provide a delightfully biting or cherubic flavor to many family dinner , onions(Allium cepa ) are well-to-do - to - produce garden veg . As their bulbs well in reaction to day length , onion grow , developing their characteristic papery brown tegument . This cool - season craw reaches the end of its growing time of year with the first hard freeze .
A Frost or a Freeze?
Step 1
Even though the words " frost " and " frost " are often used interchangeably , they mean different things to your onions . Frost happens on a clear , tranquil night as the temperature briefly drops to a few academic degree below freeze . Your onion normally survive this bit of cold with relative ease . A freezing , on the other hired man , is prolonged cold below 28 degrees Fahrenheit that damages onions by allowing ice crystals to form in the tissue . Semi - dauntless vegetable like onions can recover from one or two light frosts of around 31 degrees F.
Frost Protection
While you may not do much to protect your onions from a freeze , frosts are another matter . pucker into the still - lovesome soil , onion plant typically survive one or two rime . you may up their selection probability by capturing that land passion with a covering of at least 2 inches of straw , leaf or eatage clippings . float row covers , bed sheets and blankets all provide exchangeable protection . water the soil around your onion the day before a frost provides even more policy against frost — moist soil absorbs more daytime oestrus , holding it in place for an eventide departure . Remove all the coverings during the 24-hour interval to take into account the soil to recharge itself with more of the Sunday ’s heat .
Harvesting Before a Freeze
While onion can withstand hoarfrost with protection , a heavy freeze — where the temperature send packing below 28 degree F — intend you need to harvest your crop or risk losing it . Even covering wo n’t protect your onion . undo the dirt around the bulbs with a hand trowel or shovel , root for them from the reason and mildly brush away any loose dirt . Bruised onion are prone to waste , so be easy . Spread the bulbs on a thick layer of paper , allowing them to dry for several weeks . They are now ready for tenacious - terminal figure entrepot . According to The Old Farmer ’s Almanac , onions do best when kept in a dry location with a temperature of 40 to 50 degrees F.
Pests
To keep your onions healthy and growing strong right up to the first freeze , incline to the pests that bother them . make out with diminutive , tan - colored thrips — insects no thicker than a sewing needle — with two sprays of insecticidal soap , spaced two days apart and applied to the aboveground part of the plant . Mix at a charge per unit of 1 tablespoon of Georgia home boy per dry quart of piddle . Keep Allium cepa maggots away from your crop with a be adrift row binding . Do n’t mulch near your Allium cepa plant life during the growing time of year to deflect supply a nesting ground for other worm .
References
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