Among a large number of onion varieties, Carmen variety stands out for its sweetness and non-moodiness, which is the result of the activity of Dutch breeders and has been occupying leadership positions in our country for several years. Onions Carmen is unpretentious in care, is well stored and is often used in cooking.
Onion variety Carmen
Carmen onion has a sweet taste
Carmen's onion variety is immune to disease
General characteristics of the variety
This species belongs to mid-season varieties of red onion. It is grown on turnips as an annual crop of seeds and as a two-year crop of onion sets.
Description of appearance
Carmen has the following characteristics:
- shape - rounded flat;
- bulb sizes are medium;
- weight - from 50 to 70 g;
- outer, dry scales - purple, juicy scales - white with a purple tint;
- feather height - up to 30 cm;
- onions are two- and three-primordium.
Productivity and Stability
From one square meter of the plot you can collect up to 2.5 kg of crop. Carmen is grown in all regions of Russia, but the following are most suitable:
- Central;
- Middle Volga;
- Central Black Earth.
Depending on the climate and the area, ripening takes from 65 to 90-100 days from the moment of planting. In the presence of favorable conditions, the crop is stored for up to 8 months.
Pros and cons
Planting and caring for this onion variety is not very difficult, and the culture itself has the following list of advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
- has a 100 percent level of maturation;
- contains a large number of useful substances;
- characterized by good keeping quality;
- resistant to shooting;
- suitable for all, even northern regions;
- has a sweet and fragrant taste;
- has immunity to diseases.
There are no pronounced deficiencies in the variety, except that they include the small size of the bulbs themselves.
Composition and properties
Onions Carmen is known for its composition contains a huge amount of nutrients and minerals:
- sulfur compounds;
- flavonoids;
- macronutrients - calcium, sodium, potassium, etc .;
- trace elements - selenium, copper, fluorine, iron;
- vitamins C, A, E, group B, etc.
Growing a similar variety in your garden, you get a natural remedy that helps fight seasonal seasonal epidemics, increasing immunity.
Fields of application
Carmen's taste is delicate, sweet, soft and pungent, and the flesh of the onions is juicy and crisp.
Carmen is a salad onion, but it is better to use it fresh, and heat treatment should be avoided to maximize all useful properties.
Preparation for landing
The unpretentiousness of the variety does not mean at all that it does not require care. Planting begins with the selection and preparation of the place and soil.
Soil preparation
The beds should be located in an area that is well lit, where there is no wind. Carmen prefers loose nutrient soils with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction - most often these are chernozems, loams or sandy loams.
If the soil is heavy and clayy, add organic matter and coarse sand for greater looseness, and if the acidity level is elevated, then produce the soil.
Also, make sure that there is no flooding and stagnation of water at the chosen location, because this causes the onion heads to rot. The beds are prepared in the fall by harvesting weed, composting or manure and digging. Over the winter, the soil absorbs all these nutrients and makes it more fertile.
Seed selection and preparation
Seeds can be bought in specialized stores. In the southern regions they are planted immediately in open ground, and in the north it is better to grow a variety through seedlings.
Before sowing, seed material must undergo some preparation:
- grains are soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour;
- soak the seeds in any growth stimulator.
Next, put the planting material in a moist tissue for germination, and after a couple of days begin to sow.
Landing technology
Growing onions provides several planting options. Each gardener chooses for himself the one that most suits his region and climate.
In open ground
The onions of Carmen onion and seedlings are planted in May, when the soil has already been warmed up, but not dry, with enough moisture from early spring. The successful rooting and development of bulbs depends on whether you have chosen the right soil.
The instructions for planting Carmen in the soil are as follows:
- In the prepared soil, make grooves or holes.
- Pour them with water.
- Deepen the sevka by 4 cm, but plant the shoulders tightly so that air spaces do not form.
- Cover the ground with 2-3 cm.
- Work the topsoil with a rake.
Plant the planting without deepening the growth point, and press the spine against moist soil, sprinkling it with earth. Slightly push the onion sprout into the ground and finally fix it with the ground.
The seating plan is 10 * 15 cm. Sometimes, for greater convenience, the width between the rows is made by the size of the inventory - a plane cutter or chopper. The main thing is that it should be no less than the length of the palm.
Planting seedlings and transplanting in open ground
For seedlings, you need a small box - pour about 100 mm of earth into it, warm it up and pour it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate to get rid of harmful bacteria. After that, densely sow the chernushka and fill it with prepared soil from above. Level the soil with your palm and pour water at room temperature.
Such seedlings must be prepared by early March, so that the seeds have time to hatch and give sprouts by May. Grow seeds on the windowsill so that daylight warms the ground.
Some gardeners cover the box with film to produce a greenhouse effect. Can be illuminated with a lamp if there is not enough sunlight.
After these steps, seedlings can be transplanted into open soil. If everything is done correctly, then it will take root without problems:
- Before transplanting seedlings, dig the soil.
- After digging, cover the ground with foil to plant in warm ground.
- Pour abundantly the soil in which seedlings grew so that during stretching the feathers do not come off the head.
- Seedlings need to be planted to a depth of 30 mm so that the forming head is not very deep from the surface of the earth.
- When the plant grows, do not open the green feathers so that the onion head forms strong and large.
Care Rules
In order for the plants to grow well, carry out all the necessary actions in a timely manner and comply with agricultural requirements.
