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MBC PROFITABLE AGRIBUSINESS LEARNING HUB

BULB ONIONS AND GARLIC FARMING TRAINING

Table of Contents
*DAY 19: COMMON MISTAKES IN BULB ONIONS AND GARLIC FARMING AND
HOW TO AVOID THEM* .................................................................................................... 2
*NOT FEEDING CROPS SUFFICIENTLY* ........................................................................ 4
*OVERWATERING* ............................................................................................................ 6
*BOLTING* ......................................................................................................................... 7
*PLANTING TOO DEEP* ................................................................................................... 8
*PLANTING TOO CLOSE* ................................................................................................. 9
*ONION WHITE ROT* ..................................................................................................... 10
*BULBS SHOWING TOO EARLY* .................................................................................. 11
*NOT CHOOSING THE BEST GARLIC & SHALLOTS TO PLANT* ............................. 12
*HARVESTING TOO EARLY OR TOO LATE* ................................................................ 13
*END OF DAY 19 BULB ONIONS & GARLIC FARMING TRAINING TEACHING
SESSION* .......................................................................................................................... 14

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*DAY 19: COMMON MISTAKES IN BULB ONIONS AND GARLIC

FARMING AND HOW TO AVOID THEM*

Hello members. Welcome to another day of our *BULB ONIONS & GARLIC FARMING
TRAINING*.

Fortunately, growing onions is relatively straightforward and requires only basic gardening
skills. You can grow them from seeds or sets (small bulbs).

However, you may be surprised to learn that one of the most common mistakes when it comes
to growing onions is planting the wrong type.

This is especially true if you are buying your seeds, sets, and transplants from source you meet
online.

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You have the option of buying short-day, long-day, or intermediate-day (also called day-
neutral) onions, and which ones you choose makes all the difference in whether you harvest
bulbs or just green onion tops.

If you are wanting large bulbed onions rather than green onions, you will plant the type of
onions depending on your latitude.

Find your location latitude to determine which kind of onion is best suited for you.

In many areas, like mine, I can plant both short-day and intermediate-day onions, but long-
day onions would never bulb for me.

The onion variety you grow depends on your preference and your region's day length.
Different onion varieties are bred explicitly for varying daylights, so choosing a cultivar that
can survive and thrive in your area is essential.

The different types of onions include short-day, day-neutral, and long-day. Short-day onions
prefer 10 to 12 hours of daily sunlight. These include 'White Bermuda,'Southern Belle,' and
'Red Burgundy.'

The day-neutral ones like to soak in 12 to 14 hours of sunlight every day and thrive in most
locations. 'Candy,' 'Super Star,' and 'Red Stockton' are some of their cultivars.

Finally, long-day onions require the lightest, about 14 to 16 hours, and yield an excellent
harvest in cooler climates. These include 'First Edition,' 'White Sweet Spanish,' and 'Ailsa
Craig.'

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*NOT FEEDING CROPS SUFFICIENTLY*

If you want to grow the biggest bulbs, then fertilizing onions is a very important task that
needs completing as part of the maintenance regime.

It is important to add fertilizer when you are planting your onions and also to regularly feed
throughout the growing season.

Plant fertilizers contain three vital nutrients for plant health in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P),
and potassium (K) and any packaging will show the plant fertilizer numbers that show its
make-up of NPK.

Onions need a balanced fertilizer at the time of planting and this helps them to establish a
healthy root system, followed by a high-nitrogen feed around a month later and repeated
every three weeks.

Onions can be grown either from onion sets or seeds. Any onion sets planted should be given
a dose of high-nitrogen fertilizer. A good example is the Hi-yield Ammonium Sulphate fertilizer
or Calcium Nitrate.

Onions have high feed requirements and a close eye should be kept on the crop to identify
when to stop feeding your bulbs.

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Onions are surprisingly heavy feeders, acting more like a leaf crop than a root crop and relying
on high nitrogen for ample foliage growth to support later bulb growth.

