When should onions be removed from the garden?

Many gardeners are engaged in growing onions. To get a good harvest, you should not only take care of it properly, but also collect it at a certain time. In this article, we will consider when to remove onions from the garden, how to determine its maturity, when to dig out its different types, why it is not recommended to violate the rules for harvesting it.

Onions are a popular vegetable and can often be found in home gardens. This vegetable has a rather spicy taste, as well as unique bactericidal properties. It is used to prepare various dishes. Growing onions will not bring much trouble, because it is unpretentious to environmental conditions. But strong plants that already have a fully formed head cannot boast of keeping quality and excellent quality. To increase the shelf life of onions, you should properly collect them from the garden, as well as prepare for storage.

You can remove the onion from the garden only after it is fully ripe. Various factors affect the rate of ripening of this vegetable. These can be weather conditions, variety, fertilizing and watering regularity. To determine the readiness of the onion for digging, you need to pay attention to the following external signs:

• the leaves become less saturated in color, begin to turn yellow (if the onion receives abundant watering, then the leaves begin to turn yellow much later, so you should not wait for the mandatory yellowing of the feather);
• 2–3 weeks before harvest, the feather becomes sluggish, losing its original elasticity;
• the neck becomes thinner, elasticity is lost;
• onions can break a few days before harvesting in the neck area, after which the leaves fall on the soil;
• after digging, the onion roots are shortened and dried up;
• the scales change in color, after which it begins to peel off.

All of the above signs help to correctly determine the time when you need to dig onions. And this is very important, because overripe or unripe bulbs are suitable only for quick processing, because they are poorly stored.

Important! Usually onions are characterized by friendly ripening. If about 70% of the crop shows signs of readiness for harvest, then you can proceed to dig up the entire onion plantation.

It is necessary not only to correctly determine the timing of harvesting from the garden, but also to know how this is done correctly. Experienced gardeners recommend about half a month before digging up the onion, dig it out by about a third, and also forget about watering. If weather conditions interfere with this, then you can cover the beds from the rain with a plastic bag. In general, the rules for collecting onions are simple. The main goal is not to damage the bulbs, otherwise their shelf life will be significantly reduced. It is recommended to take into account the following advice from experts:

• carefully prying plants with a pitchfork is the best option for digging up onions (if this option is not suitable for some reason, then it is better to pull out the bulbs by hand);
• it is better to pull each vegetable separately, since the simultaneous digging of several heads can damage them;
• if dirt has stuck to the bulbs, it must be carefully cleaned; it is strictly forbidden to use shaking or beating with blows;
• the vegetable must be thoroughly dried, so it is laid out in the sun for several hours (to make it more convenient, it can be placed along the garden along the edge and only in one layer, it is advisable to turn the bulbs over from time to time).

You can usually harvest onions from the garden 3 months after planting. On average, the collection is made in early August. Digging is necessary when the ground is dry. If there were rains, then it is better to slightly shift the timing of onion harvesting. It is advisable to choose a favorable day for digging up the crop. It must be dry and sunny. If there is a slight breeze, then immediately when digging the bulbs will already be dried. It is better to harvest before lunch, then it will be able to dry out before evening, which will increase the storage time.

Some gardeners take into account the lunar calendar when choosing a favorable day. It is recommended to dig onions when the phase of the waning moon begins. The variety also influences the choice of the day, namely:

• winter – June 3, 12, 25 and 26;
• leek – October 24, 28 and 29;
• onion sets – from 11 to 15 and 20 July, 1, 2, 18, 26, 27 and 29 August, 2, from 23 to 26 and 30 September.

It is better not to stick to a specific date, since onions are planted on different days, so the timing can vary significantly. Many advise planting onions during the flowering of bird cherry, but in rainy summers there is no such possibility. Some gardeners do not attach much importance to the timing of planting onions, so they do it when they have free time.

Consider the variety of onions:

• early ripens up to 3 months;
• mid-season is desirable to collect in 3-4 months;
• late – from 4 months.

