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Onions are a universal vegetable crop that any family will want to have in their garden, because, in addition to being added as a seasoning to any dish, it also serves as an excellent medicine for many diseases. And caring for it is still not as difficult as caring for the same peppers or tomatoes. Onions are quite unpretentious and also cold-resistant crops. But still, in order to get a really good harvest, which will also be stored for a long time, you need to know its basic care requirements and provide the onion with all the conditions for full development and ripening.
It is often believed that onions do not need anything at all after planting, except for occasional watering. But it is not so. Onion fertilizers can help you grow good, large onions, especially in some soil types, but the key is not to overdo it. Onion care must be approached comprehensively, taking into account all the nuances.
General care requirements for onions
Like many other crops, it is important for onions to initially create conditions, without which its growth and development will be limited.
Light and warmth
First of all, it is necessary to take into account that onions are an exclusively light-loving plant. No additional measures will help if it is planted in even the slightest shade.In this case, half as many leaves are formed, which consequently affects the size of the developing bulb.
As for temperature, on the one hand, onions, being a cold-resistant plant, tolerate even the lowest temperatures well, although the optimal conditions for the growth of its leaves are + 18 ° C - + 20 ° C. On the other hand, gardeners often do not take into account the fact that during the period of ripening and formation of bulbs, it is desirable that the temperature rise to 27°C - 30°C. Unfortunately, such temperatures are not always observed in the northern regions, so it is more profitable to plant onions there on high ridges, which have the opportunity to warm up well in the sun. If the actual temperature conditions do not meet the requirements of the crop, the bulbs will not be able to ripen to their maximum size, even with ideal feeding. This fact must be taken into account so as not to overdo it with fertilizer application.
How to fertilize the soil for planting onions
Perhaps, it is for growing onions that preliminary soil preparation is of priority importance. It is important both from the point of view of introducing a sufficient amount of mineral elements into the soil, and because the soil should be as free as possible from weed. It is especially important to free the soil from weeds when growing nigella onions.
bed under preparations for planting onions begin since the fall. The fact is that for good plant development, a correctly selected and filled bed will account for more than 50% of success.For example, the crop is quite demanding regarding the content of basic nutrients in the soil, but adding fresh manure to the onions is not recommended, since it can lead to the growth of various diseases. Therefore, it is recommended to apply manure to the predecessor crop of onion. Cucumbers, different types of cabbage, as well as legumes: peas, beans, lentils are best suited as such.
Onions prefer light loams or sandy loams with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. It does not tolerate acidic soils, so many of the soddy-podzolic and peat soils of the middle zone must be additionally limed before planting.
If you are not going to plant onions before winter, then it is best to add organic fertilizers to the ground when preparing the bed in the fall - 1 bucket of compost or humus per 1 square meter. Otherwise, when preparing the land in the autumn, it is better to apply mineral fertilizers to it. It should be taken into account that onions are sensitive to increased concentrations of salts in the soil solution. Therefore, mineral fertilizers for onions should be applied in medium doses:
- urea - 10 g per square meter. meter,
- superphosphate – 25-30 g per square meter. meter,
- potassium chloride – 15-20 g per square meter. meter.
To disinfect the soil, it is spilled with a solution of copper sulfate (15 g per 10 liters of water). This amount is enough to process approximately 5 square meters. meters of beds. Treatment with copper sulfate is carried out one day before adding the main complex of nutrients.
In autumn, you can also combine the use of organic matter and mineral fertilizers for feeding onions. In this case, per sq. per meter, 5 kg of humus is added in combination with 35 grams of granulated superphosphate.
Obtaining turnips from nigella onions
Obtaining marketable bulbs from nigella onions is not often used by gardeners, since this growing method is too long in time - it usually takes two years to obtain a full harvest. But it allows you to save on planting material, and is economically beneficial when growing large volumes of onions.
Nigella seeds or onions are sown either in early spring or before winter. Before winter, it is better to sow dry seeds in slightly frozen soil, and in early spring it is advisable to pre-soak them in a solution of microelements for 8-10 hours. Usually the soil is filled with mineral fertilizers in the above doses in the fall - in this case, in the first year of development of the bulb sets, they do not need additional fertilizing.
