Green onions are a useful source of many dishes. Such greens not only decorate food, but also saturate the body with vitamins, especially necessary during the cold season. Onion feathers contain even more vitamin C than onions, therefore they are considered especially valuable during the period of vitamin deficiency. You can grow onions on a feather both in the greenhouse and at home, providing the owner with useful elements all year round. You just need to follow the basic rules of cultivation.
Features of green onions
Onions have been known to mankind for about 5 thousand years, and the methods of growing it, regardless of the season, are well studied. If you need to get a lot of greens at once, onions are planted in greenhouses. But a small number of feathers used as a seasoning can also be provided by an ordinary home windowsill.
Onions can be grown on windows by planting them in the ground or placing them in water. This process is not difficult, but knowing its intricacies will allow you to get a good harvest in a shorter time.
Forcing onions on a feather
Preparing for landing
Before embarking on forcing onions for herbs, you need to select suitable onions for this. They are sorted, choosing only healthy, strong and even ones. Each of them should have clean, shiny and tightly spaced scales. The top of each of the selected bulbs is cut off - about 1/4 of the total height. This procedure will significantly increase the flow of air to the growth points, which will contribute to the appearance of greenery. If you are planting bulbs that have already begun to sprout, pruning is not necessary. Soaking will also speed up the process: for this, the onions are immersed in warm (about 35-38 degrees) water for half a day.
If the onions are not going to be grown hydroponically, but in a substrate, they will also need preparation. For this, choose loose soil. The ideal would be a mixture of humus with a baking powder - vermiculite, which is previously disinfected. 8 to 10 cm of soil is placed in a pot, and then it is spilled with a saturated and hot solution of potassium permanganate. After such treatment, the ground is watered again, but with ordinary cold water.
Landing rules
On the greens, the bulbs are planted according to the bridge principle - almost close and only slightly pressing them into the ground. Between individual onions, you can leave no more than 2 cm. The bulb is placed on the ground with its bottom and slightly pressed into the ground without burying it. Excessive burial under these conditions can lead to rot. After completing such a planting, the substrate is slightly watered with lukewarm water.
If the onion will be grown hydroponically, without the use of a soil substrate, a pallet is used as a planting container. The bulbs are placed close to it, and then filled with water by a quarter. In a couple of weeks, these "plantings" will form greens suitable for cutting for food.It is important to monitor the water level in the bulb container and top up if necessary.
What time is better to plant
Typically, the bulbs develop green feathers in 2-3 weeks. To constantly have them on the table, in greenhouses or at home, onions are planted on greens from mid-autumn to April, in late spring and summer, switching to growing onions in the garden. This planting principle allows you to provide the kitchen with herbs throughout the year.
For better development of greens, the container with the bulbs after planting should be kept warm for about a week (about 25-30 degrees). When the feathers have grown by about a couple of centimeters, the container is transferred to a cool place - on a balcony or in another unheated, but frost-free room. After that, the rate of development of plantings will depend on the temperature of the air and water with which they are watered.
Growing onions on a feather at home
Onions develop best in warmth - about 18-22 degrees, as well as when watered with sufficiently warm (about 20-25 degrees) water. It must be watered up to twice a week. Top dressing when planting onions on greens in this case will not be required - the feathers scoop all the substances necessary for growth from the bulbs themselves. When the foliage reaches 25 cm or more, pruning can be done. They begin to cut the feathers from the edges, in stages - the growth of greenery occurs precisely from the center of the bulb. If you plant regularly, every 2-3 weeks, this will ensure a constant increase in fresh greenery.
Onion on a feather in a greenhouse
In the greenhouse, onions are planted from October to April. Usually for planting in such conditions, onions are used. This is the name of the bulbs about 3-3.5 cm in size and 1-2 years old. Due to the size, such planting material is more suitable for growing greenery.
A greenhouse onion is planted in the same way as a window onion - by a bridge method. To do this, use boxes filled with peat, humus or compost. Top of the planting can be lightly sprinkled with peat. Sprinkling with fluffy lime will help prevent the development of mold. After completing all the procedures, boxes with onions are placed one on top of the other and placed in a corner of the greenhouse.
