Why does the bow go to the arrow?
Why did the bow shoot the arrow? This question is asked by most inexperienced gardeners. There are many reasons for this, which we will discuss in this article. We will also learn preventive measures that will prevent the shooting process and talk about how you can use a bow that went into the arrow.
Peculiarities
Before answering this question, you should know what an arrow is. It is a peduncle, which later forms small flowers, and seeds already ripen from them. As a result, it turns out that the peduncle is necessary for reproduction.
Arrows are dangerous only for those varieties of onions that are grown for turnips. Many summer residents, growing onions, are trying with all their might to find solutions that will prevent the formation of arrows.
After all, a crop that has begun to shoot does not lend itself to long-term storage and soon begins to rot, so experts recommend using it in the near future. This must be done before the middle of winter.
If the vegetable crop began to shoot, this means that the onion crop this season should not be expected. In this case, the bulbs will be small in size, because the plant will spend a significant part of the nutrients on the flowering process, and the bulb will stop developing.But you should not be upset ahead of time, before planting the seed, you need to familiarize yourself with the main reasons for shooting arrows, having studied which you can prevent this process and save onion yields.
The reasons
Consider the main reasons why the bow goes to the arrow.
- Improper storage of seeds. In order for the onion crop to be good, it is necessary to adhere to the rules for the safety of seed, which is recommended to be kept at a temperature of about 0 ° C. Thus, the shooting process can be avoided. This vegetable crop has a high degree of resistance to negative temperatures, but positive indicators can negatively affect the future harvest. When laying seedlings for storage in a cold room (basement, vegetable store), you should pay attention to the level of air humidity (no more than 90%). At higher rates, the seedlings will undergo germination. And this means that when planting a vegetable crop in open ground, flower stalks will appear. The temperature in the basement should be approximately -2 to -3 degrees.
City residents store seed mainly in the apartment, that is, in a warm room. In this situation, it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature regime (+20 degrees), and the moisture content should not exceed 70%. Experienced summer residents do not advise storing sevok in the refrigerator: it will begin to germinate and rot.
- Seed sizes. Most gardeners do not attach much importance to the parameters of the sowing crop. So that in the future the bow does not shoot, experts recommend planting only carefully sorted material. There are 3 groups of seeds.If the size of the bulbs does not exceed 10 mm, then it is referred to the sevka group. The diameter of the bulbs from 10 to 30 mm is the average group for planting, and the bulbs larger than 30 mm are large planting material. Often, it is large bulbs that shoot, so for growing a good turnip, you should choose sets of small or medium diameters.
- Boarding times. There is no specific planting date, but it is better to transfer the planting of a vegetable crop to warm weather so that the earth has time to warm up well. Bulbs with a diameter of less than 3 centimeters are less susceptible to the appearance of arrows, they should be planted in the last days of April. If the planting was done too early, then the bulbs may shoot. If you are late with planting, then you can not expect a normal harvest: the bulb will not have time to fully ripen, in addition, it will be subject to various diseases.
Onions planted before winter are less subject to shooting. This planting method is suitable for regions with moderate climatic conditions, but it should not be used in areas where severe winters are most common. Night frosts adversely affect the roots of a vegetable crop, after which the onion is able to turn on a defensive reaction and start throwing arrows.
With onion sets purchased from a specialized store, there may be safety problems, therefore, in order for the vegetable not to go into color, it should be heated for 3 weeks in a warm place. If it was not possible to carry out such warming up, it is necessary to fill the seedlings with hot water (+50 degrees) before the landing itself, and after that - with cold water.
Also, the following points can be attributed to the reasons for shooting a bow:
- during the vegetative period, the onion did not receive sufficient moisture;
- during the storage of seed material, sharp jumps in temperature were observed;
- The soil contains a lot of nitrogen.
If the bow went into the arrow, and the above reasons were not observed, then the problem may lie in the variety of the plant itself.
Prevention
To prevent the formation of flower stalks, a vegetable crop can be planted before winter. In addition, experts recommend adhering to the following landing rules.
- It is best to prepare and grow seed on your own. When purchasing seed in a store, you will not know how the storage was carried out, and whether it is necessary or not to process the seed.
- As mentioned above, before planting, the sevok should be warmed up in the sun for 20 days, and also treated with potassium permanganate.
These tips will help you plant your bulbs properly in the spring while minimizing the risk of arrowheads.
There are many ways to pre-prepare the onion for planting, with which you can not only prevent the growth of arrows, but also increase the yield of the vegetable. First of all, it is necessary to carefully sort the seed so that there are no bulbs with damage and rot in the assortment.
The first method is to soak the bulbs in baking soda. For this purpose, you will need ordinary soda (1 teaspoon) and hot water (1 liter, 45-60 degrees). Initially, it is necessary to clean the bulbs from the upper layers of the husk.
When planting bulbs in the autumn, cutting is prohibited, so you will only provoke various diseases.
The required amount of soda should be dissolved in hot water, after which the prepared bulbs should be soaked in a soda solution.To prevent the solution from cooling down, it must be covered with a lid and wrapped in a warm blanket. The soaking time of the bulbs in soda should be about 30 minutes.
There is a method of soaking the bulbs in a saline solution, which is performed similarly to the previous method. In this case, it is necessary to dissolve 20-30 g of salt in 2 liters of warm water. The seed is immersed in a saline solution for 2-3 hours, after which it should be laid in one layer on a cloth or paper. Both options can be used before planting onions in open ground, but they should first be dried in the sun for 1-1.5 hours.
A mandatory procedure before planting is the treatment of seed with potassium permanganate. This will require 40 g of potassium permanganate and 10 liters of warm water. The sevok is pre-placed in a kind of gauze stocking, which is then lowered into the prepared solution for 2.5-3 hours. This event will not only prevent the formation of arrows, but also protect the plant from harmful insects.
If the above recommendations and expert advice did not help and the onion shoots, then perhaps the reason is improper watering of the vegetable crop. In the spring, onions should be watered with warm clean water 2 times a week. If the summer is hot, then in the first half of it, the frequency of watering must be increased, and 14 days before harvesting, watering must be completely excluded. Thus, the onion will have time to ripen, which in the future will lead to its good keeping quality.
What to do with flower stalks?
Many experts advise getting rid of flower stalks as soon as possible, because the faster the flowers are removed, the more nutrients the turnip itself receives. Peduncles should be cut or cut off closer to the neck, so that it will still be possible to save the crop.
If the arrows have already appeared, then they will form throughout the growing period, so you need to monitor this process. After harvesting, onions should be sorted. If the bulb has an extended neck, it means that the onion shot arrows during cultivation, such a vegetable crop should be put separately for early use.
There are varieties of bulbs in which the arrow grows on the side, while the peduncle practically does not affect the quality of the turnip, and this culture can be stored for 30 days. If the peduncle was formed from the middle of the bulb, such a turnip will rot in the future, so you should not eat it.
However, not all gardeners are upset if arrows appear on the bow. Experienced summer residents use flower stalks as biofertilizer, while others use arrows for food. Onion arrows can be used for pickling, as well as cooking various dishes. Some flower stalks can be left on the onion, because in the future they will give seeds. As a means of protection against harmful microorganisms, gardeners prepare tinctures from onion or garlic arrows.
If you follow all the rules and recommendations of experienced gardeners, you can largely minimize the risk of arrows on the bow, resulting in a good harvest.
For information on why the onion is shot from the set and how to avoid it, see the next video.