Almost no garden is complete without beds with onions. When growing this vegetable plant, it is important to know when to harvest and how to store it properly.

When harvesting from the beds

To lay onions for a long time in storage, it must be removed in a timely manner. We will show you how to determine if a vegetable plant is ready for harvesting by external signs, using mathematical calculations or the lunar calendar. Remove the bulbs in a timely manner. The observance of the correct deadlines determines the level of the crop, its quality and duration of laying. It is by the time the stems have fallen on the bed that the maximum amount of valuable elements is collected in the bulbs.

Too early harvesting of onions from the beds leads to the fact that further through a thick and open neck, diseases penetrate the bulbs, which can destroy most of the crop. And in those bulbs, which it was too late to pull out, the roots grow back, which also makes them vulnerable to diseases.

By external signs

There are 3 external signs by which gardeners determine that onions can be dug up and stored:

1. Yellowing, drying and lodging of the stems.
2. Thinning and drying of the neck of the bulb.
3. Drying of the top layer of the peel on the head.

Typically, such symptoms are observed in August.

Important! If the weather is cool and humid in summer, then yellowing and lodging of the pen may not be observed.

Mathematical method

If external signs are in doubt, then you can play it safe and calculate the day of cleaning with the help of simple mathematical calculations. To do this, remember the exact date of planting the vegetable plant. To it you need to add 90-150 days. How exactly the number of days you need to add will depend on the variety planted. So, early ripening varieties require harvesting after 90 days, mid-ripening - after 120, mid-late - after 140, late - after 150.When calculating in this way, it is also necessary to take into account what weather was during the ripening of the crop. If the summer turned out to be warm and sunny, then the ripening of the vegetable can occur a little earlier. Conversely, in cold weather, the harvesting period may be delayed for some time.

According to the lunar calendar

Some gardeners calculate the readiness of the vegetable for harvesting, using the lunar calendar. Navigating it is easy and simple. All vegetables that grow underground are recommended to be harvested when the moon is in a waning phase. It was at this time that the plant juices were sent to the bulb. But after the new moon, they rush into the stems. You can monitor the lunar phases yourself, simply by observing the state of the moon, or by orienting yourself on the calendar.

Important! It is not recommended to remove vegetables from the garden, including onions, in the full moon.

How to prepare root crops for harvesting

Onion harvesting time can be accelerated. This must be done if the vegetable is not yet ripe, and soon they promise cold or rainy weather.

Gardeners advise 2 ways:

1. Tilt the soil away from the stems. So the stems will soon turn yellow.
2. Shorten the roots with a shovel to 5-6 cm.

But you don’t need to trim the green stems. So the bulbs may not ripen. Before proceeding with harvesting, the plant must be properly prepared. To do this, do the following manipulations:

1. Late June - July (depending on the region of cultivation) bend greens to the soil. Thus, it is possible to achieve the maturation of larger bulbs, since all the nutrients will be directed not to the development of the stems, but to the growth of the underground part.
2. Stop watering 2 weeks before harvesting. Otherwise, aging may be delayed.

Onion Harvesting Technology

Onions are harvested in two ways:

1. By hand.
2. Mechanized.

In the first case, if the soil is loose, then the onion must be carefully pulled out by the feathers with your hands. When harvesting from heavy soils, a shovel or pitchfork will be required. These tools make easy digging of the heads. The mechanized method is used to collect large volumes of the crop. Use special onion complexes.

Did you know? The ancient Romans believed that the onion gives strength and courage to the legionnaires, so the vegetable was required in the soldering of soldiers.

Onion Harvesting Rules

To get a high-quality crop that can be stored for a long time, it must be removed not only on time, but also correctly. There are several collection rules:

1. Start harvesting when 60–80% of the stems have fallen to the ground. If all feathers have died, the taste of the bulbs will be lower.
2. The weight of the fruit during harvesting should be 15-23% of the weight of the whole plant.
3. Harvest must be done in 10 days (this is how long the period from mass to complete lodging of the pen lasts).
4. You need to plan the collection in the morning so that the heads can dry by evening.
5. Cleaning should be done only in fine weather.
6. After stretching, the heads are cleaned of soil only by hand, so as not to damage them.
7. Tops need to be cut off only after complete drying.
8. If drying is carried out on an open bed, then at night the heads need to be covered with plastic wrap.

