Onions of the Stuttgart Riesen variety have a juicy flesh, spicy taste and are a good example of German selection. This onion is usually cultivated as a bulb, and in the summer season they are planted for distillation of greenery. Cultivation has its own characteristics.
Variety onions Stuttgart Riesen
Onions Stuttgart Riesen frost-resistant
Onion Stuttgart Riesen has a pungent taste and a spicy smell
Grade description
Stuttgart Riesen is characterized by medium maturity. Mature heads have a rounded, slightly flattened shape, covered with dense husk with a slight gloss. The color of ripe bulbs varies from beige to yellow-orange, sometimes with a brown tint. The average weight of one head is from 90 to 160 g. In rich soils with heavy watering, the weight of the bulbs reaches 250 g.
The tight fit of the scales inside the head provides high keeping quality, so it is well stored, does not lose freshness for a long time. The feather is long, dense and juicy, has a beautiful rich dark green color and excellent taste.
Stuttgart Riesen is relatively easy to care for, it adapts well to weather conditions in different regions of Russia. Growing it during the cold weather in greenhouses on greens is also very popular and profitable. Depending on the climate, the ripening period of the vegetable will vary slightly.
Thanks to excellent varietal qualities and simple agricultural technology, the variety has gained well-deserved popularity. It is widely distributed not only in Russia but also throughout the world. Onion Stuttgart Riesen is different:
- productivity up to 8.5 kg per 1 square. m;
- attractive presentation;
- great taste;
- high in vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, PP, E;
- long shelf life;
- sufficient frost resistance;
- resistance to common diseases.
Onion variety Stuttgart Riesen is well suited for cooking, preserving, drying and freezing. Fresh, it has a classic pungent taste and spicy smell, which are indispensable in Russian cuisine.
Growing Features
To cultivate onions Stuttgart Riesen for several years in one place is not recommended, it is better to change the site every season.
For the cultivation of vegetables, it is better to choose well-fertilized, fertile land. A distinctive feature of the variety lies in the fact that it is able to give a good harvest on scarce, depleted soils. Although in this case the bulbs will be smaller in size, their taste will be fully preserved.
It is recommended to plant onions in the garden in those places that were previously occupied by the following crops:
- Tomatoes
- cucumbers;
- legumes;
- cabbage;
- radish;
- zucchini.
But after potatoes, it is not worth cultivating onions in the same areas, because he will grow weakly, lack nutrients.
For planting this crop, you can choose both autumn and spring.
There are 3 classic ways to plant onions:
- From seed. This method is divided into autumn and spring sowing.
- Seedlings. Seeds are germinated indoors and later transferred to the beds.
- Sevkom. Small onion heads are planted in open ground in spring, late summer, or early fall. Winter onions usually differ from the summer ones with larger head sizes and higher keeping rates, more resistant to diseases and damage by parasite insects.
Seed cultivation
Winter onions grown from seeds have a short ripening period - 65-70 days from the appearance of the first seedlings. You can harvest such a crop much earlier than when planting in the spring.
Seeds are sown in early autumn or late summer, starting on August 20, so that the plants have time to grow and go for wintering with a well-formed root system. This will help them calmly transfer frosts and will enable them to quickly grow with the onset of warm days. Onions planted in autumn are less likely to form arrows.
Spring sowing can begin in April, when the threat of frost passes.
So that when sowing small seeds it is easier to distinguish against the background of the soil, they can be mixed with friable chalk. This will facilitate the even distribution of plants in the beds.
The procedure for preparing both winter and spring sowing is the same:
- Soak the seeds for a day in room temperature water. This greatly accelerates their germination.
- After soaking, dry the seeds in the open air, placing them on a paper towel or a clean towel.
- In the ground, make thin furrows 2-3 cm deep at a distance of 15 cm between rows. Then you need to moderately moisten the soil.
- Sow onion into the grooves. Try to evenly distribute planting material in the recess of 1 plant per 2 cm. Lightly sprinkle with dry soil on top.
- Immediately after sowing, you should not irrigate so that a crust does not form on the surface.
- After germination, plants should be thinned so that they have enough space for development. The distance between the bulbs should be 7-10 cm.
Growing seedlings
In early spring, you can sow Stuttgart Riesen for seedlings. Seedlings are kept in a bright room at room temperature. When the soil in the garden warms up to a temperature of 15 degrees, you can plant the seedlings in open ground. This method will allow you to get an earlier harvest compared to spring sowing.
Growing onion sets
When planting sowing, the ripening period of onion heads will be 100-112 days from the moment the first seedlings appear.