Growing features
Before the appearance of feathers, the bulbs are kept cool at night - about 12-15 degrees, and during the day - warm - about 18-20 degrees. Watering such onions should only be done when necessary, but you will have to ventilate the greenhouse regularly. After 10-12 days, the bulbs will have time to form roots, as well as foliage 5-8 cm high. Due to a lack of light, it can be white. After that, the boxes are placed on the shelves and provide them with warmth (20-22 degrees). Such plantings will already require regular soil moisture.
For better feather development, it is necessary to provide the bulbs with about 12 hours of daylight per day. But this will require vertical lamps - they will prevent foliage from wrinkling. The feathers will begin to turn green as they grow.
2 days after installing the boxes on the racks, you should feed the plantings. The entire surface of the soil is sprinkled with nitrogen (about 20-40 g of ammonium nitrate per 1 sq. M) and potassium (about 10-15 g of potassium chloride per 1 sq. M) compounds. With watering, the top dressing will get into the substrate. When the feathers reach 35 cm in length, they can be cut off. At the same time, the bulbs can be left for re-distillation or dug up and peeled from the roots.
Growing onions for greens in the open field
Landing before winter
You can also grow onion greens directly in the garden. To do this, choose bulbs from 2.5 to 4 cm in diameter. They are planted in the beds before winter, about a couple of weeks before the onset of frost. The bulbs are kept in warm water in advance and the upper quarter is cut off.
For planting onions, both a light and semi-shady area near bushes or medium-sized trees are suitable. During planting, you can re-use the bridge method, planting the bulbs downside down, close to each other. Landings are sprinkled with a thin (up to 3 cm) layer of earth. Another way of placing onions in the garden is with a ribbon.In this case, the bulbs are planted in grooves at a distance of about 1-4 cm from each other, and then lightly sprinkle them with earth. The row spacing should be about 15 cm.
Autumn care
To prevent the bulbs from freezing over the winter, from autumn they are covered with a layer of humus or manure 3.5-5 cm thick.In the spring, this shelter is carefully removed, and in case of recurrent frosts, a film is installed over the plantings.
Before frost, it is necessary to regularly water the bed with onions, trying to keep the soil sufficiently moist. This will allow the plantings to form roots and take root better.
Onions on greens from seeds
Onion greens can be obtained not only from onions, but also from their seeds. They will cost less than pick onions, but the feathers will take longer to grow. Sowing of such seeds is carried out in the middle of summer. A bed for crops is dug up in advance and fertilized if necessary. Seeds can be prepared in advance by holding them in warm water and treated with a solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.
Seeds are evenly distributed over the harvested grooves, retreating to aisles of 30-40 cm.When the sprouts form one leaf at a time, you can thin out the seedlings, keeping a distance of 3.5-5 cm.Do not sprinkle the bulbs too much, so as not to interfere with the foliage to break out ...
At the end of autumn, the seedbed is covered with a layer of straw or peat. In the spring, as soon as the snow melts, such a bow will begin to grow fresh feathers.
You can sow seeds or plant bulbs in the beds in the spring, in which case they act according to the same rules, with the exception of shelter for the winter. The harvest will appear around the end of June. For seed growing, you can use the seedling method. A couple of months before planting on the beds, the seeds are sown in containers with soil, distributing them along shallow grooves and maintaining a distance of 5 mm. They are kept under a film and, if necessary, sprayed from a spray bottle. With the appearance of the first 3-4 feathers, seedlings can be planted in the ground.
After removing the first greens, you can feed the crops so that they form new feathers. It is recommended to combine top dressing with watering by introducing complex compounds into the soil, a mullein solution (1:20) or ammonium nitrate (40 g per bucket of 10-12 liters).
Onions in the beds will also need to be protected from pests - in this case, chemicals cannot be fought with them, because the greens will be eaten. It is easier to prevent the appearance of harmful insects or to fight them with folk remedies in the early stages. If there are trees near the bed, their trunks should be whitewashed, and the plantings should be weeded regularly.
If the onion feather begins to turn yellow and wilt quickly, the cause may be penosporosis. Usually, this fungal disease affects the bulbs even before planting, so problem specimens must be removed, and when planting, wood ash must be added to the soil, which promotes disinfection.
