When to remove onions from the garden for storage
Content:
Onions have been known to mankind for their benefits since ancient times. The high content of useful vitamins and minerals makes the vegetable unique. Because of this, doctors recommend using onions quite often. The active elements that make up it have antimicrobial and antiviral effects. Vegetable phytoncides have the ability to destroy fungal spores and pathogenic bacteria. The onion crop should be harvested at a specific time so that the vegetables can survive the winter as long as possible. Unripe onions will rot, overripe ones will also be poorly stored, and new shoots will appear on it.
When to harvest certain types of onions
Onions such as onions, shallots and batun will ripen in 2-3 months, but harvest will vary depending on climate and variety. It will be an advantage if by the time the vegetables are harvested, they are fully ripe, since by this period they will be filled with useful microelements and their growth will stop. But, if the onion has already reached maturity, and you have to postpone its assembly, then you need to remember that it will gradually lose its useful qualities.
External signs of onion readiness for harvest
There are certain changes in the plant that indicate that it should already be removed:
The onion tops lie down and turn yellow;
Bulbous scales, which are outside, acquire a varietal color;
The onion neck becomes thinner and dries up;
The springiness of the vegetable's feathers becomes low.
To remove the onion, it will be enough that 60% of the vegetables are on the ground. In cool summer seasons, lodging may occur later than the specified standard times. If the summer is still cold, then once every 5 days it is worth digging out one vegetable and inspecting the scales. If it is dry and easy to remove, then you can start harvesting.
With premature harvesting, a large amount of liquid accumulates in the bulbs, so it can begin to rot and it will be necessary to carry out prolonged drying. In this case, the vegetable will not have enough nutrients. With green feathers, the onions are usually not harvested.
If the harvest is later than the time, the plant will begin to form new roots, and this will consume a lot of energy, and the taste quality of the vegetable will also decrease. The scales on the outside begin to crack, so the onion cannot be stored for a long time.
When to harvest onions in the Urals, Siberia and the Moscow region. Onion harvesting by region
Onions, planted with sets, ripen in about 2.5-3 months
When planting spring onions in the spring in warm soil, it will ripen:
In the south of the Russian Federation or Ukraine, the ripening period will fall on the last days of July; onions are planted in these regions on average in mid-April. Hot summer weather damages onion heads as much as rainy ones. In extreme heat, when the soil is very hot, vegetables can be cooked. If not many plants are planted, then they can be covered with tulle or lutrasil.
In the central regions and Belarus, onions are usually planted in early May and harvested in early August.
In the Moscow region, vegetables are harvested from the last days of July to mid-August.
In the north and the Urals, planting is carried out in mid-May, harvesting on 15 August. It often rains in the Urals and Siberia, so harvest times may vary.The most important thing is to collect vegetables no later than the first days of September, since in these regions the cold snap begins faster.
Weather conditions in Ukraine are similar to those of Krasnodar, where summers are hot and autumn is dry. The fruits are harvested already in July, so it can be planted with seeds, not with sowing. Marketable crops are harvested in late August, if nigella is sown, then in April.
Attention: When harvesting vegetables in rainy weather, you need to take preventive measures against the occurrence of various diseases, you need to dry the onion heads about 2 aces in an electric dryer at a temperature of 55 degrees or on the stove.
The times indicated also apply to varieties such as:
Exibition;
Shallot;
Lorea and others.
Winter onions are gaining more and more popularity among gardeners. When planting, take small and weak sevkovy bulbs.
Chernushka seed and strong sets are not considered suitable for this method. This is because the autumn planting of winter onions will not be possible if the vegetable develops arrows that will not allow it to survive the winter. Small bulbs have a very high content of useful elements, but they are not enough to shoot arrows; when planted in spring or winter, on the contrary, they have enough strength to grow fully. But, nevertheless, there is such a paradox that poor seed, which is used in the fall, is considered the most valuable compared to others. A sevok hiding under dry foliage, sawdust or other materials is able to survive the winter safely. In warm weather, vegetables are cared for in the same way as regular onions.
Timing of harvesting onions planted in winter
The collection of winter onions begins when most vegetables are lodged and they look at the condition of the bulbous scales.
The winter variety has many advantages:
Full exploitation of not quite high-quality seed material;
Quick ripening of the crop compared to other varieties;
After harvesting the fruits, the planting area is freed up for other plants.
But weather conditions can significantly change the plans of any gardener.
When to harvest shallots
This variety ripens faster than onion. Before harvesting, the plants are collectively laid down on the ground. Onions are harvested, focusing on the ripening time:
Early ripening vegetables are harvested from mid-July.
Medium-ripening or medium-late-ripening ones are harvested from the last days of July to the first days of the last summer month.
Harvesting leeks
This variety is not afraid of frost, it can withstand temperatures down to -7 ̊С. Usually the plant is left for a longer time so that it has time to gain a good mass. Most often, onions are harvested in October. Yellow foliage in this variety should not be expected. When picking a vegetable in cloudy weather, the onion legs are heated at +50 ̊ C, this helps to extend the shelf life of the vegetable.
Collecting onions according to the lunar calendar
It is worth harvesting when the moon is waning, located in the constellation Capricorn or Aquarius. When picking fruits in the constellation of Cancer, vegetables can become watery.
Most suitable dates for harvesting according to the lunar calendar 2019:
17-19, 22, 2Z, 27-29 July;
August 16, 18, 21, 22;
September 8, 9, 18, 19, 20, 21;
Dig the sevkovy onions on August 2-4;
Chernushka onions are harvested for sowing on August 11-13.
How to properly harvest onions
Harvest vegetables slightly dried. 10 days before harvesting, onions stop irrigation. The main thing is not to injure the bottom of the onion when harvesting it from the soil, so it will be stored longer. When planting a vegetable crop in compacted soil, it is best to dig up the vegetable, since with a simple pulling the bottom of the onion opens. If the soil is loose, then such subtleties should not be observed.
Important: You can also crush the tops with your own hands a couple of weeks before harvesting. This is to help the bulbs fill up faster.If the summer is rainy, then it is possible that the harvest will be postponed, since with high soil moisture, the fruits grow longer.
Under these conditions, you can try mowing the feathers of vegetables to ripen them faster. But this method can lead to rotting of the bulbs, since a large amount of juice remains in them.
A more energy-intensive way is to shorten the root system of the bulbs in a depression about 5 cm below the vegetable or slightly raise it.
In each option, the onion feeding processes are upset, and ripening and drying accelerates its pace. You can use one of two options to help your plants grow faster.