Batun onion and the nuances of its cultivation

Onion-batun is a perennial that can become a “sponsor” of greens to the table, chic in terms of vitamin and mineral composition. Yes, not yet the most popular in domestic latitudes, but confidently gaining this popularity.

Batun is considered a herbaceous plant that can grow for many years without transplants. In the garden, it looks about the same as its counterparts: fistulose green leaves are not much different from other bulbous feathers. But only underground, this plant does not have that familiar large bulb. The onion bulb of the batun is small, just a slight thickening. By the way, you can also eat it, but this is not in demand. They eat only the leaves of the batun.

What else is important in the characteristics of this plant:

• developed roots grow 40 cm wide and deep;
• the feathers of the plant are thick and powerful, hollow inside;
• if you do not cut the feathers in time, they can grow up to a meter in height;
• the vegetable grows very quickly, has a bright color;
• arrows and inflorescences are formed in the second year: they are yellow-green, rounded, there are more than two hundred flowers in a batun;
• flowering occurs in June, and seeds ripen in mid-summer;
• the onion is not afraid of low temperatures (unless this crop will be grown in the Far North);
• in one place, the batun grows for 5 years, but if the plantings are heavily thickened, the onion will become smaller;
• propagated by seeds or division of the bush;
• most of all onions are grown in China.

For beginners, the question may arise as to how the batun differs from the leek. Its pen is stiffer, the taste is sharper, but it can be cut earlier. Leek is grown through seedlings, and its white stem is especially valuable (for the sake of it they grow). The taste is not as sharp and expressive as that of a batun.

The main thing is to cut the batun feathers in time, because without this they will become tough and tasteless. Batun will actually grow on any soil. He will not tolerate completely dry places, but he will not like wetlands either.

Of the popular varieties, the following options can be distinguished:

• “April” (early ripe variety, good for salads);
• “May” (disease resistant, pungent feathers);
• “Long Tokyo” (mid-season variety, very winter-hardy);
• “Tenderness” (with a slightly sharp taste);
• “Seryozha” (early ripe and delicate variety).

Batun can reproduce both vegetatively and by seed, both ways are simple, both are often used. If the onion is already growing in the garden, the seed method is not used: it is much easier to dig up an existing bush, divide it into smaller shares and plant it. It is also convenient in that you can remove the rhizomes of weeds from the excavated bush. The division of the bush can be carried out virtually at any time, but in August it is more convenient and reliable to do this. The bush is first watered, and then removed from the soil with a clean shovel or garden pitchfork. You can separate it with both hands and a knife (decontaminated).

Seedling cultivation is appropriate when the full cycle (from seed to harvest with the moment of pulling out the plants) is carried out in one season. That is, it is good if the plant is annual, but perennials are not suitable for seedlings. Seeds are usually sown in April, and at the beginning of summer, decent seedlings are already planted on the site. Then in September the plant needs to be dug up, leaving not a single bush on the site.

There are some nuances of planting onion-batun seedlings.

1. To speed up the germination of seeds, they are left in water for 24 hours. Sometimes 25 minutes are etched in a weak manganese solution. And the water is changed from time to time, and then the seeds are dried.
2. Seeds are planted in special seedling boxes. Soddy land, mixed in equal proportions with humus, is used as the soil. There you also need to add 2 cups of ash (with the expectation of a bucket of the mixture).
3. Seeds are sown to a depth of 1 cm, they must go into pre-moistened grooves in the ground. After the groove is covered with earth, clean sand must also be added there (so that its layer is 2 cm).
4. The boxes are covered with glass, and after 2 weeks the first shoots will sprout. Sometimes the germination period is delayed, this is normal, but there should not be a critical break.
5. When shoots appear, the temperature should be reduced to 10-12 degrees for a week, then raised again. But if the temperature is above 15 degrees, for a batun, such indicators will become disastrous. Yes, and the backlight is also needed, because the onion loves a long daylight hours.
6. Watering seedlings should be moderate, it can not be swamped. She will have to be fed twice: with superphosphate and potassium salt. The first top dressing is carried out a week after the shoots appeared, the second – after another two weeks.
7. The thickened seedlings must be thinned out, and you should have time to do this in the phase of the first real leaflet. The distance between the bushes should be about 3 cm.
8. Before planting seedlings in the ground, a week before it is hardened. And in the garden she will be in the first days of summer (the calculation is taken for the Moscow region and similar climatic regions). Holes in the garden are made with an interval of 12 cm.

Yet more often the batun is sown directly on the garden. It is not difficult to collect the seeds of this plant: from the second year of life, flower stalks appear in the batun. They are usually broken out so as not to reduce yield growth. But in this case, these arrows must be left on the bushes, because they will bloom in the middle of summer and seeds will appear in them. Ripe black seeds will still sit firmly in the inflorescences. This is where the plants are pulled out, collected in bunches and hung down with their heads. This should be done in a dry place, any container is substituted under them, or paper is simply laid out.