We recommend a 5-10-5 ratio for your fertilizer. Adhere to a regular fertilization schedule until
you begin to see the bulbs gaining mass and soil cracking around the base, a sign that no
further fertilization is needed.’

Digging in lots of well-rotted manure or homemade compost prior to planting the crop will
also provide it with lots of important nutrients.

Mulching around the crop will also add nutrients as the material rots down.

You will still get an onion crop even if you do not feed your plants, however, it will be smaller
than a well-fed crop and if you are wondering ‘why did my onions not grow big?’ then the
answer could be down to lack of fertilizer.

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*OVERWATERING*

Onions do require water in order to grow and swell the bulb, but only really need lots of
watering in periods of warm weather and drought.

Increasing the watering due to heatwaves can successfully combat bolting, but in most
circumstances too much water can cause onion growing problems.

Excessive watering can make the crop susceptible to fungal or bacterial diseases and it does
not take lots of over-watering for onions to rot in the ground.

Plant it in soil that is moist but not soggy. Water the onion frequently until the bulbs establish.
Then you will need to scale back on watering. Make sure to increase watering when it’s hot
and dry and reduce it when it gets colder.

It is recommended that onions get around an inch of water per square foot per week, with
adjustments made for rainfall or drought.

Check with your fingers to see how much moisture there is in the soil an inch down.

Many growers use drip irrigation to focus the water down to the roots rather than spraying
the leaves.

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If you are growing onions in containers then it is vital to monitor the moisture levels in the pot
every couple of days as soil in containers can dry out very quickly on hot days.

Any watering of the crop should stop once the bulbs have swollen, around four weeks before
the time to harvest onions and when their leaves have turned yellow.

Continuing to water after this point will impair the bulb’s storage life.

*BOLTING*

Onions regularly bolt and it is caused by the plant feeling stressed. Its reaction to this stress is
to put out a long stem as it seeks to flower and set seed.

Bolting can be caused by hot and dry weather, coupled with a lack of water, and also by
unexpected periods of cold.

The issue for the grower is that a bolting onion puts all its effort into flowering so it stops
bulbing – leaving you with small bulbs.

Luckily, it is not all bad news if your onions start to bolt and you can still get a harvest from
the crop, however, if you are planning on storing onions, be aware that onions that have
bolted will not store well.

Cut the flower off and you can either leave the onion in the ground for a few weeks longer or
you can harvest it. You can also choose to save the seeds to plant the following year.

A bolted onion is edible and can last for up to a month in the ground, though it is advisable to
use them right away.

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To prevent bolting, you can buy bolt-resistant varieties and onions grown from seed tend to
bolt less often than sets.

Prevention is the best way to combat bolting and reduce any stress for your crop, such as
water regularly during hot weather.

Keep an eye on the forecast for your area – during cold weather, cover your crops to minimize
their shock, and during heat waves, spray your plants with cool water to mitigate the
fluctuation.

*PLANTING TOO DEEP*

Planting onions too deep can affect the development of bulbs and can even result in the plants
not forming bulbs at all.

If you are learning how and when to plant onions, then a rule of thumb is that onion sets need
to be planted two inches deep, with only a little soil covering the tip of the bulb – remember
that the tip must always be facing upwards when planting onions.

If you have grown your onions from seed and need to know when to transplant onion
seedlings, the signs are when they get to 6-8 inches and have three leaves. Seedlings should
be transplanted 1-1.5 inches deep.

Planting onions too deep can result in issues with bulb formation and can lead to bulbs that
are small and oval-shaped rather than round.

Also, it means that you cannot see when the bulbing starts and, the deeper they are planted,
the more they risk sitting in cold and wet ground during periods of wet weather.
This can lead to the onion set rotting underground and never sprouting.

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*PLANTING TOO CLOSE*

As well as planting too deep, onions will have growing problems if they are planted too close
together.

If you fear you have planted your crop too close together, then thin out the plants to reduce
the crowding.

This will reduce competition for sun, water, and nutrients and give the bulbs room to grow to
their full size.

Six inches between plants and 12 inches between rows should give ‘plenty of breathing room
for your bulbs to thrive’.