Collection rules

Seed fruits must be removed, adhering to the following rules:

1. Start harvesting when most of the stems are on the ground, but there are still standing feathers. This usually occurs 3 months after planting.
2. The optimum temperature for cleaning is + 20 ° С.
3. If rainy weather is predicted for the planned harvesting dates, then the fruits can be dug up a little earlier. This will protect the heads from the repeated release of roots and decay. Ripening of fruits must be done during drying.
4. You can speed up the cleaning process with the help of mechanization - the use of an onion lift.

Features of onion harvesting in adverse weather conditions

In regions with an unfavorable climate, the process of harvesting a vegetable plant will be slightly different. For example, if in areas with an excellent climate for farming, fruits are harvested from the ground in the second or third decades of August, and in the middle lane, from the end of summer to the beginning of autumn, then in colder regions the harvesting process should be planned 1-2 weeks earlier.

For planting in such regions, varieties with early and medium early ripening are usually chosen. Below are recommendations for cleaning heads in various regions of Russia. However, in any case, the harvest time will depend on the weather conditions, variety and external signs of ripening.

Harvest Storage

In order for a vegetable to lie for a long time and retain its valuable substances, it must be properly stored and prepared for storage. Preparation will consist in post-harvest processing, namely, thoroughly drying the bulbs and pruning the roots and feathers.

Onion storage

Here are some ways to dry it:

1. Spread in a single layer in the open air, periodically turning the heads for uniform drying.
2. Place the bulbs in a well-ventilated area. You can put them in nets or hang them from the ceiling.
3. Weave into bundles, braids and hang under a canopy.

The drying procedure protects the heads from rotting. In time, it takes about 2 weeks. After it is necessary to trim feathers, roots and culling. Among the bulbs sent for storage, it must not be allowed to be spoiled, rotten, with dents or scratches. Otherwise, they will infect other fruits. Also need to discard unripe, too small and overripe bulbs.

Did you know? In the Middle Ages, warriors wore an onion or garlic on their bodies as an amulet, believing that it could protect against weapon damage.

After that, you can put the onions in storage in such conditions:

• cellar with air temperature 0 ... + 3 ° С and humidity up to 85%;
• room with temperature up to + 22 ° С and humidity 50–70%.

In the cellar, the fruits must be stored in wooden crates or suspended in braids, bundles or in nets. In containers, bulbs can be sprinkled with sand. Mandatory conditions for the long-term preservation of onions are good ventilation and periodic inspection with timely culling of low-quality bulbs. At home, heads can be stored in boxes of wood, cardboard, wicker baskets, fabric bags.They should not stand in the sun. They need to be put in a dark place. To save space, onions can be dried. Peeled onions should be cut into rings and put on a baking sheet in one layer, and then put in the oven. Dry at a temperature of + 50 ... + 60 ° C for 3-4 hours. Then the rings should be placed in a glass jar.

How to store onion sets

Onions intended for spring sowing should be sorted and sorted after harvesting. It is necessary to select the whole, intact and not rotten copies. You also need to select oatmeal - very small fruits (less than 1 cm in diameter) that do not last until spring. They are suitable for landing under the winter. Then the bulbs need to be dried well. Drying is carried out in the same ways as described in the subsection above. Sevoc can be stored in a warm and cold way. The first involves the placement of bulbs in room conditions in the absence of sunlight, temperature + 17 ... + 24 ° С and humidity 65–72%.

Important! When stored in a cold way, the bulbs must be removed from the storage location and placed in warm conditions for 10 days before spring planting.

When stored in cold conditions (in a cellar, basement, glazed but unheated balcony), the temperature should be from 0 ° C to + 3 ° C. For storage, wooden crates, trellised containers, fabric bags, nets are suitable. Bulbs can also be stored in bulk with a 15–20 cm layer. Oatmeal is stored in a dark, dry place until autumn. Winter onions are planted in early October (before the first frost), and harvesting is done after 200–250 days (depending on variety).Usually winter onions bring large fruits. So, onions are a healthy and unpretentious vegetable that is easy to grow in a garden or summer cottage. The timing of its maturation depends on the time of planting. You need to clean it exactly at the time calculated by mathematical means, according to the lunar calendar or according to certain external signs. If the bulbs are put in storage under the right conditions, then they can lie until spring.