Important! The time of harvesting onions is affected by the weather. If there are few sunny days in the region, while there is a lot of rain, then more time will be needed for ripening. Usually in the northern regions and central Russia, mid-ripening varieties are planted, which are ideal for storage in winter. Usually the time of their collection is August. But an early or winter-planted variety is not suitable for storage. In the first case, it simply rots rather quickly, and in the second, it does not have time to ripen.

If spring onions are planted in warm soil (about 12 degrees at a depth of 50 cm), then the timing mainly varies depending on the region of growth.

• Southern regions of Russia and Ukraine. Usually landing is carried out in the second half of April. Harvesting is preferably done at the end of July. It should be remembered that a very hot summer negatively affects the quality of onions, because at soil temperatures above +70 degrees, onions can “cook”. To save the crop in small areas, use tulle or lutrasil.
• Central Russia and Belarus. In these areas, landing is usually carried out in early May, but the collection is already in early August.
• Moscow region. It is advisable to plan the harvest at the end of July or in the first half of August.
• Ural and northern regions. It is better to plant a vegetable in the second half of May, and already harvest it in mid-August. If it often rains in the region in summer, then you can delay the harvest, but not later than the beginning of September, since the first frosts soon come.

Winter onions are quite popular in cultivation, as they are usually planted in the fall. For planting, only onion sets are used, which are weak and small. It is better to refuse strong and large seedlings, since the plant should not switch to “shooting”. Small onions have a small amount of nutrients, so the arrows do not let go, but they survive autumn and winter well, gaining strength and energy. Already in the spring they give an excellent harvest.

The peculiarity of winter onions lies in the fact that seed material of poor quality is valued in autumn, since it will allow you to get an excellent harvest the next year, in addition, it will not be able to be stored under standard conditions until spring. And high-quality winter onions are cheaper. After the autumn planting, the onions are covered with sawdust, leaves and a variety of materials that will help to better endure the winter. When spring comes, planting needs loosening, watering, and top dressing. If the onion is planted before winter, then the general criteria for evaluating the ripening of this vegetable will help determine the period of its collection, for example, the lodging of a large amount of feathers or the evaluation of bulb scales.

Winter onions have clear advantages over other types. The main thing is that low-quality seed material can be used with benefit, an early harvest period, as a result, a plot is freed up for planting another vegetable. But not everything is perfect, since the cultivation of winter onions largely depends on nature.

This variety has a shorter growing season when compared, for example, with onion. The collection of shallots is carried out approximately at the same time as the onion (in July). If the crop is harvested in dry and windy weather, then it will be stored for a long time.

This variety does not form a turnip, like the species described above. Some varieties have a growing season of no more than 140 days. If you plant a leek in the spring, then the crop is harvested in the fall. Leek even in late autumn has green feathers. It is difficult for inexperienced gardeners to determine its readiness for harvest, so it is recommended to dig before the first frost, so the stem of the plants will become thicker.

There are different situations and various errors regarding the time when it is necessary to remove the onion from the garden. It is undesirable to dig up a vegetable that has not yet ripened, as it will not be able to be stored for a long time. Onions begin to deteriorate rather quickly in the following cases:

• if the cervix has not dried up, then it forms the so-called “gates” through which both viruses and bacteria can enter;
• the integumentary scales have not yet formed on the bulbs, but they have already been dug up, as a result they do not have a protective layer;
• if the plants still have living roots that absorb nutrients, and they have already been dug up, then stress sets in.

Important! It should be noted that the presence of green feathers will allow onions dug out prematurely to ripen already without soil. But such an onion cannot boast of a full-fledged mineral-vitamin complex. It has a shorter shelf life as it increases the likelihood of being infected by a virus or bacteria. If you dig the bulbs later than necessary, then storage difficulties are possible. An overripe onion has already dried up protective scales, which generally fall off during harvesting. As a result, the head remains open to various negative influences. In addition, re-growth of the root system is possible. In this case, nutrients go from the head to the roots, thereby weakening it. Then babies begin to form on it. Such a bow is not suitable for storage for the winter. It is advisable to use it first.

It is recommended to dig onions from the garden when the plant has already entered the dormant stage. This means that the heads already have fully formed tissues, and the processes of resuming life processes have not yet begun.