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What are the methods to prevent onion bolting?

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How do you prevent onion bolting? Experienced gardeners, please share your methods. Bolting often occurs during onion production. Once bolting happens, it greatly affects onion yield and quality, so Zhongdi Network has compiled three methods to prevent onion bolting, listed in detail below for gardeners...
How do you prevent onion bolting? Experienced gardeners, please share your methods.


Bolting often occurs during onion production. Once bolting happens, it greatly affects onion yield and quality, so Zhongdi Network has compiled three methods to prevent onion bolting, listed in detail below for gardeners' reference.

  Method 1: Choose a suitable sowing period:
       Sowing is not only the key measure for preventing onion bolting, but also the key to high yield. Generally, late September to early-to-mid October is the suitable sowing period. It can avoid the drawback of sowing too early (early September), when seedlings grow excessively and the false stem becomes thick and easily exceeds 0.6 cm, increasing the bolting rate, and also avoid the situation of sowing too late (sowing in late October), when seedlings grow little, bulbs are small, and yield is low.

  Method 2: Choose a suitable transplanting period:
        Onions are generally best transplanted from November to December, choosing strong seedlings for transplanting. Strong seedlings transplanted at this time grow rapidly after the Spring Festival, bulbs expand quickly, the bolting rate is low, and yield is high; if large seedlings are transplanted, growth during the winter is excessive, reproductive growth is vigorous after the Spring Festival, the bolting rate is extremely high, and yield is low; while if small seedlings are transplanted, due to insufficient growth, the bulbs are small and yield is low.

  Method 3: Fertilizer and water management for onions:
        Do not apply topdressing during the winter for onions. After the Spring Festival, apply fertilizer heavily 3 times, that is, the 1st application in mid-March, the 2nd in mid-April, and the 3rd in early May. Each time apply 15-25 kg/mu of urea and 5-7 kg/mu of potassium sulfate to promote vigorous vegetative growth, inhibit reproductive growth, and reduce the bolting rate. In addition, when bolting appears in the field, remove the bolt promptly to reduce yield loss.

Onion sowing methods

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