Dried seeds will begin to crumble on their own, it will not cost anything to extract them. The seeds are dried a little more, laid out in a thin layer, and then distributed for storage in paper bags. And then you can plant in the ground. If the batun begins to grow under the film, it is permissible to do this in early spring. You can send seeds to the ground in June, in the year of sowing, the crop will simply strengthen, but it will be possible to cut the leaves only the next year. There is also a pre-winter sowing campaign, and plantings should be made more dense, because a certain percentage of seeds will disappear in winter.

What else you need to know about planting onion-batun:

• this culture does not really like peatlands and acidic soils;
• on sandy loams and loams, onions give an excellent harvest;
• onions grow with good illumination of the site;
• preparing a bed for planting is elementary: dig, apply standard doses of fertilizers;
• seeds are sown in grooves spilled with water to a depth of 2,5 cm, row spacing – 30 cm;
• the soil warmed up to at least 5 degrees is a guarantee that the seeds will sprout, it just may not always take a predictable period (from 8 to 20 days);
• after planting, it is better to mulch the bed with humus, the layer should be thin.

There are no special efforts and difficulties in the process of growing batun. Only at first he needs attention. If the culture is annual, it should be thinned out as little as possible. Weeding and loosening the bed should be systematic, here the batun does not differ from other crops.

What else is included in the concept of plant care:

• if the soil in the garden dries out for a short time, the onion will not die, but prolonged drought is fatal for it: the feather coarsens, loses its taste;
• it is necessary to water the plant once or twice a week, focusing on the condition of the soil, watering consumption – a bucket per square meter;
• a couple of days before the final cut, the onion should be watered abundantly;
• an adult culture will tolerate sprinkling well, but the surface type of irrigation is still not the most preferable, do not fill the feathers too much;
• top dressing is needed after mass cutting of greenery, for the first year it will be an infusion of mullein in proportions of 1 to 10, and after it has been absorbed, a glass of wood ash per square meter is added, it must be shallowly embedded in the substrate with a hoe;
• in fertile soil, the batun will grow normally even without top dressing, and that they are needed will be signaled by slow growth and yellowness of the leaves;
• if the onion grows poorly, a weak solution of urea can be a lifesaver for it;
• it is necessary to massively cut not onions in a state of microgreens, but feathers that have already grown to 25-30 cm;
• if the onion is looked after, it will withstand 5 cuts over the summer, if not, no more than 3;
• cutting the leaves to the very frost is not the best idea, the plant must leave for the winter with leaves.

They grow onions, including at home. Since it does not tend to be dormant, year-round cultivation as a room crop is possible. From April to October, onions can grow on the balcony, and if you want a crop all year round, he will need a cool window sill.

Most of the varieties (from Russian Winter to April) are disease resistant. But still, nothing has perfect immunity on the site. So, a viral mosaic can hit the onion: this is an incurable disease, because all seedlings will have to be destroyed, otherwise the disease will occupy neighboring plants. Yellow spots begin to grow on the leaves, the onion immediately stops growing, it cannot be saved.

Fungal rust of the leaves can also overtake the batun: yellow-orange spots will lead to the drying of feathers. Plants that have already been affected by the fungus will have to be cut off, and the whole ones are treated with Fitosporin or Bordeaux liquid. Downy mildew will show itself as white spots: diseased plants must be destroyed, healthy ones should be treated with special preparations of copper or the same “Fitosporin”.

Of the onion pests, the onion weevil can become dangerous – a dark bug, which even at the stage of the larva gnaws feathers. Carrots growing in the neighborhood will save you from the onion fly: the pest cannot stand the smell of carrots. Thrips also feed on onion juice, and usually they do not attack one particular crop, but try to attack many plantings on the site. Insecticides are used.

It can be said that both the variety and its characteristics affect the frequency of collection. But if you average it, then every 3-4 weeks you can harvest onions, that is, completely cut off the leaves. The crop must be cut off completely, and the flower arrows must be broken out (they are left only if seeds are needed). Leaf cutting usually occurs with a sharp knife or scissors and almost at the ground.

Green oily onions are stored in a loosely closed plastic bag in the refrigerator; it is more convenient to stack them in bunches. Fresh foliage will be relevant for only a week, then it deteriorates. But onions can be cut, packaged in bags or containers and frozen. In winter, such a freeze (like microgreens) is great for making soups, main courses and more. By the way, it can be added to minced meat.

This onion sprouts even in not the most favorable conditions. It is not as beautiful as pink chives, but is more tenacious, and the sharp taste of its feathers complements many dishes. The vitamin composition helps to make food even healthier.