Hercules is a hybrid variety of onions, which is recommended for cultivation in the central regions of the country. Onion Hercules has excellent characteristics and many advantages that are fully manifested when creating optimal conditions for the growth and development of culture.
Onion Hercules
Onion Hercules has a spicy sweet taste
Onions Hercules stored for a long time
Variety characteristics, advantages and disadvantages
Hercules was withdrawn by the Dutch and included in the State Register in 2006. Characteristics of this variety of onions:
- medium early ripening - after the emergence of seedlings, the crop is expected to average in 75 days
- pen height - up to 35 cm, color dark green;
- the formation of a small number of leaves, which provides large fruit sizes;
- the average weight of the bulbs is 140 g;
- golden yellow dense peel;
- bulbs of elongated oval shape;
- white juicy pulp;
- sharp-sweet taste, bitterness is absent, there is a piquant aftertaste.
Hercules is a two year old culture. When planting seeds in the fall, you can get a sowing, which you need to plant in the spring to get a full crop.
Hercules is a hybrid variety, and breeders have done a good job of its benefits:
- excellent taste;
- precocity
- high productivity - from 1 square. m can get up to 8 kg of onions;
- the formation of a powerful root system;
- resistance to the formation of arrows;
- long-term storage without loss of taste;
- unpretentiousness in relation to growing conditions - successfully growing in arid regions, productivity is high even with sparse watering;
- resistance to many diseases;
- Great for growing on an industrial scale.
Hercules has few shortcomings. The main disadvantage is the high cost of planting material. Another significant drawback is the inability to independently obtain seeds that you have to buy in the store.
Optimal conditions for growing
The realization of all the benefits of Hercules onion depends on creating optimal conditions for the crop:
- Sunny and elevated plot. Culture does not like lowlands, if the whole garden is located like this, then the beds need to be made high.
- Temperature mode. Hercules should be planted in open ground when the air temperature is 8-10 degrees, and the threat of night frost is over.
- Crop rotation rules. Within 3 years, the onion must not be returned to its original place. Culture feels good after siderata, nightshade, cucumber, cabbage. Garlic with carrots are undesirable precursors, but good neighbors, deterring pests.
- Soil neutral acidity - pH 7.
Hercules prefers black soil and loamy soil. In the fall, during the last digging, you need to make the following fertilizers per 1 sq. Km. m:
- urea - 1 tsp;
- humus - 4 kg;
- superphosphate - 1 tbsp. l .;
- peat - 5 kg.
If the soil is sandy, then others need fertilizers:
- clay soil - 2 buckets;
- urea - 1 tbsp. l .;
- humus - 1 bucket;
- superphosphate - 1 tbsp. l .;
- peat - 1 bucket.
Clay soil for Hercules is not suitable. Fertilizing in other cases increases the fertility of the earth.
When autumn digging, you can also make wood ash. Enough 0.5 kg per 1 square. m. In this case, in the spring you need to use the following fertilizers:
- potassium - 15 g;
- humus - 0.5 buckets;
- superphosphate - 35 g.
Immediately before planting, it will be necessary to introduce urea into the soil - 15 g per 1 sq. Km. Instead, ammonium nitrate can be used, but 12 g per the same area.
Landing
You can plant Hercules seeds or sowing. Depends on the selected method when the crop was received. Seeds are cheaper than sevka, but it will take longer to wait for the results, and more work to be done.
Open Seed
Plant Hercules seeds in the right time:
- Winter planting is possible in any region except the Far North. Sowing is carried out at temperatures up to 5 degrees. You need to do this 2-3 weeks before frost, the soil should be dry. Germination will begin in early spring.
- For sowing, early spring can be chosen, when the soil warms up to 3 degrees. Thanks to melt water, the crop will grow better and the yield will be good, but it will be stored less - no more than 3 months.
- Sowing at a soil temperature of 10-12 degrees provides onions of small and medium sizes. This is mainly planting material for next year, but part can be taken for food.
Regardless of the selected terms, you need to proceed according to the following algorithm:
- Check seed for viability. To do this, the seeds need to be soaked in water. Pop-up specimens will not germinate, so they should be thrown away. It is recommended that you leave a few seeds in the water before germination and evaluate the ratio of hatched specimens and not sprouted. If there are more of the latter, then the quality of the seed is unsatisfactory, it is better not to use it.
- Warm up the seeds. To do this, they can be placed next to the battery or in another warm place and left for 5 days. Such a measure will reduce the shooting.
- Disinfection. At this stage, the seeds should be lowered into a potassium permanganate solution for a quarter of an hour. After they need to rinse and dry.
- Growth stimulation. This stage is optional. Usually resort to the drug Epin. This biostimulant must be added to water and soak the seeds. You can also use this tool when landing.
- Prepare the beds. Digging is carried out in the fall, in the spring only loosening, leveling and applying the necessary fertilizers is required.
- Make grooves, deepening by 1-1.5 cm. Between the rows leave 20 cm.
- Sow the seeds. 1.5 cm should be left between them.
Hercules can also be planted with seedlings. Its cultivation takes 50 days, sowing should be carried out in mid-February.