Top dressing
Perform the procedure several times a season as follows:
- 2 weeks after planting, nitrogen fertilizers (nitrophoska and urea) are applied - 25 g of urea or 30 g of nitrophoska per bucket of water;
- 2 weeks after the first top dressing, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are added to the onion - 30 g of superphosphate / 15 g of potassium salt per 10 l of water;
- after 15 days, phosphorus-potassium top dressing is repeated - 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium salt.
After each fertilizing, water the soil abundantly. Be sure to wash off the remaining fertilizer from the onion leaves using warm water from the watering can.
Watering
Watering is carried out in such a way that the soil does not dry out, otherwise the seedlings will wither and wither. Onions are watered once a week, but 2-3 weeks before the expected harvest date it is completely stopped to give the onion the opportunity to ripen in dry soil.
Loosening and weeding
The day after irrigation, the soil is loosened. The earth is loosened shallow, between rows, trying not to damage the bulbs.
Weeding is carried out throughout the entire growth of the plant. When planting onions with seeds, weed grass can stop the formation of heads, and there will be no harvest. Since the arrows during seed planting are very small, weed as carefully as possible so as not to damage the plants.
Pest and Disease Control
Carmen is invaded by such pests:
- Onion Secretive Hunter. This beetle lays larvae in the onions, which after hatching eat the leaves of the plant. They are struggling with it by observing crop rotation, careful harvesting, autumn plowing and the destruction of plant debris.
For the fight, a mixture of ash and tobacco dust in a ratio of 2: 1 is suitable. Karbofos treatment is also carried out - a solution of 0.6%. You need 100 ml of solution per 1 sq.m. - Onion flies and moths. Landings have been striking since the second decade of May. The consequences of the “work” of flies and moths are not immediately visible, since insects act in the soil. The problem becomes noticeable when the onion leaves fade and dry. You can fight by watering with salt water (100 g per 3 l).
- Nematodes. This is a family of parasitic roundworms. The onion is infected, is evidenced by the deformation and drying of the green mass, the onion becomes loose, cracking, after the rain on the site there is a smell of rotten onion. They are fighting with the help of preventive measures - correct crop rotation, selection of seed, compliance with storage rules.
Of the chemical control measures, Percalcite is suitable - it destroys nematode cysts with eggs and larvae in the soil. The drug is scattered in dry weather on the site 5-10 days before planting at the rate of 200-300 g per 1 sq.m. and close up with a rake to a depth of 10-15 cm.
Diseases that onions may encounter:
- Downy mildew. A fungal disease that hibernates both on the bulbs in storage and in the soil. Affected stems acquire a dirty green color, sag and die. As a result, the bulb does not have time to ripen, and the amount of yield decreases.
To prevent the disease, with a leaf height of 10-12 cm, they are sprayed with Polycarbacin (40 g of the drug per 10 l of water) or Arcerid (30 g of the drug per 10 l of water).
- Bacterial rot. This disease can be encountered when cutting the bulb - among healthy scales you will notice several soft dark layers. And the longer the vegetable is stored, the stronger and larger will be the affected area.
For prophylaxis before planting, a careful selection of bulbs is carried out, cutting off their neck with a base of 0.5-1 cm, so that the scales are visible. You can treat the soil with Hom (40 g per 10 liters of water, spending 1 liter per 10 square meters). - Fusarium Fungal disease, manifested by the withering and decay of green sprouts during the growing season and by pinking and softening of the bottom during storage of onions.
Before sowing sowing, be sure to soak in fungicide (Fundazole or Quadris), and burn the affected plants so that they do not infect other neighbors. When spots appear, Homom treatment is effective (40 g per 10 l). - Yellow dwarfism and mosaic. They arise as a result of violation of the conditions for planting and seedling care. Affected plants slow down in growth, change shape and color. There is no specific treatment, only preventative measures.
Thus, in order to prevent the development of diseases, first of all, observe preventive measures:
- follow crop rotation rules;
- plant onions without thickening;
- disinfect seeds, seeds and soil;
- water without waterlogging;
- eliminate all plant debris from the beds;
- regularly weed the soil;
- plant plants that repel pests.
Harvesting and storage
Gather onions Carmen on a dry sunny day. Pull out the plant, after digging it with a shovel, if the ground is solid, and lay in rows. At the turnip, cut the roots, leaving a tail of 3-4 cm.
After harvesting, it is dried in the garden for 2-3 weeks. You need to dry in sunny weather, and if it rains, the plant must be hidden under cover.
After the onion is completely dry, it is peeled of excess husks and tops. When stored in braids, leave about 30 cm for weaving. If the onions are stored in boxes, leave 10 cm of tops. Store Carmen in a dry (humidity should not exceed 70%) cool or warm room:
- cold storage - at temperatures up to 0 degrees;
- warm - at 20 degrees.
Reviews
Ivan, 46 years old, Voronezh. I grow several varieties of red onions, Carmen is one of them. There was never such a thing as not to produce a crop. I get Carmen Sevk. It is suitable for winter consumption. This variety is attractive for its taste.
Ekaterina, 35 years old, Novosibirsk. This is not the first time I've planted a variety, as I consider it one of the most unpretentious. Carmen is not afraid of temperature changes, is able to produce crops, even if the summer was dry and cold, does not need frequent watering. What else is needed, given the severe weather conditions in Siberia?
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Having decided to grow Carmen onions, you can get a high yield with a minimum investment of money and effort. If the cultivation of the vegetable is carried out correctly, one does not need to worry about pests or diseases. Onions are characterized by long shelf life and their taste.