5:34:00 AM
Ever
wondered how to grow onions on your small plot or yard? You will be happy to
know that growing onions can be a lucrative business if you are wanting to try
your hand at farming. Zimbabwe also has some of the best soils for
growing onions.
For many years, growing onions has been popular across the
country. Onions are among the most popular vegetables – used in many dishes, and
can be stored over winter thus making a versatile crop
This post will show you how to grow onions including stuff like
the various onion varieties.
How To Grow Onions
First of all if organic farming is your thing then add manure or
composted organic matter a few weeks before sowing / planting your onions. You
can tread the soil gently to firm it up a bit prior to sowing. The soil should
be moist before sowing so check the soil the day before sowing and water if the
soil is dry.
Onions can be grown from seeds or from sets (small partly grown
onion bulbs).
If you want to grow onions from seeds, you should plant the
seeds 2cm apart and 3/8 inch deep. The rows should be 30 cm apart.
Or you can grow onions from sets. Sets are more expensive but
they tend to be more reliable in their results and also require less work - no
thinning and reduced onion fly risk. The process is almost the same as with
growing onions from seeds.
The sets can be grown closely together but will need to be thin
out by removing green onions so that the others will grow into bulbs. Sets
around 10cm apart shouldn't require any thinning.
Dig a small hole for each set and place the set in neck upwards.
When covered back up with soil the tip of the neck should just show through the
soil surface.
Growing spring onions (scallion) can be staggered every few
weeks to ensure a continuous crop throughout the growing season.
Soil
Onions will grow in almost any soil from sandy loams to heavy
clay. The soil should be firm. If your soil is heavy, then you can introduce
some organic compost or manure into the soil to help its moisture retaining
properties.
Onions prefer a slightly acidic soil - PH 5.5-6.5 is a good PH
for growing onions.
Maintaining Onion Plants
Growing onion plants requires lot of water as they need it to grow.
However, as the plants mature, they do not need much of water.
Sometimes you can just depend on rainwater but make sure that
the plants absorb the right amount every 5-7 days.
Mulching can help reduce the weeds and at the same time maintain
the soil moisture level. Frequently weed between the onions by shallow hoeing,
onions do not trap much incoming light due to their sparse leaf forms so weeds
can take full advantage of the available light.
However, you should be careful when weeding and ensure not to
disturb the roots of the onions. In addition, you may not use fertilizer if you
employ quality compost in the soil before planting the onions.
Instead, you should use root builder like the natural
mycorrhizal fungi. It helps the roots in absorbing water as well as soil
nutrients by attaching to the roots. In this way, you can save the organic
fertilizer for other crops.
If your crop has been sown from seed then you will need to thin
the onions when they reach about 5 cm in height. Thin them so that they are
spaced about 10cm apart.
Harvesting Onions
Onions are ready to harvest a week after their tops have started
to fall over and are yellowed – usually within three months. Ripening process
can be induced by breaking the tops of the onions.
It is best to harvest the onions prior of producing flower
stalks.
Spring onions can be harvested
when they are about 30-40cm in height and will store for up to a week in the
fridge. The flavour depends
on how taller they get. This means that if you want a strong flavour onion you
should let it grow taller.
Use a fork to lift the onions out of the ground. Take care not to
damage the skins as this invites decay organisms in to attack the onion flesh.
Onions should be harvested on a sunny day, cleaned of any soil
still attached to them and then placed on top of the soil where they will dry
out with the help of the sun and wind.
Leave the onions out for a few days (until the tops dry out).
Remove the tops with a sharp knife about 2cm above the onion top
so that decay organisms do not have direct access to the onion bulb.
Discard any onions that show signs of decay or damage as these can affect healthy onions if they are stored.
If you want to store the onions over winter then you can cure them by hanging them in a well aired place (such as from the roof of a summer house veranda). Mesh bags or strings can be used to group and hang the onions and they should hang for about 3-4 weeks.
To prepare spring onions simply remove the outer set of leaves and wash.
Onion Diseases
The Onion Fly is attracted by the smell that thinning the onions
releases.
For this reason, the method of growing from sets rather than seed
is advantageous when trying to combat onion fly.
Onion blast - this fungus develops on the plants foliage with a
blast of speed.
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