How to plant and get a rich harvest of family onions?

The family onion (shallot) is a vegetable from the onion family.It is a herbaceous and perennial plant, a close relative of the familiar onion. This species got its name due to the main distinctive feature - a whole "family" is formed from one planted onion head around. On average, so grows about ten pieces of daughter bulbs. All gardeners appreciate the family onion for its increased resistance to the effects of pathogens, and even such a parasite, like an onion fly, will not harm it.

In form, daughter bulbs are oval, round or slightly flat. They are attached to the mother bulb, and it is for this reason that their shape is often wrong. The color of family onions is different - purple, bronze, golden and even reddish. But in the context of such a bulb will be white or pink.

As for the feathers of the bulb, they are different pomp. The culture of this type of greens is very delicate, not thick, in height can reach about 50 centimeters. Throughout the ripening of the bulb, the greens will remain juicy and not coarse.

Family bow has a number of characteristics inherent in this particular variety. According to the biological characteristics, it is not much different from the usual onions, being, by and large, its variety.

The main distinctive feature of onions of this species, which has become the cause of such a specific name, is the ability of the bulb to form a family. From it, after some time begins to appear quite a large number of daughter bulbs. Due to this property, family onions are highly valued among gardeners, since the number of daughter onions can reach ten. The diameter of the daughter plants can reach five centimeters with a weight of fifty grams.

Family bow differs significantly from other species, as it has a number of specific features. The main differences that distinguish shallots against the background of other onions are as follows:

• bulb shape oblong;
• weight from 20 to 50 grams;
• the mother bulb forms a nest around itself;
• The feathers of the plant are rather thin, not too sharp, the surface texture is slightly waxy.

Family onions are more delicate in taste than onions. Due to its small size, it is inconvenient to use, but found great use in cooking. It can be fried, stewed, pickled, made from it a delicious jam. Often, onions are also used fresh, since the bitterness inherent in this vegetable is practically absent in it.

At home, family onions are very easy to store. Heads can retain their original appearance for about ten months. Family onions are early ripening and have high yields. With such a problem as a bolting, you will not have to face even with frost.

Onions, as is known to all vegetable growers, is a cold-resistant plant. Therefore, to plant it in the ground can be safely in the second week of April. It is important that in the conditions of cold weather the roots of the bulb are able to develop rapidly, and only after that will the intensive growth of feathers go. Family onions are fearlessly planted even before winter, which guarantees an earlier harvest.

But the best time for planting a family bow is spring. Of course, today there are already many winter varieties. But nothing will affect the presentation of the heads like the sun. Thanks to the sun's rays, the greens will grow better, and the bulbs can be stored longer.

The roots of the family onion can easily grow at a temperature of only +2 degrees Celsius. Also well tolerated frosts to -6 degrees. Greens begin to grow better at a temperature of + 15, but also resistant to frost, as the root system.

Prompt planting of seedlings will lead to a good development of the bow. So it should be very responsible approach to the choice of time for landing.

Do not forget about watering seedlings. In the period of active growth, family onions are in dire need of moisture. If you ignore this moment, you will not be able to get large bulbs. Family onions are very demanding for watering. This is true both in the early stages and during intensive growth.

Often beginner gardeners wonder whether it is possible to plant shallots before winter. Overwhelmingly, the answer will be negative, since the family onion, planted in the fall, usually goes to the arrow. However, nowadays one can find varieties of this vegetable bred specifically for the cold climate, which can be planted safely in the winter or in conditions of a cool spring. These include "Ryzhik", "Fortress", "Albik" and "Garant". Also, many agrotechnologists say that vegetables belonging to the Siberian Yellow, Sofokl, CIR-7 and Seryozhka varieties are quietly planted in the cold.

Moist soil is a great advantage for planting family onions. To do this, from late autumn you need to notice the land on which the snow is most collected. But do not forget that on the ground should not form excess water stagnation. Like drought, excessive moisture will adversely affect yield. Before planting seedlings, ground cover should be treated and freed from weeds.

In order not to get too small and stunted harvest, it is categorically impossible to plant onions in the ground, dominated by clay and stones. This land should be well prepared. In heavy or acidified soil, organic and mineral fertilizers must be applied. At least 12 months before planting, the ground should be diluted with sand, lime or dolomite flour.

Qualitative soil should be uniform in its structure and loose before planting. There is an excellent folk method to achieve this result. In advance, in early spring, experienced gardeners add chopped egg shells to the ground. For greater efficiency, the shells should be added together with compost or rotted manure. Family onions will grow better in a well-ventilated and lighted area.

There is another golden rule among agronomists. In no case should not be planted seedlings in the same place where he grew up last season. Such a crop rotation will contribute to a healthy harvest. It is best to plant vegetables where peas, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes or beets grew in the past.

As noted earlier, shallot bulbs prefer to grow in fertile soil, which may be somewhat heavier than the soil, optimal for planting simple onions. It is important to equip a quality drainage system and monitor the acid balance, which should be neutral. To plant onions, those places where vegetables such as potatoes, carrots or various leguminous plants used to grow are ideal.

