In the practice of Russian vegetable growing many years ago, an ultra early variety of onions Ellan appeared. He was bred at the Department of Horticulture of the Kuban State Agrarian University. Since 1997, it has been zoned for the Krasnodar Territory. Consider growing onions in different ways - by seeds and through the seeds.
Features agricultural technology growing onions Ellan
This is a winter variety belonging to the group of short-day forms. It forms a bulb with a relatively short May day. In June, ready for cleaning.
At this time, an acute shortage of food onions is created, since a new crop of traditionally cultivated varieties has not yet formed, and the stocks of onions stored for storage are already exhausted. Growing onions Ellan can relieve tension in the consumption of fresh onions in the summer.
Onions of the Ellan cultivar in spring culture form 3-6 short leaves and small bulbs weighing 20-40 g. In winter culture, 6-9 leaves 30-30 cm long and bulbs weighing 80-120 g are formed.
Bulbs of rounded and rounded flat shape, on top protected by one or three dry integumentary scales of yellow or straw yellow color. Juicy scales are white, loose structure, wide. The taste of the bulbs is sweet. The yield of Ellan onions in winter culture is 200-450 kg per one hundredth or 20-45 tons per hectare.
It can be grown by sowing seeds in the summer and autumn (winter culture) and planting seeds in the autumn-winter or early spring periods.
Growing onions by sowing seeds in the ground
With this method of cultivation, such sowing dates are selected that the plants form with a shortened day length and form 4-5 leaves and a small bulb by winter.
For the central zone of the Krasnodar Territory, this period is determined by the period from September 10 to 20. With an early sowing period, plants form powerful by winter, overwinter well, but, having a sufficient supply of nutrients, they can form the beginnings of generative organs and begin to shoot in spring.
When delayed with sowing, they go weakened under winter, and freeze out at low temperature. In addition, weakened plants form small bulbs much later.
For growing onions An irrigated plot with a leveled topography, not flooded in winter and spring, is needed. The best predecessors are crops that early liberate the fields and do not greatly deplete the soil. From vegetable crops - these are early potatoes, early cabbage and cauliflower, cucumbers, zucchini, early tomatoes.
In the field crop rotation, the predecessors may be winter grains or fodder crops - cereal-bean mixtures for green fodder, annual grasses. These crops are harvested early, it becomes possible to cultivate the soil as a half-pair and to clean up weeds to the maximum.
The main processing begins with peeling immediately after harvesting the previous crop. The peeling is carried out with heavy disc harrows to the maximum depth. After that, phosphorus-potash or full fertilizer is applied at the rate of 600 g per one hundred square meters or 60 kg per hectare and plowed to a depth of 25-27 cm or is treated with plane cutters.
If the soil lends itself to good cultivation, you can limit yourself to discing. If necessary, provocative irrigation is carried out. Before sowing, one or two cultivations are carried out in order to destroy germinating weeds and level the soil microrelief.
Sowing is carried out with vegetable seeders. The seed placement depth is 3.5-4.0 cm, that is, somewhat deeper than during spring sowing. This is due to the fact that a deeper incorporation contributes to a better wintering of plants.
The greatest safety of plants is observed with deep seeding (4.5-5.0 cm.). However, for heavy soils, this is a critical depth, since when sown to a depth of 5 cm, only 50% of the cotyledons are carried to the soil surface.
A sowing scheme is preferable to one in which as many plants as possible with an optimal nutritional area are placed per unit area. The seeding rate with the full scheme of 40 + 40 + 60 cm is 800 g - 1 kg per hundred square meters or 8-10 kg / ha of first-class seeds. The increased rate is dictated by the partial death of plants in the winter.
In addition, during the summer-spring vegetation, there is a high temperature, which contributes to the rapid drying of the upper soil layer and the death of immature plants. Even with regular irrigation, some plants die, especially when the cotyledon begins to grow and the first true leaf is formed. This phenomenon is characteristic of all varieties of onions and is observed during the spring period of sowing, and in summer it is especially pronounced.
The soil at the depth of the onion seeds should be constantly moistened, especially during the time from sowing to the formation of the first true leaf. The period from seed germination to the formation of the first true leaf is critical for this growing method.
When the air temperature drops, watering is reduced so that the plants form the root system deeper, which increases their winter hardiness. Less watering of the leaves at the time of freezing temperatures also contributes to a better wintering. Caring for plants before winter is row-row cultivation, weeding from weeds, fertilizing with NPK phosphorus-potash or full fertilizers (300-350 g per hundred square meters or 30-35 kg per hectare).
In the hot summer-autumn period, it is necessary to monitor the appearance of tobacco thrips and process crops from this dangerous pest, which can lead to severe inhibition of plants. It is necessary to provide measures to control wireworms when it is densely populated on the site.