By the end of summer, a full-fledged set is formed from the nigella onion, which can be used both for sowing next year in the spring (diameter 1-3 cm) and for forcing greens (diameter more than 3 cm). And the smallest bulbs (up to 1 cm in diameter) are best planted before winter, around October. Before planting, they are soaked for several hours in a saturated salt solution (1 kg of salt per 5 liters of water), and then thoroughly washed in running water. This procedure helps to disinfect planting material from pest eggs and fungal spores. Apart from a good filling of the soil with fertilizers, no additional fertilizing is usually done before winter.
If you take a glass of onion peel, pour it with a liter of boiling water, let it sit for two days and dilute it twice with water, then you have an excellent fertilizer for tomatoes or cucumbers for spraying on the leaves.
Feeding onion sets
Most often, to obtain good and large bulbs, the method of sowing sets in the spring is used. Pre-winter sowing of small bulbs has already been discussed above. Preparing onion sets for sowing is similar to the procedure described above, but, in addition to processing in salt, after winter storage it is advisable to soak the onion for half an hour in hot (+45°C-+50°C) water so that it does not go to waste. In the spring, it also makes sense to soak the seedlings for an additional few hours in a solution of microelements or in an infusion of manure (one part of the manure is dissolved in six parts of water) to speed up germination and further development.
When planting onions in the ground, no additional fertilizers are used. Prepared sets are usually planted in April or May, depending on the region.
It is usually customary to focus on the blossoming of birch leaves - these times are considered optimal for planting sets.
The first feeding of onions is carried out approximately a week or two after emergence. You can aim for onion feathers to reach a length of 10-15 cm. During this period, for good development, onions most need nitrogen and phosphorus. If phosphorus was added to the onion bed in the fall, then there is no need to use it at this stage.
To fertilize with nitrogen, you can use both mineral and organic fertilizers, as well as a mixture of them. Choose from the following options what suits you best:
- 10 grams of ammonium nitrate are diluted in 10 liters of water; the resulting solution is enough to water two square meters of beds.
- Water is added to the manure in a ratio of 1:10 and left for about a week. After this, 1 part of the resulting solution is poured with 5 parts of water, and this liquid is used to water the onion plantings between the rows. Liquid consumption is the same as for normal watering.
- When using bird droppings as fertilizer, it is diluted with water to make a working solution in a ratio of 1:25 and left for about two weeks. Then another 5 parts of water are also added and watered in the usual way.
- At home, fertilizing with humic acids, as well as preparations such as Baikal and Siyanie, has proven to work well. They contain complexes of microorganisms that begin to actively work in the soil, releasing nutrients in the most accessible form for onion development.
If you follow the program for using mineral fertilizers, then the second fertilizing should be carried out approximately a few weeks after the first and during its implementation it is necessary to focus on the formation of a large onion. This requires, first of all, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. If the soil is fertile and the leaves of the onion are rich green, then there is no need for nitrogen at this stage. On poor soils it can still be added, but priority should be given to other elements. To do this, dissolve 10 g of nitrate in 10 liters of water, add 30 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium chloride. The resulting mixture is enough to process 2 square meters. m of onion plantings.
Also at this stage it is possible to fertilize with any complex fertilizer for onions, such as Agricola, Fertik and others.
If you are a supporter of organic cultivation, then the best option would be to use herbal infusion in the form of fertilizing. To do this, any weeds are filled with water and infused for a week. One glass of the resulting liquid is diluted in a bucket of water and the onion plantings are watered with this solution.
If unfavorable signs appear (leaves turn yellow, bulb development slows down), it is necessary to carry out a third feeding when the bulbs reach 4-5 cm in diameter.
- 30 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium chloride are diluted in 10 liters of water. This solution is enough to treat 5 square meters. meters of onion plantings.
- If you take 250 g of wood ash and pour a bucket of boiling water, the resulting decoction can saturate the soil around the plantings with all the missing microelements.
Fertilizers for onions per feather
Growing onions for plumes is very popular for obtaining year-round vitamin greens at home. This is the easiest way to grow onions, which only requires compliance with temperature conditions (about +15°C) and regular watering.
Bulbs are planted in the ground at 2/3 of their size, fertilizing is carried out no more than twice during the entire growth period. The best effect will be from the use of complex fertilizers with a full range of microelements.
You just need to remember that it can increase the acidity of the soil, and its effect is mainly to increase the looseness of the soil.
Onions are grown in various ways and each of them requires its own approach to feeding. It is only important to remember that, in addition to fertilizing, onions must maintain suitable conditions for development.
