Multi-tiered Bow Or How To Make Your Garden Bigger

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

I want to plant as many different vegetables as possible in my garden. But often the area that can be allotted for the beds is not happy with its size, and you still have to give up something. However, the multi-tiered bow seems to have been created by nature itself in order to save space. This unusual plant, crowned with bulbs at the top, forms more and more tiers on them. And thus, one bed, as if by magic, turns into three, or even four new ones! And you can plant a multi-tiered onion just in late summer - early autumn. So if you don't have planting material yet, it's time to think about it

Each tier has its own application

The plant has a very interesting structure. Instead of inflorescences, as in other types of onions, many air bulbs appear on the arrow, from which a new layer of greenery begins to develop. Therefore, this type of onion is also called viviparous. Observing the development of the new tier, it becomes clear where another unusual name came from - horned onion. The feathers of greenery, which throw out air bulbs, rush upward, and really, in their appearance, resemble horns.

Each successive tier is smaller than the previous one. At the same time, the bulbs of the lower tier can be used both for food and for onion propagation. They reach a size of about 2.5 cm in diameter and are famous for their good keeping quality. In contrast, underground bulbs cannot boast of this, and they are not left for long-term storage. But the bulbs of the upper tier are recommended to be used only for planting in the garden. They are very small, sometimes no more than a grain of wheat, but they are still an onion - multi-tiered onions do not form seeds.

Soil requirements of horned onions

Loamy, water-absorbing soils are suitable for horned onions. In such soils, even with September plantings, it will have time to root well and form leaves. The tiered onion is a perennial, but it is also grown as an annual crop.

For annual planting, it is recommended to fill the site with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Having planned the long-term cultivation of viviparous onions, it will be useful to pre-fertilize the soil with organic matter. For these purposes, humus is suitable.

Features of growing viviparous onions

For one-year cultivation of multi-tiered onions, planting material is placed on thickened beds. This technique is used when you want to get greens forcing in the early stages, ahead of onions.

In order to end up with a decent size onion, they are planted with multi-line ribbons by analogy with onion sets. In the current season, the bulbs will form leaves, but with the arrival of late autumn, the greens will die off. Next spring, each bulb will release about two dozen feathers, and, of course, 3-4 arrows with tiers of air bulbs.

For consumption, greens are cut when they reach at least 30 cm in height. By this time, the feather will accumulate a high concentration of phytoncides, essential oils and vitamins. A month later, the next batch of harvest will arrive.

Harvesting and storing tiered bows

The multi-tiered onions are harvested together with the roots. They start with those specimens on which the arrow is already showing signs of imminent withering away. Thus, the beds will thin out a little at first. Plants pulled out of the soil are conveniently stored in trenches.

Another beauty of the tiered onion is that its bulbs do not need a long rest period. And the planting material can be used in greenhouses to obtain vitamin greens during the winter months. In general, the yield of this plant is about 18 kg of greenery from a garden area of 1 square meter.