Before leaving for the winter, you should carry out the earthing up of plants to a third of the height, which will make it easier to transfer the frosty period. The highest percentage of overwintering is observed in the early stages of sowing. When delayed with sowing, the safety of plants decreases.
In the early spring, onions begin to vegetate, so it is important to fertilize plants with nitrogen fertilizer at a rate of 30-40 kg / ha. Fertilizer is applied on frozen soil superficially scatter. During the growing season, onion aisles are cultivated with cultivators with cutting working bodies or cultivators, weeding is carried out.
In April-May, intensive growth of bulbs begins, therefore, in the first decade of growth, plants should be fertilized with full mineral fertilizer with a predominance of phosphorus-potassium nutrition.
Depending on the conditions of vegetation, shooting of plants is possible. Therefore, as the arrows appear, it is necessary to break them. In a dry spring, one or two irrigation is carried out.
In the years of epiphytotic peronosporosis in the first decade of May, the first signs of plant damage begin to appear. To prevent diseases, preventive spraying of onions with contact copper-containing preparations or systemic fungicides should be carried out in early May. Further monitor the development of the disease and carry out appropriate treatments. If the year is favorable, then the plants form a bulb before the spread of infection.
For varieties of short-day forms, an important factor is the active formation of leaves in early spring. The larger the leaf surface is formed in the first decade of May, the earlier and larger the bulb is formed, therefore, all agricultural technology should be aimed at obtaining powerful, well-developed plants by the beginning of May.
In the second and third decades of May there is an active growth of bulbs. By the end of May, their formation is almost over - you can start harvesting and selling bulbs with a green feather.
In the first half of June, the leaves lodge, and dry integumentary scales form. Harvesting is started with a 50-60 percent lodging of the leaves. Harvested onions are placed in rolls for ripening for 6-7 days, then the leaves are cut and taken to storage. Harvested onions can be stored for five to six months or more.
Grown onions can satisfy the needs of the population, processing industry throughout the summer-autumn period.
Growing onions - through the north
In the absence of irrigation, Ellan onions can be grown as a two-year crop through the north.
Sevka is grown by sowing seeds into the soil in the early spring, sowing is carried out in strips 10-20 cm wide or more with a seed flow rate of 60-70 kg / ha. The strip method contributes to obtaining fractions-aligned planting material.
The care is as follows: loosening row spacings, weeding, chemical treatments against pests, diseases. The ripening season is sowing - late June - early July. Harvesting begins when lodging 50-60% of the leaves. It is impossible to procrastinate with harvesting, as this leads to large crop losses, and with precipitation, secondary growth is possible, which sharply reduces its keeping quality.
Harvested sowing is left for 7-8 days in the field for solar drying. During this time, it matures, the leaves dry out, the neck becomes thin, the bulbs are covered with dry scales. After drying, it is collected in boxes, taken to storage.
In dry, hot weather, when the dried leaves are brittle, they do the sevka warming up on machines such as LLS-6 or manually, and then they pass through the sorting SLS-7, where the bulbs are cleaned and divided into fractions. The sevocs calibrated by fractions are packed in boxes, stored in a ventilated room for storage. The best planting material is sowing with a diameter of 1.5-2.5 cm. The crop of sowing is 6-10 tons per hectare.
Onion sets are planted in the field 2-3 weeks before the onset of a steady cooling, so that it takes root, but does not grow. For the central zone of the Krasnodar Territory, this is the end of October - the beginning of November.
The early spring term for planting sowing is also practiced in February thaws. At an early planting of plants, plants spend on the formation of leaves a supply of nutrients, with the onset of frost these leaves freeze, and weakened plants often die.
Bulbs, rooted, but not overgrown, located in suspended animation, tolerate low winter temperatures well. In addition, plants of later planting times shoot less. The sowing of the first group (1.5-2.2 cm) darts within 2.5-12%, and remains after overwintering by 50-87%. The sowing of the second group (2.5 - 3.0 cm) darts from 6 to 25%, remains at 75-96%.
Sevoc is planted with seeders СЛН-8А, СЛС-5,4, СЛС-12 or manually to a depth of 5-6 cm. Consumption of planting material is 8-20 c / ha. The planting scheme is single-line with a row spacing of 45 cm, or two-line with a distance between rows of 20 cm and between strips of 50 cm, or other acceptable schemes with the placement of bulbs in rows of 4-6 cm, so that there are 500 - 600 thousand per hectare. plants.
If warm weather is established after planting and the soil is moistened, part of the seed can grow. The bulk grows in February-March. In April-early May, there is an active growth of leaves, then bulbs are formed. The onion grows until the end of May - beginning of June. By mid-June, the onion is ready for harvest.
The agricultural technology of the crop culture is similar to the cultivation of Ellan onions from seeds.