In the composition of green onions you can find vitamins, minerals, antioxidants. In winter, a volatile Phytoncide vegetable serves as a prophylactic for colds and viral diseases. It is not necessary to buy greens at the market or in the store - at any time of the year you can get a good harvest in an apartment on the windowsill, with a little effort and spending a minimum of time.
Did you know? Onion juice is used as part of masks for the treatment of pigmentation: freckles turn pale after this procedure.
Varieties of onions for growing on the windowsill
Onion leaves, green tubular feathers, contain more vitamin C than the bulbs themselves. By arranging a bed of affordable size on the windowsill and planting the vegetable in stages, you can provide a menu for the whole winter with vitamins and other useful substances, at the same time saving the family budget.
The selection of varieties for growing on the windowsill is extensive:
- Schnitt: bush onions (chisel, sibulet, Siberian), herbaceous biennial plant. Propagated by small false bulbs or seeds. The feather has all the beneficial properties of onions, has a more delicate taste. Cut leaves grow quickly, during the winter period you can collect two crops.
- Batun. The variety is perennial, grown from seeds indoors or on the balcony. Balcony plants grow faster, harvest from April to October, cutting the leaf selectively. Indoor batun fruits all year round, the feather is thinner, the taste is softer.
- Shallot: in an apartment gives twice as much yield of green onions than ordinary onions, leaves grow faster. Grow from bulbs: the larger the diameter, the thicker the feather. Succulent leaves have a medium-sharp taste, the first crop is received ten days after planting.
- Leek has a delicate taste with a delicate aroma. At room conditions, you can grow from the root, the first collection of leaves - after 2.5-3 weeks.
- Canadian (multi-tiered) onions propagate by bulbs: basal and airy. At room conditions, after 15-20 days, you can cut off the leaves for eating. The disadvantage is the low shelf life of the feathers.
- Slime has a delicate taste. Leaves retain juiciness and softness throughout the growing season. Greens are grown from the shoots of two- or three-year-old bushes divided in October into shoots. The optimal pen height for cooking is 20–25 cm.
- Onions: Spassky, Union, Strigunovsky are suitable for planting on a windowsill or balcony. Use turnips with a diameter of 24 cm, or sevk of medium diameter (1-2 cm) The most common type of onion for home growing on a green feather.
Methods of growing on the windowsill
Several methods are known for growing green onion mass in containers installed on the window: in soil, in water, on a substrate of sawdust, mineral wool, paper, in large plastic jars, bottles.
Important! Instead of soil, you can use mineral wool. To avoid damage to hands, wear protective gloves.
In the ground
A feather is grown from medium bulbs and large bottoms, seeds and onion sets are used. Scheme of growing greens:
- The depth of the tank is 15–20 cm. Drainage, a layer of soil (at least 10 cm) are laid on the bottom.
- Sprouted bulbs sprinkled with earth to the "shoulders" and laid at a distance of 1-2 cm, you can close.
- The bottoms of large onions are placed in squares of 4 × 4 cm, sprinkled with 1-2 cm with a layer of soil, covered with a film.
- The containers are cleaned in a dark place at a temperature of + 22 ° C.
- After the emergence of the shoots, the shelter is removed, the dishes with plants are placed on a well-lit window sill.
With a lack of space, turnip onions for greens are planted in plastic three- or five-liter bottles.
- A neck is cut off at the tank, and holes are cut out in the walls, with a diameter slightly smaller than the bulb or the sevka.
- The soil is covered in layers: to the first holes, lay the bulbs through them.
- Well watered a layer of the earth.
- Layers are added until the bottle is completely filled with soil and the bulbs are laid in each hole.
- Turnips set the top above the holes made so that the leaves stretched up.
Video: growing green onions in a plastic bottle
You can plant seeds on the feather. They are embedded in the ground to a depth of 1 cm, in rows of 7-8 cm, covered with polyethylene and germinated at a temperature of +22 ... + 25 ° С. After the appearance of the sprouts, the containers are installed on the window, if necessary, they are illuminated with a fluorescent lamp for up to 12 hours a day. Perennial onions are grown from the divide of 2-3 summer bushes, in which the roots are cut by 10 cm, the trunk by 2/3. Rapid rooting will provide a temperature of +10 ... + 12 ° С, forcing is carried out at a temperature of +18 ... + 21 ° С. For regular harvesting, planting is carried out in several terms, with an interval of 5-7 days.
Did you know? Reports on the amount of funds found in the Cheops pyramid, spent on the acquisition of garlic and onions to feed the slaves who worked there.
