How to plant Indian onions at home and in the garden
The Indian onion is an ornamental plant and to some extent edible. True, it is not useful in the kitchen, and you cannot crumble the onions into salads. But the juice of root vegetables has healing power. Various rubbing, lotions and compresses are prepared from it for the treatment of bruises, wounds and many other diseases. For those who are a fan of traditional medicine, it will be interesting to know how to plant Indian onions. In addition to its medicinal properties, it also blooms very beautifully with small inflorescences that resemble stars. They can be white or green with a white border around the rim of the petals.
The Indian onion is known among gardeners as the poultry farm for the fact that when the leaves are torn off, they release milky juice.
How to plant Indian onions - breeding methods
From most of the known to us bulbous crops The poultry farm differs in the appearance of the bulb itself. It is green in color, covered with light husk with a brown tint. And this plant is also a long-liver and the bulb can "celebrate" its 30th anniversary.
If you decide to get yourself a beautiful green healer, there are three ways to plant an Indian onion:
- Seeds. This method is for those who care about quantitative rather than quick results. Onion seeds are characterized by tightness and without preliminary processing they can "sit" in the ground for more than six months. Before sowing, it is advisable to stratify them for at least 3 months. It is better to sow in spring, in a light nutritious substrate. The grown seedlings need to be dived and grown in separate containers.
- Children. They form under the scales of the mother's bulb and tear it apart when they grow up. It is necessary to separate the children in the spring, planting them in a pot with a sharp tip up. In this case, it should not be completely buried, the top should remain above the ground. And it is better to wait until the bulbs grow 3 leaves and separate themselves.
- By division. If the poultry farmer stubbornly does not want to reproduce himself, you can cut the onion. Delenki should dry out for a couple of days, and then they should be planted.
At home, Indian onions are grown mainly by planting baby bulbs. To collect seeds, plants should be taken outside for pollination by bees. In addition, if you want to plant a poultry farm in the garden, you can do this only 3 years after sowing the seeds.
Features of growing Indian onions in the garden
In open ground, adult bulbs can be planted closer to the second half of May, when frosts pass. The place should be chosen slightly shaded, because the leaves will dry quickly in the sun. Just like in pots, the bulbs need to be buried only halfway. There is one important nuance in the garden cultivation of Indian onions - it does not winter in the open field. At the beginning of autumn, the bulbs should be dug up and sent to the basement for the winter. Or you can put them in pots and continue caring.