Gardeners grow onions by planting small onion sets. Because onions are a biennial crop. But if you plant seeds for seedlings in late February - early March, you can get a harvest from your onion seeds this year.
To get a rich harvest, you must not make mistakes when growing seedlings.
Mistakes when growing seeds using the seedling method
When growing any seedlings you need to be careful, but the “turnip” should be discussed separately. This is because onions have characteristics. And if you don’t take them into account, there will be no seedlings.
Here are 5 mistakes you shouldn't make:
- Onion seeds are planted in a deep container (at least 10–12 cm). Small dishes are also allowed, but on the condition that the plants are picked (grown seeds are picked into a deep container). The fact is that even small bulbs have large roots.
- When picking or planting in a permanent place, do not allow the roots to bend, otherwise the plant will die. Since the roots are long, the planting hole is made even deeper (with a pencil). You need to put the roots there and then water them well.
- Onion seedlings grow poorly and even die if there is little light, the plantings are thickened, and the room is too warm. In this case, young feathers stretch out greatly, become weak, fall off, become thinner, and may even die. Seedlings grow best in light if the temperature does not exceed +10 degrees. It is important that the plants are well ventilated.
- Often seedlings have thin feathers, they cannot stand on their own and lie down. In such cases, gardeners hill up the seedlings, believing that they are strengthening the plant. In fact, they make a serious mistake - they cover the growing point, and the feathers begin to rot and die. If the feathers fall down, it's okay. It is better to stick a stick next to each sprouted seed in advance (use a pencil or kebab sticks, Chinese sticks are also suitable). Onion feathers are tied to them.
- Some gardeners advise trimming the onion feathers when planting these seedlings in a permanent place. This is another mistake. The bulb consists of scales - in the center they are white and edible, and they are protected by yellow ones. It is the first feathers that form the yellow scales. Therefore, by trimming the feathers, you can weaken the future bulb.
If you avoid these mistakes, the bulbs will be healthy and strong.
Soil and sowing dates
When growing onions, you need to beware of those mistakes that threaten any seedlings.
This is soil unsuitable for this crop. Gardeners know that certain crops require soil with the right acidity. The soil for planting should not be dense or heavy.
These are also low quality seeds - bad seeds will not grow into a rich harvest. Most of them will not sprout, and if they sprout, they will be unhealthy and weak.
If you violate the timing of sowing and planting in the ground, the plants either will not ripen, will outgrow, or will freeze.
If the seeds are planted too deep, the young plants will not be able to break through the soil.
Improper watering, lack of fertilizing, thickening, neglect of hardening - all this leads either to weakening of the plantings or to death.
To grow onions for seedlings, you should avoid some mistakes (both those that apply to any seedlings and those that are specific only to onions). It's not difficult, and the result is worth the trouble and attention.