In a bowl of water
Known from the lessons of botany, the method of growing in water is more laborious and troublesome: water should not cover the entire bulb, only the root system. Growing greens in a glass of water, turnip set on a circle cut out of cardboard, the inner ring of which has a smaller diameter than the onion, and the outer is mounted on the edges of the glass. You can use a large tank in which foam plastic floats are installed with holes for the bulb.For the rapid growth of juicy feathers, they use settled water, and change the roots daily to germinate. Overgrown roots, green sprouts and dishes are carefully washed with running water daily. Aeration of large capacity is carried out by an aquarium pump. The room temperature is not higher than + 22 ° C and not lower than + 17 ° C, then the leaves are dense, bright in color, do not fall. Crops begin to be harvested at a pen height of 15–20 cm, cutting off in batches as they grow.
Sawdust is used as the basis for growing onions. Turnips are tightly laid on a layer of wood shavings. The surface of the sawdust is moistened with a spray gun. It is better to install a bowl with onions in another, larger than the diameter, so that water does not flow out onto the windowsill or does not evaporate too rapidly.
Important! Growing a green feather at home, it is better not to use mineral fertilizers. Harvest will be environmentally friendly and more useful.
A small amount of green onions can be obtained using toilet paper as a base. Before laying onions, the paper is well watered, then squeezed out, leveled over the entire area of the used dishes. Only the root system is covered, onions are laid tightly. Moisturize the paper regularly without filling it with water; it is better to use a spray gun.
Selection and preparation of bulbs for planting
You can get a high yield of green onions at home by preparing the planting material step by step:
- Bulb sorting: choose smooth, uniformly sized fruits without damage, with sprouts.
- Trim the tops of the turnips and roots, if any. Manipulation will help sprout leaves faster, more evenly and simultaneously. The tops of turnips are pruned, even if there are small shoots: the procedure "evens out" the timing of germination of greenery.
- For a few seconds, the bulbs in the husk are dipped in boiling water to the "shoulders". At the same time, the vegetable is hardened, the husk becomes softer, the occurrence of powdery mildew is excluded. The feather will sprout faster.
Selection of soil for growing onions
A spicy vegetable does not like acid soil. The pH level is 6-7 - the most acceptable for growing onions. At home, acidity is determined by:
- litmus indicator: After dissolving a small portion of the soil in water, they drop the litmus there. Red color and its shades indicate high acidity; shades of blue - alkali; unchanged - neutral soil, the most suitable for planting vegetables;
- using school white chalk. Powdered chalk (1 teaspoon) is poured into a bottle with a solution of a small amount of soil (2 tablespoons) and water (5 tablespoons). A rubber fingertip is put on the neck of the bottle, and the container is shaken. The reaction between acid and chalk will fill the fingertip: the higher the acidity, the more. With a neutral pH, the rubber tip will not change position.
Ready soil can be purchased at the flower shop. The packaging must indicate the level of acidity. Using garden or leaf soil, it is preliminarily calcined in the oven and sieved, purifying from mechanical impurities and plant debris. If necessary, add peat, sand.
Bulb planting pattern
The location depends on the method of growing, the size of the tank, the size of the bulbs:
- Bulbs are planted in a drawer with earth in squares with a side of 2-3 cm, deepening by 1-1.5 cm.
- On sawdust, paper, turnip substrate are laid tightly to each other.
- In glasses of water - each vegetable separately, using a container of a smaller diameter than planting material.
- Layers in the bottle - every 5-6 cm.
Optimal conditions for growing onions on the windowsill
Onions - unpretentious plant. Observing the optimal agrotechnical rules, it is possible to germinate onions on greens all year round, providing the table with a vitamin supplement.
Location and Lighting
The best place for a home garden is a balcony. Alternating natural and artificial lighting during the day, a harvest of strong succulent leaves is obtained in a short time. By arranging a bed on the windowsill in the room, you can adjust how long the greens sprout. Before the shoots appear, it is better to remove the containers in a warm, shaded place. The procedure will speed up the appearance of greens by 50%.
After 2-3 days, the "garden" with hacked sprouts is set in a well-lit place, providing high-quality watering and the right temperature. Harvest begins with the extreme rows of feathers, medium grow later. Thus increase the "life" of each bulb and the number of collected leaves.
Temperature mode
Sprout greens at +22 ... + 25 ° С. Boxes with sprouted turnips are installed on the balcony or window sill, maintaining +18 ... + 20 ° С. Additional temperature is provided by fluorescent lamps, while increasing daylight hours.
Care Features
Choosing a variety of onions for a room garden, you need to determine how much the selected variety grows before harvesting, the temperature of maintenance, the regularity of watering. Regular onions are watered every three to four days as needed. Use radical watering or moistening the soil from a sprayer. The hydroponic method requires careful attention to the presence of moisture: the substrate of sawdust, paper, mineral wool should be constantly wet, but not excessively. It is better to use spray irrigation.Water is used at room temperature. It is difficult to overestimate the positive qualities of green feathers, especially their benefits in winter: the healing, antimicrobial, antiviral effect of a vegetable improves immunity, promotes digestive processes and reduces the risk of seasonal depression. Having grown onions in a room on the windowsill, you can make a summer note in the winter diet, while saving money.