Onions, dug in a timely manner, can be stored until spring. The main thing is to put it in optimal conditions. A vegetable plant can be stored in cold conditions - in the basement, cellar, refrigerator, storage or in warm - in the apartment. Read more about the necessary microclimate for the long-term preservation of onions at home - in this article.
Did you know? The largest bow in the world was able to grow 68-year-old resident of Great Britain Peter Glazbruk. The bulb weighed 8.9 kg.
Which onion is best stored in winter
Varieties of onions are divided into sharp, peninsular and sweet. Sharp golden varieties are best preserved in the apartment - their shelf life is 6–8 months. Among the most popular spicy varieties are Nosovsky, Squirsky, Golden, Strigunovsky, Stuttgart rizen, Centurion, Orion, Sturon, Arzamassky, Bessonovsky.Peninsular varieties are stored less time, for example, Donetsk Golden, Lugansk, Karatalsky. Good keeping quality in red varieties - Bombay, Carmen, Red Baron. From semisweet varieties Danilovsky, Krasnodar, Samarkand are the longest preserved. They can lie until February. The worst stubbornness of sweet varieties and hybrids, for example, Exibishen, Sterling F1, Globo.
How to prepare onions for storage
To a vegetable plant lay for a long time, it should be removed in a timely manner. If you adhere to the correct harvesting dates, you can count on a high level of yield, its good quality and long shelf life. Pathogens can penetrate thicker heads removed too early. And for fruits harvested late, roots grow for the second time. Because of this, they also become vulnerable to ailments.
Important! Bowls must be placed away from heaters and batteries. Otherwise, the vegetable will dry out, fade and lose its juiciness.
Whether onions are ready for harvesting can be determined by external signs. The stems turn yellow, dry and fall on the soil, the neck becomes thin, the upper layers of the bulbs dry out. Also, the harvest dates are calculated mathematically - add 90-150 days to the planting date (depending on the cultivated variety), or according to the lunar calendar - root crops are harvested when the moon is in a waning phase. Harvesting should be started when 60–80% of the stems are laid on the ground, and completed in 10 days.
Onions are harvested in two ways:
- By hand.
- Mechanized.
If the soil is loose, then the fruits are carefully pulled out by the feather by hand. When harvesting from heavy land, use a shovel or pitchfork. With the help of these tools, lightly dig in the bulbs. To the mechanized method they resort if it is necessary to remove large volumes. For this, special onion harvesting complexes are required. Before placing the fruits for preservation, they must be dried and cut.They are dried, laying out in a single layer under the open sky, a canopy, in the attic or in a well-ventilated room in limbo, woven into braids, bundles, in nets. The drying procedure should last about 2 weeks. After the onion is well dried, feathers are cut off with scissors, leaving 3-4 cm, and roots. Sorting will also be required. Whole, healthy, matured specimens that do not contain scratches on the surface are placed in storage.
How to store onions at home?
At home, the vegetable can be stored in a cold place or at room temperature. The main thing is that it is dark, dry and well ventilated. Below are recommendations for choosing the most optimal storage space in the apartment.
Important! Bulbs cannot be stored in bags made of polyethylene or containers without ventilation holes.
Where to store
The list of places in the house where you need to store onions:
- in the refrigerator (on the lower shelf for vegetables);
- on a glazed balcony;
- on the loggia;
- on the mezzanine;
- in the closet;
- in the pantry.
Vegetables should be placed in wicker baskets, wooden boxes, cardboard boxes, bags of fabric or paper. In a suspended state, it is stored in nets.
At what temperature
The minimum temperature at which the vegetable can be stored is 0 ... + 3 ° C. This means that when stored on an unglazed balcony or loggia, it freezes and becomes unfit for human consumption. Sharp varieties can withstand temperatures down to –1 ° C. The maximum temperature at which you can store onions is + 22 ° C. The humidity should be at the level of 50–70%.
Storage problems and solutions
In order to eliminate the arising problem during storage in time, it is necessary to carefully review the entire crop 2-3 times during the winter and remove rotted, dampened specimens.
The appearance of midges
Onion midges sometimes become a real punishment for people who store onions at home. They start in the event that among the bulbs there are damaged or rotted. Therefore, it is very important to carefully sort the heads before putting them into storage, and then periodically inspect them. As soon as rotten and damaged specimens are eliminated, midges will disappear, which will have nothing to eat.
Started to sprout
Usually a vegetable sprouts closer to spring. But if it is stored in the wrong conditions, then germination can begin earlier. To prevent the germination and decay of onion heads, they can be sprinkled with chalk (200 g / 10 kg of vegetable) or onion husk.
Started to rot
Rotting begins when a vegetable is stored in high humidity or in the wrong container. If decayed heads are noticed, they must be disposed of immediately and inspected by the remaining bulbs. Non-rotting specimens must be moved to a dry place with good ventilation.
Useful Tips
If you are looking for the best way to store onions at home, then a few more recommendations will help you:
- To save space and not to store the entire crop in the house, the bulbs can be dried. To do this, they need to be cut into rings, half rings or cubes and dried in an oven, dryer, air grill or just in the air. Store dried onions in cloth bags, cardboard boxes or glass jars for 1 year.
- Vegetables can also be frozen. To do this, it must be cut, laid out on a wooden board or a large plate and frozen by quick freezing. Then transfer the product to vacuum or plastic bags, plastic containers and store for 1 year.
- When sorting onions before storage, slightly spoiled or damaged bulbs can not be thrown away, but used for pickling. They are peeled, peeled and salted, bay leaf is added, poured with brine and placed under oppression. A week later, the product is laid out in glass jars and stored in the refrigerator.
Thus, in order to keep the onions in room conditions until spring, it is necessary to remove, dry, cut and sort it in time, and then place it in the recommended microclimate. The main conditions for successful storage are the absence of sunlight and good air circulation.Did you know? During onion slicing and damage to the membrane of its cells, amino acids are released, which, when mixed with enzymes, turn into the volatile compound 1-sulfinyl propane. When it enters the mucous membrane of the eye and nose, it forms sulfuric acid, which irritates the mucosa, leading to lacrimation and pain.