Why onions turn yellow: what to water and feed?

Onion is a widely known culture and is generally quite unpretentious, but it also requires some attention.It is relatively well resistant to waterlogging and droughts, but very sensitive to soil conditions and weeds. The usefulness of the vegetable is indisputable, it is used in recipes of all cultures of the world. The process of growing strong golden heads and picking juicy bunches of greens in early summer is a pleasant and rewarding occupation if the plant is not sick.

The quality of ripening onions is influenced by the landing site and light, night frosts (especially spring), lack of or excess moisture, the soil environment, feeding methods. Diseases caused by fungi or insect parasites can reduce onion yields. The most common problem in the onion beds is yellowing of the tips of the feathers or whole individual leaves. Until you find out the reason, you should not fertilize onions immediately. Such a reaction can provoke a drought.

Strong heat for several days, lack of natural precipitation and watering in the complex can lead to a slowdown in the movement of fluid in the green part. This does not affect so critically the ability of the plant to form large bulbs, and the problem can be solved by resuming watering. Yellowing onion leaves is a completely natural process if it occurs along with lodging at the end of summer. However, it so happens that the leaves suddenly turned yellow in June or the vegetable that was planted before winter acquired a pale yellow color in May. Do not panic, because there are many ways to urgently correct the situation.

There are a number of factors that could cause the feather to turn yellow and dry. The first step in saving the harvest will be to identify the causes of painful changes. The main reason for the yellowing of the leaves of onions - this is the wrong plot for planting. The culture requires a good, neutral soil.

In case of acidified soil, it is improved by the introduction of lime, dolomite flour, wood ash or chalk. Such a measure protects the plant from yellowing and helps the bulb to develop well. The site may be weakly snapped, but in this case it should be planted there 2 years after treatment.

If everything is in order with the soil, and the tips of the onions began to turn yellow, then most likely the reason lies in the banal water shortage. Compliance with watering is very important for onions. In normal weather in the first phase of growth, the plant is watered twice a week, then once is enough. In dry and hot weather, the frequency of irrigation increases. Onions are watered directly under the root in the first half of the day or in the evening before sunset. It is desirable that the water was soft.

The plant loves moisture, but because of its overabundance, the soil will lose valuable minerals. The onion head will be small and tasteless. In addition, excess moisture always serves as a good breeding ground for various pathogenic fungi and microorganisms. If the weather is rainy, the air has high humidity, then watering can be stopped altogether. Moisture onions, and so lacking. It is hard to save a rotten onion, therefore, in rainy weather, over-moisten the bed with excess watering should not be. A week before digging the onions stop watering completely.

Temperature conditions also significantly affect the color of the pen. If there is such an opportunity, you should try to arrange the onion bed so that it is in the shade for several hours. The plant is quite sensitive to overheating, as a result of which not only the aerial part turns yellow, but also the roots can die out. Absolute shadow onions are not needed, which can adversely affect the yield. The feather can dry out when the frosts suddenly return, even in June, although in principle the plant is cold-resistant. Care of beds in this case remains the same.When the feather grows up, in the general green mass the damage will become imperceptible, which will not affect the taste in any way.

To accelerate the exit of the plant from a state of stress, it should help restore its strength. For powder spacing using ash or charcoal. If you want to speed up the effect, you can use fertilizer beds with a solution of ash. It is necessary to dilute 2.5 glasses of dry matter in 10 liters of water and leave for 3-4 days. The tips of the feathers will no longer turn green, but the plant will receive a good charge of mineral nutrients, and growth will go faster.

If you do not observe the planting time for onions before winter, it may happen that, before they take root, the bulbs give green shoots. Because of the early spring frosts, they die. Urea solution will help to save seedlings at the very beginning of the yellowing process.

The feather can also fall off due to landing on insufficient depth. Such a bow freezes in winter, some of the roots die off. In the spring of such plants do not have enough strength to grow, so the feathers dry and wilt. In order to avoid rotting of the turnips, it is best to plant winter onions 4–6 centimeters deep into the soil. After that, to better preserve heat, crops from above are covered with a layer of peat mixed with sawdust.

Often the feather dries from a lack of trace elements, the most necessary of which is onion is nitrogen. The lack of this substance will indicate the shape of the leaves: they grow short and thickened. Recognize this onion disease is simple. All nearby plants, too, tend to become faded, the fruits grow small, change their shape, the leaves can be folded around the edges. Nitrogen fertilization is the only possible help for onions. It is important to do this moderately and carefully, since an excess of nitrogen can cause overgrowth of green mass and shredding of the bulb.

Fertilizer can be prepared by yourself. To do this, any grass, hay, weeds, food waste of organic origin (cleaning vegetables, leftover tea) will do. Capacity up to half is filled with such waste. You can add here an old homemade wine or a few spoons of spoiled jam. It will serve as a catalyst for the fermentation process like yeast.