When overcrowded, plants compete for nutrients and will not have as successful of a harvest.

Onions also rely especially on sun exposure, so ensure that your crops do not interfere with
one another’s access to daylight.

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*ONION WHITE ROT*

Onion white rot is a fungal disease that affects all alliums, so can wreak havoc on the likes of
garlic, leeks, and shallots, as well as onions. Unfortunately, it is a very common problem with
onion growers and not treatable – so any affected onion needs to be pulled and discarded.

Onion white rot is caused by a fungus called Stromatinia cepivorum and crops can be infected
both in the ground and when stored.

‘Onion white rot causes yellow and dry foliage and watery spots at the stem base. You can
also find fluffy white mycelium on the damaged parts as well as on the roots and the bulb
skin.

‘To prevent the disease, choose healthy seeds and seedlings. You also need to rotate crops –
don’t plant the onion in the same area more than two years in a row.’

Crop rotation is vital in the fight against white rot as the fungal infection can remain in the soil
for many years. Ensure not to plant allium crops in the same location for more than one year
in a row.

Overwatering can be a factor in the disease, as excess watering of crops creates favorable
conditions for fungal diseases.

‘Preventing rot while the onion is growing can be done by carefully managing the irrigation
schedule. If leaves begin to yellow, this is a sign of overwatering.’

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*BULBS SHOWING TOO EARLY*

Sometimes the bulbs will show too early and before you have planned when and how to
harvest onions in your growing calendar for the year.

The onion bulbs can start to pop out of the ground earlier than you wanted, which can lead
to you worrying about them making it through to harvest time.

Early bulbs are ‘not a bad thing’ and it is not the worst of the onion growing problems.

It’s proof that the onion is maturing. Leave it as is. Covering it with soil will only increase the
chance of rotting.’

Do not cover the bulb back up with soil as this can likely lead to the neck rotting.

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*NOT CHOOSING THE BEST GARLIC & SHALLOTS TO PLANT*

As most of us learn the hard way, what you reap is what you sow.

Considering how long your garlic and shallots are in the ground and how much time you will

invest in weeding and feeding them, it’s worth it sowing the best stock possible. You will reap

that much more when you harvest.

Biggest Mistake: Planting anything but the biggest and healthiest organic garlic and shallot
bulbs you can find.

Why? There is a direct relationship between the size of bulbs and cloves you plant the size of
the bulbs and cloves you will harvest.

It’s not often true, but in the case of garlic and shallot ‘seed stock,’ bigger truly is better, as
long as they are still healthy and especially if they are organic.

No matter where you order your seed garlic from, chances are that you’ll have larger bulbs
sent to you. Some of the cloves in those bulbs will be large, but some will be small.

You most definitely can plant the smaller cloves, but know that smaller cloves will most likely
result in a smaller harvest.

I recommend planting your large cloves and use the smaller ones in your kitchen.

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*HARVESTING TOO EARLY OR TOO LATE*

While some crops are pickier about harvest time, not harvesting garlic at the perfect time
won’t ruin your crop. But there is an ideal time that will give you the largest bulbs with the
longest storage life.

If you harvest your garlic too early, you won’t have as big of bulbs as you could have because
they haven’t finished developing their bulbs.

If you harvest too late, they won’t be able to be stored for as long as they could have been.

How do you know when to harvest garlic?

When the bottom half of the leaves start turning brown, it’s safe to say that bulb development
has stopped.

This is the perfect time to harvest. Each of those leaves represents a layer of wrapping around
the garlic, and so if you wait until they are all brown, you risk decomposition of that critical
wrapping.

This can lead to moisture getting into the garlic, which can cause rot and shorten the shelf-
life.

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*END OF DAY 19 BULB ONIONS & GARLIC FARMING TRAINING

TEACHING SESSION*

We now come to the end of today`s teaching session.

This training has been organised and brought to you by;

MBC Profitable Agribusiness Learning Hub

Feel free to call or Whatsapp us on;

*+254703745277 // +254731457425*

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