What are the causes of missing onion seedlings? Latest analysis
When planting onions, it is very easy to run into the problem of missing seedlings, which keeps later yields from rising and therefore affects everyone's returns. In fact, missing onion seedlings is mainly caused by the following reasons. Let's take a look below.
1. Soil factors
Before planting onions, the soil needs to be treated, and if the treatment is not thorough enough, missing seedlings will occur. For example, if clods of soil are compacted together and the soil is not loosened well, then when transplanting, the roots of some onion seedlings will find it very hard to penetrate into the soil layer, cannot absorb nutrients, and eventually the seedlings die, so missing seedlings naturally occur.
2. Temperature factors
Onions generally cannot be planted too late, otherwise they are prone to damage from low temperatures, and after some of the weaker ones die, missing seedlings naturally appear. If planting in spring, avoid planting too early and wait until the soil temperature has warmed up to a certain degree, otherwise the seedlings will freeze to death directly. In autumn, because planting may be relatively late, the root system is not mature, cold resistance is not strong, and the soil temperature drops relatively quickly, causing seedling death. This is also one of the more common causes of missing seedlings, so temperature must be controlled well, especially in greenhouses.
3. Seed problems
Onion seedlings also need some treatment before planting, to identify and remove some of the poorer-quality seeds, but this can only identify seedlings that are relatively obvious on the surface. Some poor-quality seedlings look much the same as normal ones and are very hard to notice. Secondly, these seedlings may also be damaged by human factors during storage, so naturally fewer survive when planted. Seeds must be stored by scientific methods to avoid suffering missing seedlings for nothing.
4. Insufficient nutrients
After onions are planted, they need both water and fertilizer, and their nutrient demand is relatively high, but the places where onions are planted also tend to have a lot of weeds that are hard to clean out completely. This makes it very easy for onions to suffer from insufficient nutrients to supply their growth, and in the end missing seedlings naturally occur. So when planting, be sure to apply enough base fertilizer and carry out weed control on the soil to reduce other ineffective nutrient losses.
The above are some of the causes of missing onion seedlings. These can all be adjusted through human intervention, and everyone can take targeted preventive measures to reduce the occurrence of missing seedlings.