Onions Farming: Guide On Planting, Growing & Harvesting
Onion growing is a straightforward process: Onion plants can be grown from seed if you can make a hole in the ground. You can plant most of our onion varieties right away because they are little seedlings in bare-root bundles. for better understanding here is a complete Guide On Planting Growing & Harvesting Onions in Nigeria for profit.
Onions should be kept wet in a bucket filled with 2 inches of dirt if you can’t plant them right away. Keep them out of direct sunlight in a cool, bright location until you’re ready to plant them out. A bright basement is great.
Guide On Planting Growing & Harvesting Onions
Quick Guide and Tips on Onion Growing
Once the ground is prepared for use, plant onions in early April. Onion planted in the ground or raised in beds are both wonderful choices.
Onion plants should be spaced six inches apart in rows of 12 inches. Sow them on fertile, well-drained soil with a pH range of 6.0 to 6.8 in a sunny location.
Add aged compost or other organic materials to your native soil to improve it.
Because onions’ short roots can’t absorb much water, it’s critical to keep the soil moist when growing them. When the soil’s top inch is completely dry, it’s time to water.
If you want to get the greatest results, feed your onions with plant food that releases nutrients over time. Onions can be consumed at almost any stage of maturity, so pick them when you think they’re ready to be used in a recipe.
Soil, Planting, and Care
Nature and nurture play a significant role in determining the sweetness of an onion. If you’re looking for the mildest onions, go for varieties that produce sweet, mild-flavored bulbs like Texas Sweet or Walla Walla (at northern latitudes). In order to get outstanding results, start with Bonnie Plants® onion slips.
Onion plants thrive on soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.8 and need plenty of sunlight and sufficient drainage to thrive. If your soil has thick clay, raised beds or raised rows produced by mounding up dirt are appropriate.
Using Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Raised Bed Mix, add soil to raised beds to achieve the ideal weight and texture. Mix a 3-inch layer of compost or aged compost-enriched compost for mounded rows. It is a product of Miracle-Gro Performance Organics. Add soil to the top six inches of the soil and work it in.
In order to keep the plant’s neck from being buried too deeply, set it at a depth of 1 inch. Keep soil or water from getting between young leaves in the neck where they grow away from the clear sheath. This will make them rot.
Furrows should be 12 inches apart and plants should be placed 6 inches apart in each furrow. The greatest way to ensure that your plants thrive is to ensure that they have access to the correct nutrients, in addition to the best soil.
Feeding onions with Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules as directed on the label is the best way to guarantee they receive all the nutrition they require during the growth season.
A consistent supply of water is necessary for onions to develop without interruption because their roots are shallow and not particularly efficient at absorbing moisture. It’s best to maintain the soil continuously moist until the bulbs have enlarged, even though plants can recover from drought.
Grass clippings or another fine mulch can be used as a light layer of mulch to prevent weeds and herbicides from growing. It’s ideal to allow the tops of the bulbs to dry out in the sun, as onions naturally push upward as they develop bulbs. Remove any mulch that could inhibit the bulbs from drying out as they grow.
Before planting, some gardeners separate seedlings by size in order to get the largest and most beautiful bulbs. As soon as two or three weeks after planting the larger ones together, you’ll be ready to eat them as green onions.
The second crop of scallions can be grown from seedlings that are only a few inches apart. In order to cultivate full-sized onions that are extremely juicy, use pencil-sized plants.
What To Look Out For
Small black onion thrips, which feed on the sap of onion leaves, may get attracted to the expanding leaves of onions. They’re hard to spot because they’re tucked down in the leaf’s folds and neck. Aphids can also be a problem. Finally, onion root maggots, the larvae of a common insect, may be the cause of wilting plants.
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Harvesting and Keeping the Produce
If you wish to use young onions as “spring onions” or scallions, you can harvest them just a few weeks after planting. Just pull them out when they’re large enough for you; there is no ideal size.
Let onions grow and mature for full-sized bulbs. When the bulbs are large and the tops are turning yellow and falling off, they are ready to be harvested. Pull them out of the ground, shake off the soil, and place them on a drying rack with the tops still attached. There are a number of places where this can be done; you can even throw them over the fence as long as it doesn’t rain while doing so.
It is critical that light bulbs are kept dry and well-ventilated. It is natural for the onions’ roots to shrivel as they mature, and the necks above the bulbs will slowly dry up, making them less susceptible to rot.
Removing the papery outer skins of the onions and storing them in a cold area are the best ways to preserve them once they’ve been stored for 7 to 10 days. Wrapped in newspaper or paper towels, very delicious and juicy onions can be kept in the refrigerator.
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