Red Onions are a major vegetable grown in the area of Aceh, Indonesia where I live. It is important to know how to plant red onions and how to tend to fields to prevent pests from destroying a crop. By learning how to plant and protect a crop of red onions you can successfully grow your own food, which is rewarding and helpful in creating healthy meals.

Red onion cultivation is best done at the beginning of summer because this type of plant requires around 10 hours of sunlight each day. Red onion seeds should be taken from local seeds because the endurance of local onions against disease is stronger than the seed that are bought at the market. Store bought seeds may become diseased more easily and aren’t as high of quality as seeds from local red onion harvests. A good type of onion seed is one that comes from an old harvested tuber.

Land preparation

Before planting red onions you must prepare the planting area by making a bed with a width of 1 meter. The height of beds should be 40 cm with a distance between beds of about 60 cm. Onions also require adequate soil so use manure or compost for fertilization. Spread the fertilizer onto the bed and then stir the soil until evenly distributed. Also, add chemical fertilizers but let them stand undisturbed for one week before the bed is covered with plastic protective coverings. The plastic coverings protect the soil and prevent weeds from harming the onion seedlings.

Planting Seeds

Prepare the onion seedlings for planting. Plant the shallots during the dry season. Space the plants into a 15 x 15 cm area. To plant the onion seedlings, you must place all parts of the tubers into the soil and cover them.

Watering

When planting red onions they need frequent watering. Plants should be watered twice a day in the morning and evening. Watering the plants twice a day is done from the beginning of planting until the plant is 15 days old. When the seedling is 15 days old it has had a chance to establish roots and become stable. After this time frame, watering is reduced to one time a day.

Pests On Red Onion Plants

Onion plants attract several types of pests and diseases that may damage their growth. Caterpillars are a major pest that damage red onion plants. Caterpillar pests often attack the leaves. The symptoms that show caterpillars are a problem include holes and white patches on the leaves.
Wilt disease is also a major concern to those growing red onions. The signs of wilt disease include wilting leaves, brown patches on the leaves, stunted growth, and plants dying off. You should pull any weeds near your onion plants to prevent weeds from spreading bacteria. If your plants show signs of disease you can use fungicides to help treat them. Also, clip any dead or browning leaves to try to stop the spread of disease to the rest of the plant.

How To Overcome Pests

To deal with caterpillars you can use a few different methods. You can remove them manually by taking the caterpillars and eggs directly off the plant. Another method to destroy caterpillars is by spraying insecticides made from a chemical called Chlorpyrifos. This chemical has been proven to reduce the numbers of pests from gardens. Remember to be careful using insecticides. They can be toxic and you must be careful cover your hands and body while spraying to protect yourself from being covered in insecticide.

Harvesting

One characteristic of onion plants is that they are ready to be harvested around 65 to 70 days after planting them. The sign they are ready to be harvested is that the onion plants lose their leaves.

Conclusion

Red onions are a simple plant that can be easy to grow. Tending to them when they are young takes more work than when they are older. Once the red onion plants are established and begin growing, they thrive with very little work. You have to worry about pests, but with a little love and care you can protect your crop from caterpillars and other insects.

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All images are my own
@agrojaya