Ammonia for onions: application for feeding, how to dilute and water

Why is it useful?

Ammonia has a positive effect on the development, productivity and quality of onions, as well as on the soil in which it grows.

Nitrogen source

Ammonia, also known as 10% ammonia, is actively used in growing vegetables, including onions, due to its nitrogen content. This chemical element is one of the most necessary for plants. Its deficiency can lead to slower growth and development of plants. And also to diseases. Most of all, onions need nitrogen in the spring, after the winter awakening of the soil.

Repels insects

The big advantage of using ammonia is that its fumes can repel most pests. It is effective even in small concentrations, when a person does not smell it at all.

Most often, 10% ammonia is used to control the following pests:

ants;
aphid;
mole cricket;
wireworm;
midge;
secretive proboscis;
onion and carrot flies.

Getting Rich Feathers

By treating onions with the prepared product, you will be able to preserve and even activate the growth of feathers and achieve an increase in bushes. Feeding will make the color of the feathers rich green, and the taste bright and juicy.

Plants should be sprayed immediately after the first shoots. It is best to carry out the procedure in calm and cloudy weather or after sunset. In this case, they do not use special sprayers, but watering cans with small holes. Ammonia is a volatile substance, and when sprayed with a sprayer, you will not get the expected result; it will simply evaporate on the way to the plants.

Reducing soil acidity

Onions are quite sensitive to soil acidity levels. It should be slightly acidic or neutral. Even a slightly increased level of acidity will negatively affect the plant. To solve this problem, 10% ammonia is also suitable.

Long lasting effect

The effect after a course of treatment with ammonia lasts about a month. Therefore, after this time, the treatment is repeated again. The result is visible already on the 4-5th day. Onion bushes acquire a richer, deeper color, become denser and grow quickly.

Improvement of soil structure

10% ammonia has a positive effect on soil structure. It makes it more fertile, saturating it with the beneficial substances that onions need.

Safety regulations

It should be recalled that ammonia is a very caustic substance, and it can settle in the lungs, which can subsequently have very disastrous consequences.

Quite large volumes of ammonia are used to process onions and garlic, which are not used in medicine.

Be sure to follow all safety requirements and rules when using this substance: wear a hat, safety glasses, gloves, an apron, and use a respirator.

Do this procedure from a safe distance, without coming close and without inhaling the vapors of the active substance.

Onions treated with ammonia have a rich green color.

How to use

If the tips of onion feathers suddenly begin to turn white and the greens turn pale, this is a sign of a lack of nitrogen in the soil. This means it’s time to use ammonia. Use ammonia only in highly diluted form. They either water the bushes at the root so that the bulb develops better. Or they spray the greens so that they grow more actively and are saturated with nutrients.

When to plant onion sets in spring.

The best time for planting is the last ten days of April. Most varieties of onion sets are resistant to cold, which is why the timing is early. For onion sets, it is important that the ground is moist after the snow melts and the air warms up to 10 - 12 degrees. In the northern regions, planting begins no earlier than May.

Onion planting dates in 2022

Many gardeners prefer to plant onions according to the Lunar calendar. Prohibited days for all garden crops are Full Moon and New Moon. During this period of time, the plants have no vitality, and if they sprout, they will not grow well.

Prohibited days in spring 2022

March 9th and 24th April 8th and 23rd May 7th and 22nd

Good days for planting in spring in 2022:

March 18, 25 and 31, ideal 1, 4, 6 and 28 April 1-7, 25 30, ideal 1 2, 28 29 May 1 6, 23 -31, ideal 25 26

How to dilute ammonia correctly

In order for ammonia to bring only benefits, you need to know how to dilute it correctly.

For feeding

If the plants show strong signs of nitrogen deficiency, then the proportions should be as follows: add 1 tbsp per 1 liter of water. l. ammonia. The solution is poured onto the rows. This is the maximum dose of ammonia, so before watering you should make sure that the onion needs nitrogen and not, for example, copper. After all, the whitened tips of the onion feathers may also indicate it.

For preventive purposes

For prevention, a weaker solution is made. To carry out root watering, you need to take 3 tbsp. l. medicine and add it to a 10 liter bucket of water. Stir and water the onion beds under the roots. This should be done in the evening. This amount of solution should be enough for 2 square meters. m beds.

Foliar irrigation

This irrigation is done so that the substances from ammonia remain on the onion greens for as long as possible. To do this, add 5 tbsp to 10 liters of water. l. ammonia. In order to prolong the effect of ammonia even longer, laundry soap is added to the solution. With its help, useful components will stick to plants better. Laundry soap can be replaced with baby soap.

The soap is first grated and dissolved. If onions are grown for feathers, then soap is replaced with dry mustard. You only need 2 tbsp. l. The prepared mixture is not watered, but the bushes are irrigated.

