Saving the harvest: why onions rot during storage and how to avoid it?
Onions are a healthy vegetable, without which it is difficult to imagine most of the first and second courses.
They need to be stocked up in the fall, since it is perfectly stored until next spring, but only on condition that suitable conditions have been created for it.
Read about why onions rot when stored inside and out, what to do and how to prevent damage to the crop, read the article.
Content
Causes of decay
There are several reasons that can provoke damage onion heads:
Poor sorting of vegetables before harvesting them for the winter. If a rotten or diseased unit gets in the pile, it will infect the surrounding bulbs, causing them to deteriorate.- Incorrectly selected storage conditions. Excessive humidity and too high air temperature will lead to the fact that the fruits begin to germinate and rot.
- Hypothermia of the crop. If the bulbs have been frozen, they quickly rot.
- Wrong choice of variety. Late-ripening vegetables that are harvested in the second half of autumn are suitable for storage. Early bulbs will not last long, even under ideal conditions.
- Diseases affecting vegetables stored in cellars. The danger is fusarium, cervical and bacterial rot.
- Long stay in the ground. If the crop was harvested late, it will quickly deteriorate.
What to do if a vegetable starts to rot on the inside or outside?
If the bulbs start to rot, you need to take emergency measures. Otherwise, you can lose all supplies.
To begin with, the vegetables are sorted out, removing not only all rotting fruits, but also those that have been in contact with them... Even if they show no signs of rot, they are highly likely to be infected.
Be sure to adjust the storage conditions of the crop, achieving the desired level of humidity and temperature.
Be sure to get rid of any plant debris and land remains. They can act as a source of infection, causing cervical rot, fusarium, and other vegetable infections.
How to store it correctly?
To prevent the onion from rotting, you need to properly harvest and store it.
Key recommendations:
- store only the onions that have been thoroughly dried;
- sort vegetables before storing them for the winter;
- any instances that are in doubt should be removed;
- the neck of each vegetable must be cut at a height of 5 cm;
- place the crop in a cellar in which optimal conditions are created for it: air humidity - up to 70%, temperature - from -1 to +1 degrees;
- onions can be stored in boxes, in nets and in bundles, suspended from the ceiling, on pallets made of boards.
It is not recommended to keep onions in the refrigerator... Even in the vegetable shelf, it quickly loses its freshness, begins to grow and deteriorate. At best, it will last 30 days.
Vegetables are spoiled when the starch in the fruit turns into sugar in the refrigerator... The heads become damp, start to smell unpleasant, become moldy and rot.
The bow must breathe. It cannot be kept in plastic or paper bags. You will find all the most important things about onion storage here.
Helpful information
To prevent the bulbs from rotting during storage, the following tips should be taken into account:
Gently remove vegetables from the ground without pulling them out with force. Otherwise, you can damage the vegetable bottom, from which rotting will begin.- Dry the onion before storage for at least 3 weeks.
- Each head is thoroughly cleaned of soil, as bacteria and mold spores can remain in it.
- Avoid hypothermia of the fruit. They begin to freeze if the air temperature drops below -3 degrees.
- Do not store early maturing and late maturing varieties together.
- Maintain stable storage conditions. Constant temperature drops are extremely negative on onions. For this reason, it is not recommended to store it on the balcony.
Conclusion
Understanding why onions rot during storage is easy if you know the main risk factors.
Most often, violations of the conditions in which the crop is contained, or its poor-quality preparation lead to its deterioration... Having found out the cause of the disease, it must be eliminated as soon as possible so that rot does not affect healthy fruits.
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