Growing slime onions
Slime onions are preferred by those who like the onion-garlic taste of greens without the bitterness inherent in the onion culture. Its harvest is harvested in the first half of spring and the vegetable culture is appreciated for its beneficial properties.
Slime onion
Features of onion slime
The perennial broadleaf slug onion is an infrequent plant in the gardens of summer residents, for many it is a curiosity. The variety comes from Central Asia, where it most often grew in its natural environment, being a wild plant.
The description of this garden culture includes the main signs by which it is easy to recognize the bush of the onion-slime in the photo:
- the plant has flat foliage that does not have a void, rather fleshy, emitting juice on the scrap that resembles mucus, that's where the name went,
- foliage grows 20-30 centimeters long, 1.5-3.0 cm wide,
- as such, the slime does not have a bulb, instead of the turnip habitual for the gardener, the plant has a rhizome, also suitable for use in cooking,
- the foliage of the onion twists in a spiral,
- the inflorescence of the slime is formed in the form of balls, painted in a delicate purple color.
Due to its unusual appearance, many gardeners consider the slug onion to be an ornamental summer cottage plant that adorns the beds in the summer, therefore it can often be seen growing in a flower bed or in decorative compositions. All the beauty of the onion bush can be appreciated in the photo.
Unlike the common onion for us, the feather of a slime is much softer and juicier, with a combination of onion and garlic flavor. Slime onions can be grown throughout the calendar year, and in winter, the plant can be grown directly at home on a windowsill, provided it with sufficient heat.
What is useful in slime
In addition to the fact that the slime onion can simply be used for culinary purposes as a seasoning, and also planted as a decorative plant decoration in a garden or country flower bed, true lovers appreciate it for its irreplaceable useful properties:
- the plant contains vitamins such as C, PP, B1 and B2,
- onion culture - a source of sugar, carotene and phytoncides,
- slime contains potassium, magnesium, zinc necessary for the human body, it contains molybdenum and iron, therefore, onions need to be grown especially for those summer residents who have anemia and anemia,
- among the useful properties of this variety is the ability to fight excess acidity in the stomach, being an assistant with existing gastritis and other problems associated with digestion,
- the benefit of foliage is to help with pain that has arisen, acting as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory natural remedy,
- by normalizing blood functions, it helps the heart muscle,
- slime is a source of nutrients necessary to normalize the thyroid gland,
- onion culture cleanses the body, removing toxins unnecessary for a person, strengthens the general condition and increases immunity.
Among the properties of slime onions, a low fiber content is distinguished, therefore the onion plant can be used in the diet for children and people adhering to a dietary menu. Onion slime also has useful properties in cosmetology: its use is useful for strengthening hair and nails, improving the condition of the skin. No harm from eating the culture has been noted.
How to grow and care for onions
Growing and caring for slime onions is practically no different from how gardeners grow onions.
Growing rules
When planting and subsequent caring for a garden crop, it is necessary to take into account that:
- slime onions can be left in one place for no more than 4-5 years,
- in the first year, seeds are planted, from which small seedlings are obtained,
- in the second year, when the plant starts blooming, the first crop of fresh greenery can be harvested by cutting off the leaves that have appeared,
- the next 2-3 years there is an active growth of the slime,
- by 4-5 years of growing, the plant degenerates as a living organism, giving about 15-20 unstable shoots.
Initially, the flowering arrow of a slime onion grows drooping, directed downward, therefore the plant has another name - drooping onion. However, before opening into a beautiful purple ball, the arrow straightens out.
It is advisable to grow slug onion varieties mainly in a vegetative way, that is, by planting an old onion turnip, rather than from seeds. Using this method of reproduction, fresh greens can be expected from the plant as early as the next summer season.
How to care
Caring for a slime onion does not involve covering the plant, which simplifies the task for summer residents for the winter. This garden crop is characterized by increased frost resistance: an adult, strengthened plant tolerates winter frosts down to -30 ° С, a young one - up to -7 ° С. Only in conditions of little snowy winters for a slime onion is used a covering material, which in natural conditions is a snow cover.
To cover the onion culture for the winter, they usually take fallen leaves.
Caring for onions in the summer also does not require any special approach, since slug does an excellent job with short-term dry seasons, however, it should be noted that with a prolonged lack of sufficient moisture, the foliage of the plant begins to taste bitter and becomes more rigid.
Caring for the plant is also simplified by the fact that the slime is quite resistant to pest infestation and resists various diseases.
Landing features
An unpleasant aftertaste in a slime onion occurs not only with a lack of moisture, but also when it is grown on acidic soil, therefore, before planting a slime, the soil layer with high acidity is diluted with lime. The most suitable soil for onions will be light soil and humus.
For planting a garden crop, choose a place where there is enough sunlight.
Planting it in the garden where onions were grown is still not worth it. The most favorable will be the soil where tomatoes, cabbage, cucumbers or potatoes with radishes previously grew.
In order to grow slime onions, gardeners usually choose one of the 2 available methods of reproduction:
- vegetative, when an overgrown turnip is planted,
- seed, when cultivation occurs from planted seeds.
The most labor-intensive method is the second - growing from seeds, but it brings more yield. Growing greens vegetatively is easier and faster, but in the end, unlike planting from seeds, you will not get much green seasoning.
Vegetative method
With this method of reproduction of the slime, 3-4 onion turnips are taken for their further seating, they are dug out and divided into 3-4 parts each. At the same time, the root system is slightly trimmed.
Growing in a vegetative way involves planting usually from April to September, then when next spring comes, it will already be possible to cut the greens from the bush.
Divided bulbs are planted at a distance of 20 cm from each other to allow the future bush to grow freely. The space between the rows is left, depending on the type of slime onion, at least 35-50 cm.
Seed planting
Seeds for subsequent planting of the plant are collected in several approaches, since the ripening period of seeds on each individual bush is different. Sometimes the inflorescence is completely plucked.
When planting onions in a garden bed through seedlings, seeds are sown on the windowsill already at the onset of March. In any case, the seed is initially soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate, boric acid, or in ordinary warm water for a day, then it is dried and only then planted in the ground to a depth of 1 cm.
The seeds collected from July to August during the flowering of the slime onion are suitable for planting for 4 years.
The planted bed is watered and covered with a film to create a thermal regime. Periodically, to avoid high humidity, the film is opened to allow air to enter. Sprouted seeds in the form of seedlings can be transplanted into open ground when warm weather sets in.
If there is no desire to transplant seedlings, but you want to sow seeds directly into open ground, then this should be done until the end of April. In this case, in the first season, the bed is weeded, loosened and watered, and thinned out only after a year.