For insect control

Ammonia actively helps in pest control. Here are effective recipes for specific insects:

You can fight onion and carrot flies with the following solution: pour 5 ml of the product into 10 liters of water and treat the plants by spraying.
Mole crickets and wireworms, which often settle on onion crops, are repelled as follows: pour 10 ml of alcohol into a large bucket and stir. When planting plants, pour a little of the resulting solution into each hole. After planting, water the bed with plenty of water. This will help the active substance penetrate as deeply as possible into the soil.
In order to get rid of ants, which often build their homes in garden beds, you need to pour the entire pharmaceutical bottle of ammonia into a liter of water. Fill the anthills with liquid.
If a secretive proboscis appears in the onion beds, prepare an ammonia solution by adding a tablespoon of ammonia to a bucket of water. Watering is carried out daily, from the second half of June, until the pests leave the area. After harvesting, all remains are removed from the beds, because the secretive proboscis loves onion skins.
Midges and aphids are repelled by the lightest ammonia solutions.

With iodine

A solution with iodine works well against onion flies and nourishes plants. To prepare it, you need 5 ml of ammonia and 3 drops of iodine, which are added to a bucket of water. Stir and spray the bushes from a watering can.

With salt

Watering onion beds with salt and ammonia will help destroy pathogens that accumulate in the soil due to the activity of insects. The solution is prepared as follows: add 5 ml of ammonia and 5 tbsp to 10 liters of water. l. rock salt. Stir everything well and water the beds.

With boric acid

Boric acid is used as an antiseptic. It protects vegetables from possible rotting and helps the formation of the ovary. It is necessary to dilute 5 ml of ammonia and 2 teaspoons of boric acid in 10 liters of water. Spray onion plantings.

Yeast feeding

This type of fertilizer ensures the viability of beneficial microflora and saturates the soil with oxygen. Feeding yeast quickly breaks down organic matter so plants can effectively absorb the nutrients they need to grow. Yeast is used in warm weather.

Advantages of this type of onion feeding:

The use of yeast has a beneficial effect on the immunity of onions.
Promotes the growth of green mass and increases the root system.
Increases harvest by thirty percent.
Suppresses the development of fungal diseases of the plant.

Due to yeast, the soil is saturated with nitrogen. The addition of wood ash enhances the effect. You need to know that yeast is active only in warm weather.

For watering, prepare a mash of 5 liters of water and a kilogram of fresh yeast with the addition of a small amount of sugar. You can add 250 milliliters of wood ash to the solution.

Let the solution ferment, then dilute it with warm water 1:2 and you can water the onions.

Reasons for use

In what cases should you use ammonia:

Ammonia is considered a quick option for feeding onions. Therefore, if you need to quickly take action, then use it.
Yellowness of the stem or feathers of the crop. These signs require an immediate reaction, so ammonia is used.
The onion stem has a whitened appearance. This symptom also requires treatment with ammonia.
Feathers that are too small, growth retardation or growth arrest are another reason to use the product.
A thinning and breaking onion stem may indicate a lack of nutrients, including nitrogen, which is replenished with ammonia.

Harm from flies and signs of damage

The small insect poses a greater danger to onions, since if left untreated it will ruin the entire crop. The pest multiplies very quickly; about 2-3 generations of individuals are hatched over the summer. The pest feeds on the sap contained inside the plant. As a result, the following changes occur in culture:

the tips of the feathers begin to turn yellow;
twisting appears;
onions grow slowly;
the arrows become soft to the touch;
an unpleasant rotten smell emanates from the vegetable bed;
small white worms appear.

The presence of most of the listed signs indicates that the plantings have been damaged by a fly. The hatched larvae are more dangerous for the bulbs; they eat the vegetable quickly, as they are voracious. The worms spread from affected rotten fruits to healthy ones, which leads to the complete death of the crop.

Attention! The period of activity of the onion fly begins at the end of May and continues throughout the summer. The insects overwinter well in the ground, and in the spring they are again ready to lay eggs. Large colonies will be much more difficult to fight.

Precautionary measures

This useful product can become hazardous to health if you do not follow the safety rules when using it:

it is necessary to work with ammonia using rubber gloves;
Avoid contact of the solution with the skin; to do this, wear closed clothing before working with it;
to avoid inhaling ammonia fumes, wear a mask;
Do not mix the solution with active substances such as chlorine;
do not use for people with hypervascular dystonia;
Store ammonia in a carefully closed container, out of the reach of children.

Useful tips

After treating the onions with ammonia, you can sprinkle these areas with soil. This way the substance will evaporate more slowly.

It is better to resort to maximum doses of ammonia only in extreme cases. Usually, significantly smaller dosages are effective in fertilizing.

If the acidity of the soil increases significantly, ammonia is not used. Although it is capable of moderately reducing soil acidity, in such a situation this is not enough. In such cases, nitrate nitrogen is used. All fertilizing using ammonia is carried out only after watering.