Rocambole and its cultivation

In recent decades, there has been an increased interest in everything exotic in horticulture and horticulture. Rocambole (garlic onion) has not escaped its share of interest. Often the culture is confused with Suvorov’s onion and is considered a hybrid of onion and garlic. All disagreements give rise to many questions. We will try to give answers to the most common ones in the article.

The hybrid specimen in question in science has the name of a hair onion. Rocambole has many names: Egyptian onion, elephant garlic, Spanish garlic, horse garlic. And this is just a short list of all its names. Hair onion is a perennial culture, it belongs to the Lilein family. There is an external similarity with a leek. The height of the culture reaches up to 1,2 m, the leaves are wide, pale green in color, with a silvery wax coating. The flowering plant has a large and beautiful peduncle in the form of lilac bells, forming the shape of a ball. It has a slight garlic smell, the onion comes with the taste of onion and garlic, without the particular sharpness characteristic of garlic.

Often gardeners confuse rocambole and Suvorov’s bow, but there are differences between them:

• the rocambol bulb is large and, as a rule, weighs a lot;
• Suvorov’s onion must be well soaked or marinated before use, and rocambole can be consumed raw;
• rocambole is subject to a greater number of diseases.

Recently hybrids of onions crossed with garlic have become popular.

The origin of rocambole is very vague, but it has been known for a very long time. The area of ​​​​growth is Southern and Western Europe, Asian countries, the Caucasus mountains and the Crimean peninsula. The Chinese and Koreans have been growing rocambole since ancient times and use it not only in cooking, but also in folk medicine.

In European countries, hybrids of the Dutch selection are most common. In America, the plant is classified with garlic. On Wikipedia, the culture is called sand leek. In Russia, hair bow has been known since the XNUMXth century under the name of skoroda.

Many conventional and hybrid varieties are widespread in Russia, however, the only variety of parsley onion, Zhemchug, is listed in the seed register. Consider the characteristics of this and other varieties together with hybrids.

• “Pearl”. It was entered into the State Register in 2006. The patent for it is owned by the GNU VNII of selection and seed production of vegetable crops, it was brought out for cultivation in Siberia. The variety is characterized as mid-season. Gives a flower arrow. The color of the leaf is light green, with a mild wax coating, the length of the leaf is from 45 to 60 cm, the width is about 3-4 cm. The bulb is large, rounded flat. The bulb weighs an average of 50 g, there are 4-6 cloves in the head, approximately 12 g each. Under the integumentary scales, “babies” appear, from 3 to 5 pieces, weighing up to 1,5 g each. The variety is sharp, the average yield under favorable weather conditions is 1,9 kg / sq. m, the plant is resistant to frost. Culture in the free trade is poorly distributed.
• “White elephant”. The hybrid was obtained by selection from Belarusian agronomists; it was not included in the register of the republic. It has excellent taste qualities. The bulb is very large, weighing up to 150-200 g. Without flower arrows. Frost-resistant, excellent resistance to fusarium. Can be grown in regions with short summers.
• “Janissary”. Bred by amateur selection in 2016. The bulb is very large, can reach a weight of half a kilogram. High resistance to viral and fungal diseases. Sensitive to frost.
• “Red Rocambole”. There are about 8-10 large cloves in the bulb. It tolerates high humidity much better than other varieties. The teeth are about the same in weight. The taste is strong and spicy.
• “Ukrainian Rocambole”. The bulb is formed by cloves in the amount of 8-9 pieces. Resistant to adverse weather conditions, diseases. The taste is spicy. Of the shortcomings, only a short shelf life is noted.
• Garlic Montana Giant. Bred by Italian selection. The fruit is formed by large teeth in the number of 5-7 pieces. Easy to peel off the shell. The taste of garlic is sharp, with a strong garlic smell.

There are no fixed dates for planting rocambole: it is planted both in the spring and under the snow. The choice of planting method largely depends on the variety you have: frost-resistant ones are planted in the fall, the rest in the spring. When planted in winter, the bulbs grow larger. The best time for planting winter rocambole is 2-3 weeks before the onset of the first real frosts, so the plants will have time to root. Spring rocambole must be planted before the earth warms up. With a late spring planting, the seeds will go into a single-toothed bulb.

Onions grow well in any soil, but soil with good drainage and humus is needed to get the best result. It is not necessary to fertilize it with fresh manure, this reduces the yield.

Rocambole is considered a picky plant, and if you grow it correctly, then you will be provided with a big harvest. The care technology is exactly the same as for all plants: watering, loosening and fertilizing are necessary. To obtain giant heads, you need to be attentive to agricultural technology. In Siberia, rocambole is grown only in spring, because the planting material will die due to too low temperatures.

Rocambole needs regular grooming to grow. If you want to get large bulbs and good “kids”, then you need to periodically water the beds. Watering is carried out twice a week, but if the soil is heavy (for example, loam), then it is shed once every 6 days. Skipping watering negatively affects the formation of cloves.

The first time loosening during winter planting is done as soon as the snow melts and the earth dries. With the spring method of planting, they are loosened with the appearance of the first sprouts. Loosening should be carried out between rows and shoots.

Weeding is carried out if necessary. When using mulch, there will not be very many weeds.

When organics are introduced during planting, it will be possible not to use top dressing in the future. If necessary, fertilization is carried out according to the following scheme.

