How is Jixiang Kuaicong? An introduction to its variety characteristics

Jixiang Kuaicong is an excellent local variety developed from Yexuan No. 1 Welsh onion through long-term cultivation and years of directional systematic selection. This variety is best suited to summer sowing, winter transplanting and spring harvest; its market season falls right in the off-season for Welsh onion production and supply, so it brings high returns. Combined with its excellent quality, it is deeply favored by northern consumers who love Welsh onions and has high value for promotion.

Characteristics

Plant height 100 cm, blanched pseudostem (white stalk) length 30--40 cm, stalk diameter (transverse) about 3 cm, leaf number 5--6, single plant weight 0.20--0.40 kg, yield per mu 5000 kg or more. Leaf color dark green; the white stalk is sweet, crisp, plump and tender, pure white and fine; both the white stalk and the young leaves have a relatively mild pungency and are suitable for eating raw. It has a single root and does not tiller, and double onions rarely appear. It likes cool conditions and tolerates heavy fertilizer and water.

Jixiang Kuaicong has strong cold resistance and regrows early. In early spring, after the plant bolts and before the flower bud has fully formed, the tiller buds (er ya) sprout, grow rapidly and quickly outgrow the reproductive growth, thus forming the product organ. Therefore it is suitable for off-season cultivation.

Cultivation points

Sowing. In the Jiaodong region, sow and raise seedlings from late July to late August. Sowing too early means high temperature and frequent rain, which is unfavorable for seedling growth; sowing too late means small seedlings that reduce yield. Seed rate about 0.50 kg per mu. After sowing and before emergence, 150 g of pendimethalin per mu may be sprayed to control weeds.

Transplanting. Transplant in early to mid-November; the plants must recover before the soil freezes so they can overwinter safely. Choose land that has not previously grown onion or garlic crops, apply 3000--4000 kg of well-rotted high-quality organic fertilizer per mu, 50 kg of diammonium phosphate, 50 kg of potassium sulfate and 10--15 kg of urea; after ploughing, level and make beds 1.10 m wide, cover with 90 cm wide plastic film, and sprinkle a thin layer of fine soil on the film. Grade the onion seedlings by size, dip the roots in 800-fold phoxim solution to kill onion maggot eggs, make holes with a bamboo stick and plant, with depth such that the heart leaf is not buried. Spacing 10 cm, 8 rows per bed, water after planting.

Management in the following year. After overwintering, water for regrowth in early March. After regrowth the plant bolts; remove the whole flower bud when it is about to open but not yet open, to promote the development and growth of the tiller buds. Removing too early means the tiller buds cannot push out strongly and growth is affected; removing too late means flowering consumes too much nutrition and Welsh onion yield is low. During growth keep the soil alternately dry and moist. In mid to late April, spread 10--15 kg of urea per mu together with watering. Jixiang Kuaicong has a short growing period and generally suffers very few pests and diseases.

Harvest. Mid to late May is the suitable harvest time. Remove the flower stalk of the mother plant and old leaves, tie into bundles and bring to market. The harvest period must not be delayed too long, otherwise the tiller-bud onions will enter the reproductive growth of a new reproductive cycle, send up flower stalks and lose commercial quality.