Can onions be planted in November (When is the best time to transplant onion seedlings)?

What is the best month to plant onions?

Onions cannot be planted all year round. Only one season can be planted a year, that is, planting in spring and harvesting in summer. If there is a greenhouse, it is no problem to plant two seasons.

Generally, the best sowing time for onions in the Yellow River and Huaihe River basins is early to mid-September, while in southern regions, they are sown from late September to early October and transplanted in mid-to-late November .

Therefore, onions can be planted in November, but this time is still a bit late and may affect the later yield. If you want to plant onions in November, you can directly choose to transplant them.

Because if onions are sown too early, the seedlings will be large and will easily sprout after winter. If onions are sown late, the seedlings will be weak, have poor cold resistance, and have small bulbs and low yields.

Onion cultivation technology

Sowing and seedling raising

① When sowing, the seedbed is required to be loose and fertile with strong water retention capacity, and the sowing amount per mu is about 0.2 kg.

② After sowing, cover with a layer of soil or ash, then a layer of straw or wheat straw and water. Keep the soil moist. After 8-10 days, the seedlings will emerge, and then remove the covering.

③ When the onions are fully grown, thin them out in time and remove some dense and inferior seedlings. Control water and fertilizer appropriately during the seedling stage to avoid the seedlings being too large during planting, which will lead to premature bolting.

Transplanting and planting

Onions are planted before the cold season arrives. In the southern regions, they are generally transplanted from November to early December .

Seedlings should be graded when transplanting, and seedlings of the same grade should be transplanted together. For larger plants, fertilizer and water can be controlled appropriately, while for smaller plants, appropriate topdressing of fertilizer and water is required.

Generally, 17,000 to 20,000 plants are planted per mu, with a row spacing of 20 to 26 cm, a plant spacing of 13 to 17 cm, and a planting depth of about 3 cm.

Field management

During the winter, the onion seedlings have a small growth rate and absorb less fertilizer. In spring, when the temperature rises and the plants begin to grow, a heavier fertilizer must be applied.

From late March to early May is the peak growth season for onions, and fertilizer should be applied 1-2 times, with 200 kg of human and animal manure or 5-10 kg of urea and 5-8 kg of potassium sulfate applied per mu.

When the onion bulbs are swollen and close to maturity, the water and fertilizer supply should be stopped. Watering is needed in time when drought occurs. Onions have shallow roots, so only shallow tillage and weeding can be carried out, and the tillage depth should not exceed 3.5 cm .

Harvest at the right time

Onions are generally harvested from the end of May to the beginning of June. The harvesting period directly affects the yield and storage capacity. When the onion leaves gradually turn yellow from bottom to top, the pseudostem becomes soft and begins to invert, and the bulb stops expanding and becomes leathery, entering a dormant stage, it indicates that the bulb is mature and should be harvested in time .