Planting of Onions

Onion nursery establishment

• Clear the bush
• Prepare the land near water source-onions need a lot of watering
• Gather the tools and choose certified packed seeds (read the expiry date)
• Mix soils well with the compost
• Measure the bed dimensions and corners
• Heap the soil mixture and raise it to at least 30 cm high and level it
• Protect the walls with timber or banana stems or wooden logs
• Dig small straight trenches horizontally at a recommended spacing
• Carefully plant the vegetable seeds at 1-2 cm spacing (width of one finger) and cover them with a little soil
• Water the bed sufficiently
• Construct the shade to avoid wind destroying it and heavy rain drops
• Cover the soil with little grass but remove them as soon as seeds germinate
• Harden the seedlings by reducing watering rate and shade materials 1-2 weeks before transplanting.
• Also reduce the number of leaves and roots if many.

Transplanting

• About 6-8 weeks after sowing, when the seedling has a base as thick as a pencil and is approximately 15 cm tall, the seedlings are transplanted to the field. Transplanting has to be done in early morning or late afternoon to avoid negative effect of direct sunlight on young seedlings;
• Apply farm yard manure ( 20-25T/Ha) and 300 kgs of NPK/Ha. Mix the manure and fertilizer with the soil before you plant the seedlings. Six week after transplanting, apply 150Kg of Urea so as to speed up the onion growth;
• Before transplanting, the seedlings are watered with enough water to avoid damaging the root system while uprooting. The planting distance is 15cm between rows and 10cm between plants.