When is the right time to plant onions?

Ensuring the right sowing time is essential for the healthy growth of seedlings. Improper sowing time may result in poor growth of onions, thus affecting their yield and quality. Determining the sowing time requires a comprehensive consideration of the variety characteristics and the grower's desired time to market. Onion varieties can be divided into three types according to their maturity period: early maturing, mid-maturing and late maturing. At the same time, according to the physiological characteristics of the varieties, they can also be divided into bolting-resistant and bolting-intolerant varieties. Only by deeply understanding the characteristics and properties of various varieties can we more accurately determine the optimal time for seedling cultivation. Let’s learn together when is the best time to plant onions?

When is the right time to plant onions?

The best time to plant onions is in the fall, around September to October, and the best time to plant them is after mid-September. During this period, the weather in most areas is relatively cool, which is conducive to the germination of onion seeds . The germination rate will be slowed down under high temperatures.

Onion sowing precautions

1. Identify onion seeds

Alliums include onions, scallions, leeks and leeks. Their seeds look similar, so different varieties need to be carefully distinguished during production to avoid confusion and losses. The seed coat of onion seeds is black and shiny. The seed coat of green onion seeds is black with a slight red tint and dull. When onion seeds germinate, the roots are thicker and slightly yellow, while the roots of green onions are thinner and pure white.

2. Choose onion varieties

In our country, local farm varieties are mainly used. When choosing varieties, local climatic conditions should be considered, and appropriate varieties should be selected based on local consumption habits, sunshine hours, bulb color, storage properties, yield and degree of early bolting.

3. Determine the sowing time

The choice of sowing time has a significant impact on onion yield and quality. Onion is a chlorotic vernalization crop, and the expansion of its bulb is controlled by the number of hours of light. If the seedlings are too large and encounter low temperatures, the bolting rate will increase the following year through vernalization, affecting the yield. On the contrary, if the seedlings are too small, they will be small when the sunshine hours are reached and it will be difficult to grow into large bulbs. Therefore, determining the onion sowing period requires considering the year's climatic conditions, planting time, cultivation measures and variety characteristics.

4. Determine the seed germination rate

Onion seeds have a short lifespan. The germination rate of seeds is the highest in the first year, and then decreases by 20% each year. Seeds from the third year are usually not suitable for use. After the new seeds are rinsed with clean water to remove the barren seeds, the germination rate can reach more than 90%. The method for determining the germination rate of onion seeds is: take three seed samples, 100 seeds in each sample, soak them in 20℃ cold water for 10-12 hours, wrap them with gauze, place them in a bowl or teacup, cover them with a wet towel, and germinate them at a temperature of 20℃-25℃. Wash 1-2 times a day, dry the water after washing, and count the number of germinated seeds after 5-7 days. The investigation lasted for 10 days, and the average value of three times was calculated to obtain the germination rate of this batch of seeds.

5. Determine the amount of fertilizer to be applied during the seedling stage

Fertilizing during the seedling stage is the key to cultivating strong seedlings. If the fertilizer supply during the seedling stage is insufficient or unbalanced, it will seriously affect the quality of the seedlings and cause irreparable losses to production. The application of farmyard manure, supplemented with a small amount of other inorganic fertilizers, can basically meet the needs of seedling growth. If only inorganic fertilizers are applied, attention must be paid to the fertilizer ratio. Studies have shown that the fertilizer requirements for onion seedlings are: 10.13-11.2 kg of total nitrogen (N), 8.1-11.6 kg of phosphorus, and 5.9-11.4 kg of potassium per mu. The general principle is to apply fertilizer as appropriate according to soil fertility.

The above is an introduction to the sowing time and precautions for onions. You cannot just refer to the planting time. You also need to consider the characteristics of the variety you want to plant, the conditions of the land, and the environment.