Onion

Soil Type:  Bernow fine-loamy, siliceous, thermic Glossic Paleudalf. Other soils in the region are more or less sandy. A clay hardpan can exist close to the soil surface.

Location:  Lane, Oklahoma.

Fertilizer:                               Typical residue in spring (lbs/Acre)

Typical soil pH: 5-5.5

Add all fertilizer preplant at rates recommended by soil tests. A starter fertilizer, normally a soluble product, can be added at transplanting.

Row and plant spacing:  Beds on 3 foot centers.  Two rows per bed with 10 inches between rows and 6 inches between plants in a row.

Transplanting:  Late-February.

Harvest:  Once, based on percent of top breakover.  Data indicates that harvest should occur at 20-30% breakover.

Water:  This is the single most important factor in production of these types of onions. At this location it is generally not necessary to apply water at transplanting since the soils will likely have sufficient moisture, rains are frequent, and the plants will require some time to develop new roots. A minimum of 2 inches of water per week is required during the growing season. If it is drier than normal additional water will be required. Water can be supplied by overhead or drip irrigation.

1999

This data represents one growing season, but suggests that when greenhouse grown onion transplants are transferred to the field it is not necessary that they be placed in bedded soil. Also, 3 rows per bed are better than 2, and the plants from the shorter transplant trays had better yields than those from the taller trays. If bedding is not necessary then field preparation input is reduced. Although three rows per bed improved yield that spacing may make cultivation more difficult. The shorter transplant trays appeared to improve yield. The trays are cheaper, require less potting soil, and plants produced a more compact root ball than those grown from seed in the taller trays.

Marketable Yield (T/Ac)

2000

Bare root transplants, obtained from commercial sources, and six-week-old greenhouse grown transplants were produced.  The greenhouse grown transplants were produced in trays with cells that had 30 and 55 cc volume cells.   Transplants were moved to the field on 29 February 2000.  Transplants were placed in the field 15.25 cm apart in single rows in beds 0.9 m apart.

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