Onions are a good neighbor for many vegetable and flower crops. But it can also have a negative effect on some of them. In order to get a good yield, it is necessary to properly organize the neighborhood of vegetables and carry out proper care for each crop.
Useful crops
Onions are one of the most popular vegetable crops that gardeners grow in their backyards. It is not particularly demanding in care, resistant to most diseases. Only the onion fly poses an increased danger to him. This vegetable also remains tolerant to the composition of the soil. The only exception is limestone soil. Given all these requirements, you can grow a good crop of onions of any variety.
Sometimes, even with proper care, the onion grows poorly, and the harvest remains unimportant. In this case, it is necessary to pay attention to the neighbors of the vegetable crop in the garden. It is possible that they are the cause of such poor development, since they have a negative impact.
In order to decide on useful neighbors for onions, you need to learn about some of its features. The fact is that this vegetable has a rather weak root system. The roots are thin, located in the upper layers of the soil. The maximum deepening is 30 cm. He loves sunny areas and moderately plentiful watering.
One of the favorable neighbors for this vegetable is carrots. It very well drives away a dangerous pest – an onion fly. In addition, onions and carrots have almost the same requirements in relation to the soil, so they can be safely planted side by side. These vegetables will get along well both in neighboring beds and in the aisles of each other.
On adjacent beds, you can grow onions and garlic. They do not have any negative effect on each other, but they will not get along on the same bed, because they take the same nutrients from the soil. This, in turn, can lead to soil depletion and, as a result, to a decrease in the yield of both crops.
A good neighbor for onions is beets. Onions have a beneficial effect on the size of the root crop. As it develops, it releases long and dense green feathers that provide shade. Shady loves beets.
Onions can be safely grown in neighboring beds with cabbage. Various types of this vegetable are suitable: broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi. Cabbage needs abundant watering. That part of the moisture that turns out to be superfluous will be absorbed by the onion turnips with pleasure.
But on the same bed, such vegetables do not get along very well, since both prefer a lot of sunlight. If you plant them on one piece of land, they will overlap it.
Onions are also a good neighbor for vegetables such as:
- turnip;
- tomatoes;
- radish.
It actively repels pests that attack these vegetable crops. Tomatoes are affected by earthen flea. Feeling the onion smell nearby, this pest immediately leaves the site.
Crops such as dill, strawberries and strawberries, cucumbers, lettuce, cilantro have a good combination with onions. But it is not recommended to grow them on the same bed. Cucumbers and all greens love abundant watering, from which the onion can begin to rot.
neutral plants
Neutral vegetable crops for onions include those that, located on adjacent beds, do not carry any benefit. At the same time, there is no negative impact either. These plants include the following.
- Zucchini. They, like onions, easily cope with a slight cold snap, like moderate watering and weeding.
- Parsley. These vegetable crops are quite capable of growing on the same bed without causing any harm to each other.
- Different types of salads.
All of the above plants coexist well with each other, having almost no effect. They can be planted together without worrying about a deterioration in quality or a decrease in the quantity of the crop.
Unwanted joint landings
There are vegetables and other cultivated plants that do not get along well with onions in the same garden. In addition, they are highly discouraged from growing even on neighboring land plots. One of these undesirable vegetable crops is cabbage. The thing is that both vegetables take the same nutrients from the soil.
So, both onions and white cabbage love nitrogen. If they are grown in close proximity to each other, the soil becomes very scarce. Onions and cabbage begin to lose nutrients. This immediately affects their external condition, and then the amount of the crop.
Cabbage is attacked by various pests. Small holes appear on the forks and leaves – as a result of insect attacks. The pen begins to turn yellow much earlier than the due date, lies on the ground. In this state, it has to be dug up, although in fact it has not yet reached the peak of its maturity.
In addition, cabbage is often very spreading. Thick and large leaves shade the onion bed. This also negatively affects the condition of this vegetable.
Other highly undesirable neighbors for onions are legumes. Beans, peas and beans can be safely attributed to this category. Initially, such a statement seems erroneous, since experienced gardeners know that legumes and onions do not take identical nutrients from the soil. But they, indeed, cannot be grown next to each other, since legumes actively give new shoots, which can simply stifle the vegetable, preventing proper development. At the same time, the bow does not have any negative impact on its part.
It is not recommended to grow a plant such as sage in the immediate vicinity of this vegetable. It, like legumes, is a fairly aggressive crop. By its activity, sage can interfere with the normal development of onion turnips.
Many gardeners claim that with proper care, onions grow well with neighbors such as legumes and white cabbage. But in reality this is not so. In any case, these crops will negatively affect the onion bed.
If you plant onions with more favorable neighbors, then the harvest will delight not only in quantity, but also in quality. But sometimes it happens that even near the most favorable neighbors, the vegetable begins to wither, and the autumn harvest is meager. In this case, we can talk about improper care of the crop or poor-quality soil preparation.
The fact is that not only neighbors, but also predecessors play an important role for this vegetable. The latter refers to those vegetable crops that were grown on the current onion garden a year or two before. Here it is necessary to focus on those cultures that feed on the same substances with onions.
As an example, you can take the same white cabbage. Since it takes a very large amount of nitrogen from the soil, after its cultivation, the soil becomes scarce for this mineral. If you plant onions in the same place next year, then even with favorable neighbors and proper care, you should not expect a big harvest.
Before making an onion bed at this place, the soil must first be prepared. For this, it is recommended to introduce nitrogen-containing fertilizers into the soil for two years in a row. Already after the soil is again enriched with the substance, on this place you can safely grow onions of any variety. But even in this case, one should not forget about the right neighbors.
If you take into account all these features, observe crop rotation and initially correctly place vegetables on the plot, then the yield will always be high. At the same time, if there is appropriate care, not only turnips, but also onion feathers will be pleased with the quality.