Types and varieties of onions on a feather
Onions are not very suitable for planting in the off-season: in winter, the bulbs are resting, and the pace of their development slows down, so it will be difficult to wait for a good harvest from such plantings until the beginning of spring. For growing onions on a feather, the following types are used:
- Batun onion (either fist, winter, Tatar, sandy) - this species forms even feathers. Annual varieties allow cutting of the crop 1 time during the growth period, perennial - up to 3 times. This type of bulbs does not form, but it is considered especially rich in vitamins and valuable elements.
- Multi-tiered (or Egyptian, Canadian) bow - a winter-hardy and undemanding species in care, giving more foliage than a bunch of onions. The quality of his pen is also considered to be higher.
- Leek (or pearl) - a species with juicy and wide foliage, reminiscent of garlic leaves. Differs in good productivity. Instead of the usual bulb, it forms a thick white stem.
- Slime onion - a rapidly maturing species, fruitful and frost-resistant, and especially rich in iron and vitamin C.Forms flat and broad foliage that is tender and has a slight garlic aroma.
- Shallot - another prolific onion, undemanding to growing conditions. Its leaves retain their fresh appearance for a long time. Both slime and shallots can be used for salads.
- Chives (or chives) - a fruitful species that forms narrow, delicate and fragrant greens up to 50 cm tall.
Onion varieties grown for feathers can be divided into single-bud (forming a small number of feathers) and multi-bud (more productive). In general, any varieties of onions are suitable for forcing, but because of this feature, the number of feathers in representatives of different varieties can vary significantly. Among the best varieties for forcing onions for greens are Arzamassky, Bessonovsky, Danilovsky, Mstersky, Soyuz, Strigunovsky, Chernigovsky, Yantarny, etc.
Green onions: harm and benefit
The healing properties of onions
Onions are rightfully considered one of the best means to combat vitamin deficiency: vitamins and valuable elements that it contains help to fill the lack of nutrients in winter and early spring. In addition, onions are recommended for use in the fight against respiratory diseases. The phytoncides contained in onions are able to fight viruses and harmful bacteria, contributing to the overall strengthening of the body and even cleansing the room where this plant is kept.
Onion greens include chlorophyll, which, along with other substances in feathers, promotes hematopoietic processes. This makes onions a useful supplement for people with anemia. Essential oils of onion greens effectively fight the causative agents of angina, diphtheria, dysentery and tuberculosis, disinfecting the oral cavity. Onions are also useful for cardiac activity.
Thanks to its composition, onion greens also contribute to the preservation of attractiveness. Lack of elements contained in it (zinc, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen) can lead to increased fragility of nails and hair loss. In addition to these substances, onions also contain vitamins such as:
- A (aka beta-carotene) is a powerful antioxidant that helps maintain visual acuity and improve skin health. In addition, it strengthens hair and nails, helps to normalize cardiac activity and resists free radicals that have a negative effect on the state of the body.
- B1 (thiamine) - helps regulate the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
- B2 (riboflavin) - neutralizes toxic substances - irritants of the respiratory tract, promotes the formation of red blood cells and helps the reproductive organs.
- B3 (PP, niacin, nicotinic acid) - promotes the elimination of excess cholesterol, helps break down fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and also has a positive effect on immunity.
- B9 (folic acid) - participates in protein production and affects the activity of the nervous system.
- C (ascorbic acid) - one of the most powerful antioxidants, normalizes hormonal balance and protects against germs, bacteria and viruses.
- E (tocopherol) - an important element for the reproductive system, helps to rejuvenate the body, and also makes the skin, nails and hair more elastic.
Contraindications
No matter how useful onion greens are, in some cases you should not use them. Fresh onion feathers are contraindicated for problems with the digestive system: ulcers and gastritis with high acidity. Although onions help cardiac activity, in diseases of the heart and blood vessels, it should be used with caution. Asthmatics should also be more careful. During periods of exacerbation of such diseases, green onions should be completely abandoned. In addition, you should not lean on onions with high blood pressure: it can only increase hypertension.