In the fall, agronomists advise that at least five kilograms of humus be introduced into the soil for family onions. Also, the soil can be additionally fertilized with twenty grams of superphosphates and fifteen grams of potassium salt per 1 m2. Immediately before planting the seeds, it will be good to use fertilizers based on ammonium nitrate, which are introduced in the amount of 7 grams per 1 m2.

Preparing the soil for planting family onions in the spring should begin in the fall. First, the site where the plants will be planted, thoroughly cleaned from weeds, after which it must be dug to a depth of about twenty centimeters.

If the bulbs need to be planted in the fall, the beds begin to cook in the summer.

To get a high-quality crop of “little families”, the planting material must be well prepared. First you need to carefully sort out the sevok and select only healthy, without damage to the bulbs. You should also sort the onions according to their size. Further, the following steps can be distinguished:

1. Clear landing sevok from dried scales.
2. Disinfect with copper sulfate. For such a solution, you need to take one spoonful of vitriol and dissolve in ten liters of water. After that, the sevok is washed with water and dries for a while.
3. Soak in nutrient solution. This procedure will help nourish the onions with moisture, which they lost during storage. It nourishes them with beneficial substances.
4. Sprouting sevok. Bulbs to put in a container and cover it. Keep it in a cold room until the roots sprout.
5. Cut the onion in half. After such a procedure, the onions will grow much larger.

To date, breeders bred many varieties of family onions, for example, “Zolotinka” or “Fortress”, which, in turn, are divided into early-ripening, mid-ripening and late. Among multifamily onions, you can highlight the most popular varieties:

• "Albik". The bulbs are round and slightly flat, in the nest usually grows about eight pieces. The weight of one bulb is about thirty grams. The color is yellow, to taste a bit spicy. This variety is distinguished by increased fertility and tolerates long-term storage. Most suitable for winter landing.

• "Knyazhich." The bulbs are light brownish, pink in the cut. In the nest grows to 10 pieces. Onions weigh an average of 75 grams. The variety has a softer and more pleasant taste.

• "Off-season" - early ripe grade. The bulbs are flat, round, weigh up to twenty grams. The outer color is yellow, in the cut white onion. The leaves are bright green. In the nest grows up to 10 bulbs.

• "Ear ring". The bulbs are round and rather dense. In the nest grows up to 8 pieces. Each weighs about 25 grams. The outer shell is yellow, and the fruit itself is quite juicy and sharp. Such a bow can be stored for about 8 months.

Many vegetable growers and gardeners in the process of preparing seeds for planting also include soaking in various solutions and substances. This is necessary to sanitize seedlings and protect them from numerous diseases and fungus. There are a huge number of methods of soaking, as well as solutions with the help of which they do it. You can soak family onions in folk remedies or special solutions recommended by professional agricultural technicians.

The most common solutions for soaking the bulbs, proven long-term experience of amateur agronomists, primarily include a solution based on salt. Also popular is water with the addition of manganese, ash, you can use birch tar or copper sulfate and other drugs.

Among all the means for soaking the onions, Fitosporin enjoys the greatest demand and popularity. It is an affordable and effective tool that not only protects the plant and kills pathogens, but also contributes to the rapid growth and proper development of the bulb.

To create optimal conditions for the growth of onions, it is necessary to observe a distance of at least twenty centimeters between the beds and at least ten centimeters between the turnips themselves. Such a scheme of planting shallot will allow to achieve the consumption of planting material in the amount of not more than one and a half kilograms per square meter. Experienced gardeners are advised to plant medium-sized onions, since small seeds are usually not capable of producing a bountiful crop - they can be planted on greens. The main thing is to keep the correct distance between the bulbs, because due to the lack of space, the bulbs will grow too small.

Small bulbs are ideal for planting material (up to three centimeters in diameter). On one square meter is taken about thirty turnips, which are planted ten centimeters from each other. Family onions should be planted in damp soil, making it ten centimeters deep. For a significant increase in yield and not to go on the arrow in the arrow, you can cover the seedlings with lutrasil, and then remove it when the first shoots appear.

The scheme of planting a family onion for the winter is almost no different from the spring. It is necessary to carry out similar manipulations and make mulching of the soil using peat.

The width of the beds for shallots should be about one meter. On it are settled small grooves with a depth of 5 centimeters at a distance of 20 centimeters from each other. Then the beds are poured abundantly with water, and the ashes are poured into the grooves, and only after that can the bulbs be decomposed and closed by hilling. Proper landing is very important - it is best to make it in a staggered manner. Also, an equilateral triangle formed by onions with edges of about 20 centimeters will be an extremely convenient layout.

Starting from mid-June, it becomes noticeable how many daughter bulbs will be in the nest, as they begin to actively isolate themselves. During this time there is an opportunity to directly influence the quality and size of the crop. The ideal number of daughter bulbs in the nest is from 3 to 5. When their number exceeds this value, in order to get a good, large turnip, excess daughter bulbs are removed: to do this, hold the nest and pull out individual bulbs. The feathers can be used as blanks or simply eaten.

