prevention and treatment, treatments are carried out with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture or another fungicide.
The most dangerous pest is the onion fly. She lays her eggs near the bulbs or between the feathers. Insecticides used for control:
- "Fitoverm";
- "Ripcord";
- "Diazinon";
- "Cypermethrin";
- "Thiamethoxam".
Insecticides and folk remedies are used to combat onion flies.
As a last resort, you can use folk remedies, for example, an infusion of chili peppers, wormwood, dandelions, or a decoction of potato or tomato tops.
How multi-tiered onions propagate
Multi-tiered onions can be propagated in three ways:
- Using underground tubers (rhizome division).
- Using air bulbs.
- Seeds for seedlings
In the first case, the underground part of a plant that is at least three years old is dug up (this can be done at any time before the end of August), shaken off the soil and divided into several copies with a knife. Each division should have 1-2 developed roots. They are planted on fertile soil, to a depth of 10 cm, periodically watered, and mulched for the winter.
Aerial bulbs are harvested in the second half of summer or early autumn. They are planted immediately after collection on previously prepared soil. The embedment depth in this case is less - 5-6 cm.
The seedling method of growing multi-tiered onions is practiced in regions with cold spring. Seeds are collected independently or purchased in advance.In mid-March, they are pickled in potassium permanganate, buried 1 cm and grown under film at room temperature. In mid-May or a little later they are transplanted into open ground.
In the south, winter sowing of seeds is practiced. In this case, multi-tiered onions should be planted in the fall, as soon as the soil temperature reaches +3 °C. The seeds are placed in furrows to a depth of 3-4 cm, covered with soil and mulched for the winter. Since not all planting material will sprout, it is taken with a reserve (25% more than usual).
Harvest and storage
The leaves of multi-tiered onions are tubular, dark green in color, and have a pungent taste. They are used in salad. The bulbs themselves are used to prepare a marinade for home canning. The crop is perennial; in the first year of planting, cuttings of greenery are done twice, and from the second season the procedure is carried out regularly. Up to 3.5 kg of greenery is harvested per square meter of plantings.
When growing Egyptian onions, the harvest can be harvested literally 2.5 weeks after sowing. The arrows are cut off almost to the base and used for food. As for the bulbs themselves, depending on the variety, they ripen by the beginning or end of August. Productivity is about 1 kg per 1 m2.
Root crops of multi-tiered onions are stored in a refrigerator, cellar or other room at a temperature of -3 to +2 degrees, humidity 75%. In such conditions they normally lie for three months. If stored in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator, it will last up to two months. The greens can also be chopped, placed in sealed bags and put in the freezer - in this form they will be stored all winter.
Greenery yield – up to 4 kg per square meter
Conclusion
Multi-tiered onions can be grown almost anywhere. This is an interesting variety that produces a lot of greenery. If you do pre-winter sowing, the first arrows will appear in April. In the future, they can be collected throughout the season until the first frost.
