Secrets and rules of growing onion seedlings from seeds

One of the useful plants that is often grown in gardens and home gardens is onion. It is added with great pleasure to all types of salads. Most often, gardeners grow onion seedlings from seeds, and only then transplant them into the ground. In this article, we will look at how to properly grow onion seedlings from seeds.

Content

1 General rules
2 Pros of growing through seedlings
3 Growing seedlings
4 Landing in the ground
5 Care
- 5.1 Video "Growing onions from seeds in one season"

General rules

Many people think that growing onion seedlings from seeds is a very difficult and troublesome process. But in fact, you just need to know and follow the basic rules, and you will succeed.

Growing onions in seedlings is considered one of the best, since this method allows you to grow an excellent harvest. You can even get onion seedlings at home. You only need the following components:

selected onion seeds;
pre-prepared soil;
capacity. It is best to take flower pots or boxes;
polyethylene film.

In order to grow a good harvest, you need to follow several recommendations that are suitable for growing any type of onion seedlings.

General rules for growing onions through seedlings:

for these purposes, semi-sharp and sweet varieties of onions are most suitable;
sowing seeds for seedlings is usually carried out at the end of February. Although you can find information that this process is carried out at the beginning of spring;
before sowing, the seeds must be soaked for 8-10 hours in warm water (its temperature should be in the range of 30-35 ° C);
then the seed must be dried;
remember that the planting rate is 20 g per m2. The planted seeds can be covered with plastic wrap on top to create a more favorable germination climate. This film must be removed periodically to provide the seeds with fresh air;
after the seeds have been planted, they should be watered and weeded;
when the seedlings are ready (about two months after planting), they are planted in the ground at a permanent place of growth;
before planting in the ground, the root system and the top of the stem of young seedlings are slightly pruned.

In this section, only the basic rules are given, applying which you can grow any type and variety of onions. But it should be remembered that each plant variety has its own agrotechnical characteristics, which must be taken into account when growing onions through seedlings.... These requirements can usually be found on the back of a purchased seed package. In addition, you can consult a more experienced gardener on this matter.

Pros of growing through seedlings

Growing onion seedlings has many advantages over other methods. The main and indisputable advantage of this method is that it is possible to grow onions through seedlings even in regions with a not very suitable climate (for example, in the northern regions of the country) and even get solid bulbs from an annual plant.

Also, a rather significant advantage of this method is its cost-effectiveness. Often the method of growing onions through seedlings is used in areas where a small planting area is available. Even in small areas, using the method of growing onion seedlings, a fairly large amount of harvest can be harvested. When using the seedling method, 3-4 times less seeds are spent than with direct cultivation, but the yield is always better.

Experienced gardeners in this way recommend growing the following small-sized peninsular onion varieties: Krasnodar 35, Kaba, Karatalsky and many others. These varieties produce large bulbs already in the first year. Seeds of the following varieties also germinate well in this way: Lyubchik, Veselka, Globus, Mavka, Amphora, Candy F1, Sterling F1, Daytona F1, Exhibishen F1, Copra F1.

Another advantage of the method of obtaining onion seedlings is the fact that it does not require large manipulations, it is very economical in terms of the expenditure of physical forces, and the efficiency is much higher than when growing onions from sets.

The use of this technique allows you to prevent the shooting of the plant, which contributes to a better ripening of the bulbs themselves. After the crop has been harvested, such bulbs do not germinate or rot for 9 months, which makes them very beneficial for storage.

All stages of this process can be easily carried out at home, and you will always have fresh onions for the festive table.

Growing seedlings

We have given the basic rules for growing onion seedlings above. In this section, we will dwell in more detail on the technology of growing onion seeds for seedlings.

Growing seedlings in containers

Sowing seeds, as noted earlier, is carried out either in boxes or in pots.

The technology of planting seeds in boxes (or other containers):

onion seed is planted at a distance of 4 to 6 cm between rows;
on average, seed consumption depends on the species and ranges from 15 to 20 g per m2²;
then the boxes should be placed in a room where the air temperature will fluctuate around + 18-25 ° С;
when the first shoots appear, the temperature indicator will need to be reduced to + 14–16 ° С. This temperature will prevent the seedlings from pulling out;
during the germination period, seedlings need to be fed with fertilizers (an infusion of chicken manure diluted to 1:10 is very good for this purpose).

The germination period lasts on average about 50-60 days. During this time period, the seedlings should form three or four true leaves.

Growing seedlings in a greenhouse

You can grow onion seedlings not only in any container, but also in greenhouses.