• The first top dressing is done with nitrogen fertilizer, usually ammonium nitrate in the amount of one tablespoon per square meter. During winter planting, top dressing is carried out on snow cover at the end of winter or early spring. During spring planting, top dressing is done with pecking of the first sprouts.
• The second time fertilizers are applied when 3-4 true leaves are formed.. Approximately 10 g of bird droppings or mullein are added to a 200-liter bucket of water, 30 ml of urea is poured into the resulting mixture.
• The third portion of fertilizers is carried out half a month after the first one. We introduce nitrophoska fertilizer to the beds. On a 10-liter bucket of water we put 2 tbsp. l. nitrophoska. We carry out top dressing at the rate of 10 liters of water per meter squared.
• The fourth portion of Rocambole fertilizer is made with the maturation of the heads. For her, add 10 g of potassium sulfate and double superphosphate to a 30-liter bucket of water, then pour the soil with the resulting mixture at the rate of 10 liters of liquid per 2 square meters. Fertilization is carried out in conjunction with irrigation.

Mulching is necessary to protect plantings from excessive cold, to curb the growth of weeds. It also creates a barrier to the formation of a crust on the soil after watering. When mulching, it is important to consider the method of planting. During winter planting, beds are covered with mulch from 3 to 10-15 cm in autumn. Sawdust, mowed and chopped grass, straw or covering non-woven materials are used as a coating. For spring planting, mulching is done with a layer of 3-4 cm, mainly grass, straw or covering cloth.

Rocambole breeds “kids”. It flowers and even forms seeds, but they are barren. “Kids” appear in the second year at the single-toothed bulb in the lower part. They retain the ability to germinate for about three years, provided they are stored in a dry room with a temperature not exceeding +8 degrees.

Planting material for the second and third year sprouts better than freshly harvested. During spring planting, a single-toothed bulb grows, which in the second year will produce seed material.

To get the greatest harvest, one care is not enough, it is also necessary to carry out prevention and treatment for diseases and pests. The main enemies of the rocambole crop are the following ailments and parasites.

• Rust. The disease is expressed in the form of small light brown follicles that affect the leaves of plants. They fight rust by irrigation or spilling beds with sulfur compounds.
• White rot. The disease occurs at the places of permanent planting and it is extremely difficult to deal with it. Microbes infect the soil and are manifested by the growth of white or gray mold with black dots. It will not work to cure rocambole, it remains only to destroy the entire crop in the bud. The soil is disinfected with chemical agents and it is better not to plant bulbs in this place for 15 years.
• Fuzarioz. The most famous disease of onions and garlic. The disease manifests itself by gradual yellowing of the leaves and wilting of the plant. First, the tips begin to turn yellow, gradually wilting descends to the bulb. The disease is considered incurable, therefore, if a diseased plant is found, it must be dug up and destroyed. The soil is treated with a solution of copper sulfate, and the remaining plants are sprayed with solutions of fungicidal preparations.
• Thrips and mites. Pests of all bulbous crops. Biting and sucking the juice from the leaves and stem, they disrupt the vegetative system, which leads to oppression and death. Parasitic wounds will be an excellent source for viruses and bacteria. The reduction of foci of the spread of thrips and ticks is carried out by processing the mulch. It is popular to use a special sticky tape or a pheromone trap.
• Lukovaâ flies. The pest lays its eggs in a leaf cushion. The hatched larvae eat through the stem to the head and settle in it. The leaves of a plant infected with an onion fly begin to turn yellow, wither and die. Only chemical preparations help from the onion fly.
• Nematode. Nematode larvae also live in bulbs and feed on them. It is similar to white rot or onion fly. The nematode is dangerous because it can lead to the death of the entire crop. Pest prevention is the preparation and disinfection of the soil cover. Chemicals are used to fight.

An important step in obtaining a good harvest is harvesting carried out on time. It is influenced by natural conditions and the method of planting, but it is necessary to focus primarily on the appearance of the rocambole. If, with proper care, the lower leaves began to dry out, then this indicates the ripeness of the onion. You can remove rocambole from the garden 2-4 weeks after cutting the arrows. If you doubt the ripeness of rocambole, then you do not need to dig up the entire crop at once, you can dig up one plant and see. Overexposure of rocambole in the ground leads to stratification of the cover of the bulbs and the falling off of the “children”. You won’t be able to keep these bulbs for a long time.

Rocambole heads are dug up, lumps of soil are gently shaken over the grate: this is how the separated “children” are sifted out. The heads are removed under a canopy, where they are aged for 2-3 weeks. Then they inspect the heads and, having established themselves in their dryness, cut off the root system and cut the trunk 3-5 cm above the head. The instances are then bound and placed in the prepared storage.

During the cultivation of crops on the site, gardeners noted several interesting facts.

• The head of the rocambole has quite significant dimensions: about 6-10 cm in circumference, while the mass is 200-400 g. Compared with garlic and onions, the mass of a large head of ordinary garlic is 120-150 g, and the mass of a large onion fruit is 220-240 g. good care, representatives of the onion comb grow up to 500-600 g.
• When grown, “babies” are formed into single-pronged bulbs weighing approximately 40-50 g. But in the third year, the single-tooth head forms huge garlic heads with shares weighing up to 80 g. With a lack of heat, the single-tooth grows to a significant size (up to 100 g) and is divided into cloves for 4 years already. The breeding cycle of rocambol is not the same, sometimes it is 3, and sometimes 4 years.
• The variety of seed material is amazing: they can become “kids”, single-toothed bulbs or teeth.
• Onion-garlic came to America from Europe with emigrants. Currently, 35% of the world’s total crop grows in Peru.
• In the United States (in the city of Gilroy), a food festival is held every year, where the basis of all dishes is rocambole. Dozens of the best chefs from all states come to the festival.