Secrets of growing and caring for batun onions

Batun onion is a common perennial plant. It is unpretentious in care and painlessly tolerates prolonged frosts. In most summer cottages, there are always beds with this plant. Even a novice gardener who does not have experience in vegetable growing can sow batun onions without fear for the harvest, growing and caring for it will not require much effort and cost.

Growing from seeds

Batun onions are grown exclusively to obtain green leaves. Its feathers are the same fistulous, but larger and longer, with proper care they can reach 35-42 cm in length and 1.5-2.5 cm in circumference. The tramp does not form, like onions, a real, developed head; a so-called false bulb is formed in the soil - a slight thickening. Therefore, it is not suitable for winter storage.

Although in the same place, the batun can be grown up to 8-11 years. However, the highest productivity is observed during the first 3-4 years after sowing. This is due to the fact that one plant per season can form several daughter bulbs, as a result of which the crops become unnecessarily thickened and the quality of the harvest is significantly reduced.

Batun onions are grown from seeds or by dividing a bush. It is not difficult to independently collect the seed for future planting, since the adult plant throws out several arrows. Of these, choose one or two of the largest and leave to ripen, and the rest are cut off.

Landing

The onion is a light-loving plant, so the beds should be organized in open, well-lit places. Before planting, the earth is deeply dug up, the rhizomes of perennial weeds are removed and 4-6 kg of rotted manure, 7-9 g of ammonium nitrate, 8-11 g of superphosphate, 5-7 g of potassium salts are added per sq. m. Batun loves moist nutritious soil. Tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, and all legumes are good predecessors.

With an overly thickened sowing, seedlings are thinned out at a distance of 6-9 cm. From the second week of July, but not later, all the leaves are cut off above the false stem, leaving young light green feathers. By September, the leaves will fully recover; during this period, it is not recommended to cut them off. For the winter, beds with feathers are left. Cleaning of dried leaves is carried out in the second year, simply by raking them with a rake. After 25-32 days, the first crop can be harvested. And after 55-65 days, cut off all the foliage again. In the next 2-3 years, similar activities are carried out. Then the bulbs are dug up together with a clod of earth and transplanted to another place or left for forcing. Often grown are early-ripening varieties "Aprelsky", "Saladny 35" and late-ripening "Maisky", which is not afraid of even frosty, snowless winters. The leaves of "April" are used in the first half of May, when they grow up to 50 cm.

Agrotechnics

Successful cultivation of batuna onions is guaranteed only with sufficient soil moisture, since this type of onion is extremely sensitive to a lack of moisture, and it tolerates its excess well. In dry areas, especially with sandy soil, the batun grows slowly, forming fibrous, coarse and very bitter feathers and quickly sprouting round, flower stems.On moisture-consuming, moist soils, provided with sufficient nutrients, onion leaves will be tender, with a slight bitterness.

Since the cultivation of a batun is advisable only for the sake of green feathers, the plantings should be rejuvenated annually. That is, dig up powerful, two- and three-year-old plants, which eventually form 5-7 arrows. Such shrubs are used in greenhouses, hotbeds, film shelters of a simple design, or even on a windowsill in room conditions for forcing. Since this type of onion is optimal for the Russian climate, the temperature during forcing can be as low as 10-13 ° C. Even left in the beds, it will calmly endure the highest winter frosts. Germination of new feathers in spring begins almost as soon as the soil thaws. At the same time, the feathers withstand short-term, return frosts up to -4-7 ° C. Therefore, you can sow the seed as soon as the soil allows. Annual plants are sown in early spring, and perennials are sown closer to the beginning of summer or autumn, then it manages to germinate before frost. Onions sown in the fall immediately begin to grow greens in the spring when the snow melts and the ground thaws.

Like regular onions, the batun requires a clean planting. Regular loosening and removal of weeds will allow you to maintain sufficient soil moisture and get a better crop for 6-7 years without changing the planting site. When growing onions from seeds, it is necessary to timely apply organic and mineral fertilizers, since during the growing season the plant consumes nutrients from the soil very intensively. Since the land is abundantly enriched before planting, top dressing is applied only in the second year. The first time is fertilized in early spring, mainly with organic matter - mullein, infusion of bird droppings or humus. Subsequent dressing is carried out with mineral fertilizers, without the introduction of nitrogen-containing components.

Video "Batun onion"

The video shows how much the batun onion has grown since sowing. Germination, weight of one plant, yield.