Onion sevkom
Sevc is usually planted when the air warms up to 10 degrees, and the soil - 2 degrees less. You can plant it earlier, when the soil thaws at least 5 cm. This option allows you to quickly develop the root system and reduce the risk of damage by some pests. You should not be afraid of frosts - the sevok perfectly tolerates temperatures up to -4 degrees.
When landing Hercules in the north, you need to proceed according to the following algorithm:
- Culling planting material. Only strong specimens should be selected. Mechanical damage and signs of the disease are unacceptable. It is recommended to sort the sets by size. The best option is considered onion 2-2.5 cm in diameter. Smaller specimens are best planted in early spring or before winter.
- Warming up. It is necessary to put sevok in a warm room and keep for 2-3 days. If possible, ensure a temperature of 40 degrees - such warming reduces the risk of various diseases.
- Preventative treatment. To increase resistance to disease, you need to dissolve in 1 liter of water in 1 tbsp. l nitrofoski. Sevka in such a solution should be kept for half an hour, then dried. Additionally, copper sulfate can be used for processing - a solution is also prepared from it.
- Ground preparation, groove or hole formation. Between the rows leave 20-25 cm.
- Planting Sevka. Between the plants in the same row leave 10 cm. You need to deepen the sowing by 3-5 cm - over the neck there should be 2 cm of soil.
- Watering after planting is only required in dry soil. In spring, the crop lacks natural moisture in the soil.
You can plant Hercules in the north even in autumn, if the winters in the region are not too severe. In this case, the crop can be harvested in July. Planting is carried out 2 weeks before frosts. The onion must not have time to germinate, otherwise it will die in the winter. When planting for the winter you need mulch - dry grass or sawdust. A layer of 10 cm is enough.
Outdoor crop care
You can get a rich and selected crop if you properly care for the plants. Measures should be comprehensive.
Watering
Hercules does not like excess moisture, so watering should be moderate but regular. It is recommended to water the onion twice a week. In severe drought, watering is best done.
For Hercules, it is better to use irrigation. Watering should be carried out in the early morning or evening, when the sun is already setting.
If rainfall occurs regularly, then you need to focus on the condition of the soil and water the beds only when it dries.
Watering is especially important for the crop in the first weeks when its active growth occurs. A half a month before harvesting, watering is completely stopped.
Thinning
This measure is usually required when planting onions with seeds or seedlings. Thinning out the culture is necessary in two stages. The first thinning is carried out in the second week after planting. The distance between the sprouts should be reduced to 2.5 cm.
The second thinning is carried out a month after planting. This time, the distance between adjacent sprouts should increase to 8-10 cm.
When thinning, leave only the strongest specimens. They should not lie on the bed - all plant debris must be removed immediately.
Loosening and weeding
Loosening the soil is necessary to ensure its aeration. Culture at the same time begins to grow better. Loosening is carried out after watering or heavy rain.
At the same time as loosening, it is recommended to weed. Weed vegetation must be removed in a timely manner, otherwise it will slow down the growth and development of onions. In this case, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the crop will suffer, the bulbs will be small.
Top dressing
Fertilizing is not a mandatory step in the care of Hercules, but in its absence, productivity decreases to 5-6 kg per 1 sq. Km. It is recommended to feed the culture three times a season:
- 2 weeks after planting It is recommended to use organics. Chicken droppings are effective - you need to add 0.2 kg of fertilizer to 10 liters of water. Additionally, you can use 20 g of urea.
- One week after landing It is better to apply complex top dressing. 10 g of water requires 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 15 g of potassium chloride and 60 g of superphosphate.
- During the ripening period of the bulbs the same fertilizers should be used as for the second top dressing.
Mulching
Mulching is carried out so that weed growth is reduced, and the earth dries less. The best mulch for Hercules is compost. Mulch should be updated several times during the season, its layer should not exceed 7 cm.
Pest and Disease Control
Hercules has high resistance to various diseases, and disinfection and heating of the seed material further reduces their risk. If signs of the disease still appear, then it is necessary to get rid of the affected plants and burn them. Usually the problem is a fungal infection, so you need to use fungicides.
The main enemy of culture among pests is the onion fly. You can get rid of it with the help of tobacco dust, which the plants dust. Effectively add ash and black pepper. You can prepare a solution from a dry mixture and spray it with a culture.
Harvesting and storage
The harvest of Hercules falls at the end of summer, when the feather turns yellow and massively lays. The onion should not sit out in the ground, otherwise it will be stored less.
Harvest should be done with a pitchfork. Bulbs must be cleaned from the ground and completely dried in the sun or in a well-ventilated area.
Be sure to trim the roots and feathers, leaving tails of 5 cm each. You can store the crop in nets, wooden boxes, cardboard boxes, nylon stockings, knitwear.
The optimal storage temperature is 15-20 degrees. The room should be dry, dark and well ventilated.
With proper cultivation of onions Hercules, the result of labor will be a rich harvest of large onions, which will be stored until spring. The duration of storage largely depends on the timeliness of harvesting and proper preparation of a suitable room.