How and when to plant onions

Shallots usually refer to onions , which are widely cultivated in all regions of China. Onions are highly adaptable and durable in storage and transportation. They are an important vegetable for adjusting the off-season market and are suitable for planting in spring and autumn. Below, the editor will introduce the planting method and time of onions, let’s take a look.

1. Planting method

1. Soil selection

Onions like to grow in loose, fertile, well-drained soil. When sowing, choose terraced fields or gently sloping land that are relatively flat, with a thick, loose, fertile, and sufficient soil moisture, and avoid repeated cropping.

2. Planting

Before sowing, rub off the dry skin on the outside of the onion cage, sow 2 to 3 seeds in each hole, keep the row spacing at 35cm, the hole spacing at 15cm, cover with 2 to 3cm of soil, and keep about 12,000 holes for seedlings. After sowing, be sure to keep the soil moist to promote seed germination.

3. Seedling management

From sowing to germination, the main reliance is on the nutrients stored in the bulbs. Therefore, after the rain, we must focus on tilling and loosening the soil to prevent the soil from becoming compacted so that the seedlings can emerge smoothly. At the same time, thinning and filling seedlings should be done well to leave 2 seedlings in each hole.

4. Transplanting and planting

When the onion seedlings grow to a certain stage, they need to be transplanted and planted. It is usually done in early April. Take out the onion seedlings transplanted last year, peel off the dry skin, cut off the old leaves in the middle and upper parts, leave 1 to 2 cm of fibrous roots, remove the hard knots at the base of the onion seedlings, and grade them for later use. Plant the prepared onion seedlings into the ditch at a rate of 2 or 1 per hole, with a hole spacing of 20 cm or a plant spacing of about 10 cm, and cover with soil so that the onion heart is slightly exposed. The planting density should be adjusted appropriately according to the situation, with large seedlings sparse and small seedlings dense, and thin soil and fertile soil dense.

2. Planting time

1. Spring planting

It is usually carried out after the soil thaws and the temperature is stable at above 10℃. Onions planted in spring grow faster and can be harvested in summer. In the northern region, since the temperature rises slowly in spring, onions are generally planted from mid-April to early May; in the southern region, the temperature rises earlier in spring, so the planting time of onions can be advanced to late March to early April.

2. Autumn planting

Do this in the fall when the temperatures start to drop but are not yet freezing cold. Onions planted in autumn need to go dormant during the winter and continue to grow and be harvested in the spring of the following year. Generally speaking, onions can be planted from July to September each year, and the best sowing time is mid-to-late August.

The above is an introduction to the planting methods and time of onions. When planting onions, growers must master the above time and methods and pay attention to field management. Generally speaking, onions are harvested around the end of May to early June.