In warm weather, the concentrate will be ready in 3 days, in cool - in a week. Readiness can be recognized by the characteristic smell of rotting. A liter of this mixture is diluted in a bucket of water and well watered onion beds. It is better to produce top dressing in rainy weather or after preliminary watering. Thus, the nutrients are absorbed better, delivering a whole set of nutrients for the development of the bulb, and for the growth of greenery.

The color of the above-ground part also changes with the defeat of the plant by pests and pathogens. Stem nematode is one of them. These are small thin white worms, which can be seen on the cross section of the affected leaf. Onion moth is one of the most common pests of this culture. She lays eggs in the ground since early spring and throughout the summer. Yellow-brown caterpillars inside the feather will indicate the defeat of these insects.

In spring, the onion fly can also hit the plant. Its larvae from the base of the stems move to the bulb, which quickly rots. When the larvae infect the landings, the tips of the feathers turn yellow, and not the whole green part. Onion weevil eats the plant from the inside. Feathers at the same time not only turn yellow, but also begin to shine. If you take a good look at them, you can see the moves left by the yellowish caterpillar.

Onion thrips are difficult to distinguish with the naked eye. This extremely dangerous pest in length reaches only one millimeter. When struck with thrips leaves get a pale grayish tint.It's all about very small white spots left by insects. Gradually they merge, the sheet acquires an uncharacteristic shade. The hidden trunk is a small gray bug with a body up to 2.5 millimeters. He spends the winter in the soil, and with the onset of heat attacks the culture, while the green onions dry out and fade.

Delayed and suffer from various diseases onion feathers. Bacterial rot is almost the same companion of thrips and onion flies. Pests through their larvae infect the bulbs. The disease is indicated by rotting of the bulb, yellowing of the feathers, flaccidity of the peduncles. If the feathers are already laid down, the plant cannot be saved. When this incurable disease is found, the affected parts of the plant are destroyed by burning. The released bed is treated with a strong antifungal agent (“Chom” or “Oxy”).

Donets rot is a very common disease, with the tips of the feathers first drying out. If you dig the onion itself, then on it you can see the defeat of the cep. In especially advanced cases, the bulb becomes soft and watery. Rust may appear on the onion leaves at the very beginning of summer. In this disease, yellow spots appear on the feathers first, which then become convex (as if warty).

Alternaria is another disease of the onion. Fungal disease first covers the green part of the plant. White spots are formed on it, which later turn brown. After some time, the disease captures the bulb, which molds and rot. Yellow onion leaves may be due to climatic surprises, and the bulbs and torrential rains, and the long absence of precipitation, and the summers are too hot, and sudden prolonged cold, are equally bad.

Getting a great harvest of large bulbs or a juicy feather depends on the gardener. It is necessary to decide which means will become helpers in the fight against possible plant pests. There are well-proven ready-made insecticides and herbicides that are easy to use. The gardener is only required to read the instructions and dilute the substance in accordance with the recommendations on the package. If onions are grown for household use, especially when collecting feathers for human consumption, then treatment with pesticides will have to be abandoned. In this case, use folk remedies, biological fungicides that do not harm people.

Among the pesticides are widely used and known to every gardener, such as "Iskra". This drug helps in the fight against a wide range of insects in various cultures. Others can be purchased at the pharmacy like Metronidazole. It is known as one of the most effective antibacterial agents for combating yellowing of onion feathers. For the preplant treatment of the set, the fungicide “Trichodermin” is used. And during the period of vegetative growth of onions, planting is sprayed with the drug "Fitosporin".

Do not tolerate many insects and mint flavor, as well as wild rosemary, valerian and conifers. Infused water on these herbs or spraying with a solution of aroma oils will serve as a good prevention of the appearance of unwanted guests on the ridge. In the fight against onion fly will help 2 full tablespoons of ammonia and one cup of salt, diluted in 10-12 liters of water. This solution is watered gently on the ground, trying to keep the product from falling onto the leaves.

A solution of manganese and iodine is also considered a well-known folk remedy for yellowing of the pen.To prepare the concentrate, take 2 bags of potassium permanganate, 10 milliliters of iodine and a glass of soda. The ingredients are well stirred in water at room temperature. The resulting solution is diluted by adding 10 liters of pure warm water per liter of concentrate. Watering the beds will help in the fight against fungi and will improve the condition of the soil, lowering its acidity due to soda, which is part of it.

Protect the bow from nematodes can be the old simple way of preparing the seeding. Before spring or autumn planting, it is soaked in warm, salty (about +45 degrees) water for 15–20 minutes. If insects have already appeared, then the treatment of infusion of marigolds will help. For its preparation, half a bucket of flower heads is poured with warm water and kept in a dark place for 2 days. Strained infusion diluted in 10 liters of water and add 40 grams of grated solid or liquid soap. The solution is sprayed on the ground, avoiding contact with the green parts of the plant.

After the discovery of pests on the garden and their traces, a natural question immediately arises about what to do next. After identifying the cause of the problem or the type of pest that attacked the planting, choose a measure to combat it. In order for onions to quickly move away from the effects of the disease, it must be properly fed. Among the many means of prevention and protection in the fight against dangerous pests of onions can be identified several of the most well-known and affordable.