Growing a family onion in the open field has many subtleties and nuances that can only be fully grasped in practice.

Like any agriculture, family onions need proper care. The main care activities include nest formation, irrigation, soil loosening and, if necessary, fertilizing with fertilizers. If the soil is well suited for onions, then it will be easy to grow this plant, and labor costs will be minimal.

Until shallots grow at least a few feathers at least ten centimeters long, experts recommend not watering it. This technique allows a better development of the plant root system, which penetrates deeper into the earth in search of water. Next, you need to water the plants every seven days, until the end of July. To the onion fly does not attack the seedlings, you can add a small amount of ammonia, which will also serve as additional feeding.

If the onions are not watered at the beginning of growth, then the vegetation process will accelerate significantly and will have time to complete even before the turnips gain weight. We should not forget about loosening, which should be carried out after each irrigation or precipitation. A layer of mulch will help to effectively retain moisture in the soil and prevent weed growth.

Family onion refers to crops that can be fearlessly fed. There are several options for dressings that have a good effect on the growth and development of shallot. So, you can fertilize the soil with bird droppings, which are added to water in proportions of 1 to 15. Mineral fertilizers also show themselves well, 40 grams of which are dissolved in ten liters of liquid. A mullein infusion is also often used; it is added to water in the calculation of one part of an infusion per ten parts of water.

Stop feeding about a month before harvesting. This approach will allow the bulbs to fill sufficiently, but the greens stop growing.

In the process of maturation of the family onion, the nest begins to emerge from the soil. Often, gardeners independently clean part of the land so that the onion gets enough heat and light, moreover, it drives away the onion fly and accelerates the ripening of the vegetable. The tips of the feathers may turn yellow, then the plants are treated with salt water, and in some cases - with a solution of water with manure. Sometimes, for the prevention of vegetable growers sprinkle salt on the garden bed in advance before planting shallots there.

In August, when the feather of the family onion finally falls, the growing process comes to an end and the time comes to harvest. All nest bulbs will simply lie on the ground, they will need to be separated from each other and left to dry. During this period, the main thing is not to overdo the onions, otherwise it will be difficult to store.

As long as the seeds of the family onion are stored, they can dry out and lose a number of important nutrients. In order to re-nourish the bulbs with moisture and restore lost nutrients, onions can be soaked in special solutions or complex fertilizers.

There are several techniques that can affect the growth of the family onion, speed it up and get larger bulbs. One of them is to trim the heel down to white scales. This can be done without fear, but it is very difficult to cut off something extra, since the rudiments are located quite deep inside the turnip, moreover, even if one germ is damaged, the others will remain intact and as a result will yield a bountiful harvest. However, they should not be specially injured and one heel should be cut to the end.

Due to the removal of dry flakes and heel trimming, unhindered access of moisture to the roots of the plant is provided, which has a positive effect on the development of the root system, and the onions grow as a result much faster.

Cutting the heel is not the only technique that experienced gardeners have successfully used. Family bow before planting can also be divided into halves. This procedure is performed not to increase the amount of planting material, but in order for the bulbs to be large. The number of primordia in such halves will be less than in the whole onion, but each of them is capable of producing three, or even four, full-fledged bulbs. The nutritional area remains the same, and fewer seeds get more nutrients.

It is necessary to make an incision in such a way that the roots in each half remain approximately the same amount. The easiest way to do this is as follows: after the heel is cut, the seedling is rotated 90 degrees and a cut is made in the middle of the roots.

It is very important not only to grow the onion properly, but also to gather it. When the vegetable is ripe, it is completely dug out only after the complete drying of the dew. Ideal if the day of collection will be sunny. It is necessary to give the bow a little lie on the garden under the sun so that it can dry out. Later in the evening, the harvested crop is hidden in a dark, cold and dry place, where it is laid out in a single layer.After this begins the process of drying onions, which can last up to two weeks.

Readiness of onions is determined by the neck of the vegetable - if it is dry, then it is ready for use. After drying, usually proceed to the removal of feathers. Damaged bulbs can immediately be eaten, and better to store whole bulbs. Family onions are stored in boxes or boxes in a place where it is warm, dry and not very humid.

Despite the fact that it is best to harvest in warm and dry weather, dampness and cold during the harvest of onions will not be very scary. This is due to another excellent quality of the family onion - it is able to dry well even indoors, moreover, such a bow does not germinate again due to the long rest period. After the harvest has been gathered from the site, there can be sowed green manure or other crops, and in the spring you can plant potatoes at the place where family onions used to grow.

If you follow all the tips on growing onions, you can not only achieve a high yield, but also provide yourself with extremely healthy herbs. Excellent taste provides family onions wide use in cooking. It is also important that it is extremely resistant to the effects of pathogens, fungi and pests. All this makes a family onion a good alternative to its common bulb counterpart.

To learn how to grow a family onion, see the following video.