In the second half of August, gardeners begin harvesting onions. Now the main task for them is to save the onion until the next harvest. As often happens, with a seemingly excellent harvest, half of the bulbs are lost during the winter. And the point is not only in weather conditions, but in how correctly the onions were harvested, processed and dried. What you need to know about cleaning and storing this vegetable at home in order to avoid losses?
Instruction manual
1
They start harvesting the onions when the feather of the plants has died. If you do this earlier, then the onion will not have time to form a sufficient number of opaque scales and the neck remains open. The causative agents of a dangerous disease - neck rot, penetrate into it, which leads to large losses during storage.
Late onion harvesting also negatively affects its quality and keeping quality, as overripe bulbs crack and give additional roots, which reduces their resistance to disease.
Harvesting onions is best in dry weather at a temperature of at least 20 degrees. Ideally, onions should warm up in the sun for 5-7 days, because ultraviolet rays kill pathogens.
2
If the pen is still green, do not rush to trim. The leaves contain nutrients that will flow into the bulbs for another 2 to 3 weeks and contribute to their ripening. Bulbs are laid in a dry, ventilated place until the tops dry.
3
In unstable weather, the onions are stacked in low boxes or on plywood, so that it is convenient to carry it outside in sunny weather, and bring it back in the evening.
4
An indicator that the onion is well dried is rustling when touching the onion. But you can not allow overdrying, because while the outer scales crack, the bulb is exposed and then poorly stored. In addition, overdried onions are very poorly cleaned.
5
Cut the onion, leaving a neck 3-4 cm long. If the bulb is large and the neck is thick, a longitudinal cross-shaped incision is made on it to dry out. Such onions are best stored separately and used first.
The roots are carefully trimmed without damaging the bottom of the bulb.
6
When harvesting, you need to take care of the seed for the next year. Onions for seeds are taken right on the bed from the most productive nests, they should be about 4 cm in diameter.
7
Unreliable, dubious bulbs must be separated from the rest and used for food or for the preparation of winter salads.
Useful advice
Sometimes the onion is affected by black mold during storage. Ill bulbs need to be selected, dried and dusted with chalk.
Use in food first.