For the best result, you should choose medium and small onion bulbs, evenly colored and without physical damage. Before planting bulbs:
- Sort, dry, carefully inspect for infection with pests and diseases. The crop depends on the quality of planting material.
- Soak for a day in warm water to activate germination.
- Before planting, they are disinfected with a composition prepared from table salt and potassium permanganate. In 5 liters of water you need to dissolve 2 tbsp. l salt and tint the solution with potassium permanganate to a light pink color.
Sow seeds are planted on a bed at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, carefully deepening by about 3-5 cm, depending on the size of the bulbs. Aisles make about 20 cm in size.
Growing onions on a feather
Onions Stuttgart Riesen is well cultivated not only as a bulb, but also on a feather. The dense juicy greens of a saturated shade have a spicy pungent taste and a pronounced aroma.
You can plant on the pen both sowing and ripe bulbs. In this case:
- when planting on each bulb make cruciform incisions at the point of growth;
- bulbs are planted on beds very tightly, with virtually no gaps;
- They also practice continuous landing, making wide rows with paths between them for the convenience of moving around the field.
Crop care
Despite the low demands onions for care, to achieve a good result, you need to take care of the plants.
Onion beds need to be regularly weeded and loosened so that the plants have enough light and air for development.
You need to water the plants regularly. Do not allow prolonged drying of the soil - this may adversely affect the taste of onion heads and feathers. With a lack of moisture, the plants have an unhealthy appearance, the flesh and greens become stiff and excess bitterness.
Often, signs of a depressed state of a plant appear when there is a shortage of certain trace elements:
- lack of nitrogen: the feather turns pale, becomes unhealthy, becomes flabby;
- lack of potassium: the plant gradually fades, becomes soft;
- phosphorus deficiency: the onion darkens and dries, starting from the tip of the leaf, and gradually dries completely.
To feed a ripening vegetable, a traditional complex of fertilizers, both organic and chemical, is used:
- Before planting, it is advisable to add rotted cow manure and bird droppings to the soil. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the organics are not fresh and have no signs of infection with parasitic insects.
- After 14-6 days from the moment of the appearance of the first seedlings, nitrogen fertilizer is applied to the soil for better development of green mass.
- After 30 days, the time of the second feeding comes. Plants are fertilized with a nitrogen-phosphorus preparation with the addition of potassium.
- At the stage of the beginning of the formation of heads, potassium-phosphorus mixture can be introduced into the soil on the beds.
- After harvesting, it is advisable to seed the plot with green manure to restore the fertile layer.
Diseases and Pests
The most common problems in the cultivation and storage of onions Stuttgart Riesen arise from onion flies, cervical rot and downy mildew.
Onion fly lays eggs in the heads, from which their flesh is damaged and rots. You can deal with this pest with the help of:
- disinfectant solutions;
- sprinkling soil with ash and tobacco dust;
- alternating beds of onions with carrots, the smell of which repels the pest;
- Autumn digging of the soil, as a result of which harmful insects and their larvae freeze in the winter.
Cervical rot and powdery mildew are common fungal diseases that affect the bulbs during storage. To prevent them, you need to thoroughly dry and sort the heads before laying them in the store, and also maintain optimal temperature and humidity conditions in the room.
Plants with signs of disease need to be burned to destroy fungal spores. Preventive treatment of planting material with antifungal drugs is also practiced before the start of the growing cycle.
Harvesting and storage
With prolonged storage in appropriate conditions, onions of the Stuttgart Riesen variety do not lose their beneficial properties. The content of vitamins and minerals in the pulp remains high throughout the winter period.
Variety Stuttgart Riesen ripens in early or mid-autumn, depending on the timing of planting and weather conditions. Dig onions only in dry weather, after specifying the forecast.
During harvesting, it is important not to damage the heads with a shovel, and also not to crush them. All damaged areas during storage can cause decay.
The next stage of harvesting is high-quality drying. Bulbs are scattered on ventilated mesh pallets or on a dry, flat surface. Drying time is from 7 to 12 days. Periodically, the heads need to be mixed for better ventilation.
Store onions in a dry, cool and dark place. Must have access to fresh air. Storage temperature can vary from 2 to 12 degrees and relative humidity of 70%. In this case, the absence of sharp fluctuations is crucial. It is allowed to place bulbs for storage in nets, vegetable boxes, baskets, scythes or nylon stockings.
Growing onions Stuttgart Riesen will not cause much difficulty and trouble for the gardener, and its proper collection and storage will provide a supply of tasty and healthy vegetable for the whole year.