Onions finally harvested

[svalli]

Onions have been one of the easiest crop I grow, but last years I have got some problems with them. Maybe I did not pay so much attention earlier and now I have been fussing too much and causing the problems with my own actions. Earlier I got problems with flower stalks and weeds, but those were overcome by buying sets, which were kept in warm location and storing them in warm before planting and using black plastic mulch to suppress weeds. Last season I got a lot of onion maggots, because same field has had onions growing for decades. This season I moved my planting to a new location and there is no onion maggots, but now there is a lot onions with thick necks and the leaves and stems stayed green and lush even it is getting late in the season. On Saturday I had to finally go and lift all the onions, because weather is getting cool and humid, so there was a risk of onions starting to rot or maybe even a hard frost hitting before I can go next time to the field. This is the latest time when I have lifted my onions. Usually I have done it in mid August.


I have read what causes the thick necks and late maturity and have determined that it was caused by the late start of growing due to dry June and too much calcium nitrate applied in end of July. Next season I will have to remember to arrange watering for dry periods and limit the nitrogen application. I have now learned valuable lessons of crop rotation, fertilization, mulching and planting material selection and handling. Maybe next year everything will go perfectly and I will get a superb harvest of onions

I am not totally disappointed for the harvested onions. Those are the largest ones, which I have ever got, but getting them to keep in storage worries a bit. I separated the ones, which look like giant spring onions to be used first and try also dice and dehydrate some of them. The bigger ones, with thinner necks are now on a wire rack in garage above a heater. I hope that those will cure even the stems had not started to fall over like normally before harvest. Varieties which I grew this year are yellow Sturon and red Braunschweiger and both kind were planted from sets.


Sari