• If the plant lacks nitrogen, it is fertilized with organic matter. An infusion of manure and ammonia will do: for 10 liters of water you will need a glass of well-rotten cow manure and a tablespoon of urea. After the mixture is infused, she carefully pours the greens under the root. Also used with a lack of nitrogen and complex mineral fertilizers (azofoska), and a week infusion of green mass on the water. To obtain an easily accessible organic fertilizer, the container is filled with two thirds of any plants, the remaining volume is poured with water. The resulting mass is diluted with water 1:10 and poured onions. With a shortage of nitrogen, people's councils recommend watering plants with a solution of brilliant green: 10 drops of a substance are taken for 10 liters of water.
• From plant damage nematode help early prevention. Before planting, the ground and the bulbs must be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate. To do this, the seams are soaked in a weak pink solution, and the bed is watered with saturated pink water two days before the intended landing. If the larvae have already harmed the feathers, which is noted too late, then the only possible way out is to dig up the entire crop and burn it.
• Eliminate alternarioz modern antifungal drugs such as Acrobat and Fitosporin will help. In order to avoid further contamination of the soil after harvesting the onions, the husks and all organic residues in the garden are carefully destroyed. The following year, the culture is sown on another plot. If, nevertheless, some bacteria manage to spend the winter, then in the new season they again attack onion crops.
• With worms struggling with fertilizing onions in early June with ammonium sulfate. The solution is prepared from 2 tablespoons of the drug, diluted in 10 liters of water. This amount should be enough for two square meters of the cultivated area.

• In the fight against onion mothAs a rule, ready-made insecticides are used. They have a wide spectrum of action and are used both for spraying and for root treatment. The expense of means and frequency of processing are specified on packing. On average, one bucket of water is necessary to dissolve one tablet.
• As with most insect pests, the appearance onion fly easier to warn than to fight it. Tobacco onion helps to save the powder or ordinary ash. They are sprinkled with aisle when landing. Another proven tool is the alternation of onions with rows of carrots on the same bed during planting. These plants mutually repel pests neighbor along the ridge.The disadvantage of this method can be called the difference in the mode of watering crops, because carrots require more frequent and abundant watering, in which the bulbs can rot. If, however, watering carrots on the schedule of onions, then from a lack of moisture, it can grow poorly, get a bitter taste.
• Good folk remedy in the fight with onion fly is a solution of tobacco, red pepper and laundry soap. To prepare it, 200 grams of tobacco must be poured with three liters of hot water and infused for three days. Then there add a tablespoon of soap and ground red pepper, and the mixture is diluted in 10 liters of water.
• Onion weevil afraid of ash, mustard and ground black or red pepper powder. Mulching between rows will prevent the appearance of an insect. And also it is possible to process onions "Karbofos". If the plant is affected, it will have to be burned.
• With onion thrips most effectively can be fought with any available insecticide. The treatment is carried out prophylactically every 2 weeks from the moment of feather germination by 5–8 centimeters. Before planting, the bulbs can be treated with saline for 2–5 minutes.
• Hidden trunk effectively destroyed by spraying "karbofos". It will take 1.5–2 tablespoons of the drug per 10 liters of water.
• When fighting fungal diseases preventive measures will be most effective. So, in order to avoid the appearance of bacterial rot onions, they choose the healthiest seedlings initially. They are cultivated and the land before sowing. If the plant had time to get sick, then it is burned.
• So that the bulbs do not rot the bottom, before planting, they are soaked in fungicide. Infected plants destroy.
• Rust it is also easier to prevent than to heal. Presowing treatment of bulbs and beds in spring gives a good result. During the summer, the plant is treated with soapy water with the addition of copper oxychloride. In a bucket of water, a tablespoon of soap and the same amount of copper are diluted. Treatment is carried out no more than once every 1.5–2 weeks.

Onions are one of the most common crops in our backyards. Despite all efforts to feed, maintain watering, weeding and loosening, there is often the problem of yellowing onion foliage. The problem can be prevented before it appears. For this there are a number of effective measures.

• We should not forget about the crop rotation and neighbors in the beds. Do not plant onions at the same place every year. The onion bed can only be reused after four years. A good result will give planting onions with carrots. But the relative garlic will become a bad neighbor.
• Spring should strive to plant onions as early as possible. He will have time to enter into force. The plant will be easier to resist the onion fly.
• Of great importance is the state of health of the material. Sevok before planting is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or salt. Choose the healthiest, intact bulbs for planting. It is good to drop onions for 10 minutes and in hot water +50 degrees.
• Bed should also be prepared in advance. Traces of the previous harvest in the form of tops or grass carefully removed. The earth is shed with a solution of potassium permanganate, powdered with ashes or mustard powder. Before sowing, it is recommended to perform soil disinfection with copper sulphate (a tablespoon of the substance is added to a bucket of water). Onions aisles can be filled with calendula flowers. These plants well repel many insects.
• Digging up the soil to frost. Insect larvae will be at the top and die, unable to withstand the cold.

On what to do when the onion leaves turn yellow, see below.