How to store onions correctly: ways for home and apartment
Onions are the most popular garden crop. It is planted in almost the same quantity as potatoes, maybe a little less. Be that as it may, the main task of the gardener is to preserve the harvest in winter. After all, almost no dish can do without onions, and throwing away the missing fruits is insulting to tears. A lot of work has been invested in them, besides, most gardeners also grow planting material. And this already entails extra spending on its purchase in the spring. How to store onions properly to avoid rotting? In what conditions should the fruits be stored so that they do not germinate ahead of time?
Before answering these questions, let's discuss one more important point. Long-term storage depends on how the crop is prepared for it.
What to do with onions after digging?
In the evening bow sorted, taking away the damaged and the sick - it is used as food. The rest are trimmed with feathers, leaving a tail no more than 10 cm, and roots. The sorted heads are laid out under a canopy for drying.
Late varieties of onions are stored best and longer. Burning the roots or coating their sections with lime paste will help to avoid germination. However, such heads are no longer suitable for planting.
Storage conditions
The room where the onions will be stored should be relatively warm and dry. The optimum air temperature is no more than 18 ° C of heat, otherwise it will quickly sprout. If you leave the onion in an unheated room, in which the temperature is below freezing in winter, it will simply freeze. Such bulbs can be used for food, however, they acquire a sweet taste. But for landing, they are already lost.
Humidity is no less important: it should be between 50 and 70%.
How to store onions correctly: ways
The easiest way to do this is to owners of private houses that have a basement. There is both warmth and humidity, if there is ventilation. In basements, onions are stored in boxes (wooden or plastic), always with holes. They are placed on a pallet. They also use special nets - the heads also "breathe" in them.
If there is no basement (cellar), you can store the onions in the pantry in the apartment by placing the heads in:
- wicker baskets;
- carton boxes;
- old nylon tights;
- small nets.
It is very convenient to store the bulbs "the old fashioned way" by braiding them into a pigtail. But whichever method is used, vegetables should be sorted out several times over the winter. Spoiled bulbs must be harvested in time to preserve the rest.