Technology for growing seedlings in a greenhouse:

first you need to prepare a steam bed. To do this, they put biofuel as a basis, and cover it with a 10 cm layer of earth on top. This layer thickness will keep the heat in the garden bed. On top of this soil, a specially prepared greenhouse soil is poured onto the garden bed. Greenhouse soil can be prepared as follows: one part - rotted sawdust, 4 parts - greenhouse humus, one part - peat chips and 4 parts - sod land. Then add one teaspoon of superphosphate, ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate to a bucket of the prepared mixture, as well as half a glass of wood ash. It is impossible to bring land into such a bed in which onion crops previously grew;
the bed should be well lit, so it is best to place it near windows;
before sowing seeds, they should be prepared: soak, dry, calibrate and treat with microelements. It is imperative to disinfect them first;
when sowing in the ground between seeds, as well as when planting in boxes, the distance should be about 5 cm, and between the seeds themselves - 1 cm. Planting depth - 1-1.5 cm;
after planting the seeds, sprinkle them with humus on top;
after that, the rows are carefully watered from a small watering can with a sieve with warm water;
then the surface of the soil should be rolled up and mulched with peat chips. Its layer should be 1 cm thick.

For effective germination of onion seeds, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the greenhouse in the range of + 18-20 ° C. This temperature should be kept for a couple of weeks. Under these conditions, the first shoots will appear in two weeks.As soon as you see the first sprouts, the air temperature in the greenhouse should be lowered to + 10-11 ° С for 4-5 days, and then the temperature can be increased to + 15-16 ° С in the daytime, and at night - up to + 10- 12 ° C. In case of severe night frosts, the greenhouse can be covered with insulating material from above. This will help prevent the seedlings from pulling out. Also during this period, airing of the greenhouse is allowed.

When the seedlings are healthy and strong, and in warm weather, it is allowed to periodically remove the film from the greenhouse to prepare and harden the onions for growing in the open field.

Usually onion seedlings are grown without picking. If it is necessary to thin it out, the distance between neighboring plants should be at least 1.5 cm and no more than 2 cm.

Two weeks before planting seedlings in the ground, they are placed in conditions of a shortened daylight hours (less than 10-12 hours). This will speed up the ripening process of the bulbs. During the same period, every 2 or 3 days, the seedlings are watered and fertilized with nitrophos (1.5 tablespoons of the substance are added to a bucket of water). Before planting onions in the evening, it must be watered very well.

Video "Sowing onions for seedlings"

In this video, we are talking about how to sow onions for seedlings in a container: soil preparation, fertilization, feeding, care, sowing different varieties of onions.

Landing in the ground

After the grown onions in seedlings in a box or in a greenhouse have reached the age of 55 or 60 days, they are transplanted into open ground. Early or late planting can have a very negative effect on the adaptive capacity of plants. If the seedlings grew in a greenhouse, then they should be planted with a small earthen clod.

Stages of planting seedlings in the ground:

it is necessary to sort the seedlings. Underdeveloped and damaged seedlings are not planted;
the roots and leaves are cut off by about 1/3;
then they are dipped in a mash made from mullein and clay.

Direct disembarkation is carried out only in warm and dry weather. Usually, the above manipulations are carried out in mid-April. The bed is prepared in the form of a cut furrow. Before planting seedlings, all the beds are well watered.

Seedlings are deepened into the ground by 2 cm (1 cm more than before you planted seeds in a box or pot). The distance between the rows should be about 50-55 cm. The average plant density is 550 pcs. by 10 m²... Then the planted plants need to be watered abundantly (for 40 seedlings, 8-10 liters of water). After that, the earth is compacted to remove internal voids, and then mulch. Loosening is possible only three days after disembarkation.

Care

If you have carried out all the above steps correctly, then the seedlings will quickly take root and grow. Caring for plants after planting in open ground is reduced to the following manipulations:

feeding onions is carried out two weeks after planting the seedlings. You need to feed with poultry droppings or mullein solution (1:10). 25 g of urea is added to one bucket of this infusion. Top dressing is carried out in such a way that 10 liters of the resulting solution went to fertilize 10 m of plantings;
the second feeding is carried out with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in mid-June;
periodic weeding of plants from weeds;
watering as needed;
do not forget to loosen the soil from time to time.

Using the seedling method for growing onions will allow you to get a good harvest.

Video "Growing onions from seeds in one season"

In this video, detailed tips for growing onions from seeds. By following these tips, you should be able to harvest a good harvest of onions that same year.