The mid-late onion variety “Exhibition” was bred by breeders of the famous company Bejo Zaden (Netherlands) and is well known to many domestic gardeners - it was included in the State Registers of Russia (in 2000) and Belarus (in 2014). It belongs to the type of sweet plant and is considered a salad plant: both green feathers and juicy bulbs, which contain many useful substances necessary for human health, are used for food. It is consumed not only fresh, but also fried, sauteed, boiled, pickled as a snack or side dish.
Onion "Exhibition" (pictured) is successfully cultivated throughout Russia, Belarus and Ukraine
"Exhibition" is well adapted to various soil and climatic conditions and is approved for cultivation throughout Russia. This variety of crop is characterized by high yield, pleasant taste and large bulb size, therefore it is in great demand among vegetable growers and consumers.
Timing for sowing Exhibition onion seeds for seedlings
Exhibition onions are grown from seeds through seedlings or directly into open ground. The best results are obtained by growing onions through seedlings. But when growing seedlings, keep in mind that they are planted after the threat of frost has passed.
To calculate the time for planting seeds for seedlings, be guided by the fact that onions should be in the seedling phase for 35-40 days. Another 3 days are given for the seeds to hatch after soaking them. So count when you will have the opportunity to plant seedlings in open ground. By counting down you will determine the optimal time for sowing seeds. In the southern regions, this is approximately the end of February - beginning of March. In Siberia, the Urals and the northern regions, the sowing period is April.
Description of the variety
Exhibition onion is a hybrid variety grown as an annual crop. Included in the late ripening category.
| Growing | Seedlings and seeds |
| Ripening period | 130 days from germination |
| Head shape | Smooth, oval |
| Head weight | From 170 to 1000 g |
| Color | Straw yellow husk, white scales |
| Taste qualities | Sweet, no bitterness |
| Productivity, kg/m2. | 4-5 |
| Maturation | 66-70% |
| Storage | Up to 4 months |
Externally, Exhibition looks like an ordinary onion. Its distinctive feature is the perfectly even shape of the heads and sweet taste.
This variety is intended for making salads. It is consumed mainly fresh, not recommended for winter preparations. After harvesting, the harvest is stored for up to 4 months, after which the onion begins to sprout.
Onion Exhibition in the greenhouse
Advantages of the variety:
- Possibility of growing seedlings and seeds.
- Possibility of winter sowing.
- Growing for greens and heads.
- High yield.
- Original taste qualities.
- Both heads and greens are suitable for food.
Flaws:
- Difficulty in growing from seeds.
- Short shelf life.
- Use only in raw form.
Sowing onions according to the Lunar calendar
Many gardeners adhere to planting dates for certain vegetables, focusing on the Lunar calendar. They believe that planting should not be done at all during the full moon and new moon, arguing that the plantings will grow worse.
In 2022, the new moon will be on February 23, March 24, April 23, and the full moon will be on February 9, March 9, April 8. Adherents of the lunar calendar should remember these numbers and not engage in planting.
Favorable days for sowing and planting if you want to get large and dense bulbs:
- January 1, 18, 19, 27, 28, 29,
- February 6, 7, 14, 15, 25,
- March 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 22,
- April 1, 2, 10, 18, 19, 28, 29,
- May 15, 16, 17, 25, 26.
Unfavorable days:
- January 2, 3, 10, 25, 31,
- February 8, 9, 21, 22, 26, 27,
- 7, 8, 19-21, 25, 26 March,
- 3, 4, 15-17, 20-22, 30 April,
- May 1, 13, 14, 18, 21, 27-29.
How to grow Exhibition onions through seedlings
It is necessary to grow seedlings due to the long development period. This way you will receive a 100% guarantee of a good harvest. When grown as seedlings, onions will grow larger, 800 grams or more. You won’t get this kind of weight when growing from seeds; the best thing is that the weight of the bulbs will be 150-300 grams.
Exhibition onion is a large-fruited plant and loves very fertile soil. It grows best on fertile sandy and sandy loam soils with neutral acidity. Place the beds with onions in a well-lit place. And it will be better when the beds are raised. In this case, during prolonged heavy rains, water will not stagnate on the surface of the beds, and the roots will not rot.
In the fall, it is advisable to deoxidize the soil and also plant green manure. In the spring, the remains of green manure are buried in the soil when digging, supplemented with humus and ash.
Prepare soil for seedlings: humus and sand in equal parts, or buy ready-made soil in the store.
Seeds are sown in separate containers - cups, or in deep trays. Although seedlings also develop well in snails. The main condition: the height of the containers is at least 10 cm. This way there will be enough space for the roots. Drainage from small pieces of foam is poured onto the bottom.
You can make the cups yourself from plastic film. To do this, a piece of film measuring 20x20 cm is wrapped tightly on the outside, for example, on a deep glass. The edges of the film are secured with tape. The bottom of the film is folded in and also secured with tape. The glass is taken out, and the resulting polyethylene form is filled with pre-prepared soil. The cups are placed tightly next to each other in seedling boxes so that they do not fall to one side.
Preparing containers and soil
To grow seedlings, use any available container: disposable cups, plastic containers, cut-off bottles or special peat pots. However, there is one condition - the height of the selected containers must be at least 10 cm. Exhibition onion seedlings quickly grow long roots; a lot of space is required for their development.
Before use, containers are disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate and dried.
Bulb seedlings require a light, nutritious and loose substrate. You can use ready-made soil for seedlings, which is sold in specialized stores, or prepare a soil mixture yourself by mixing turf soil, humus and rotted mullein or coarse sand in a ratio of 10:9:1.
The self-prepared substrate is pre-disinfected by spilling potassium permanganate or calcining it in an oven heated to at least +180°C.
Growing Exhibition onions from seeds
Usually, Exhibition seeds are sold in bags already processed. But if desired, they can be soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 15 minutes.
Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for better germination. A cloth or napkin folded in 2-3 layers is moistened with water. Scatter the seeds evenly onto a damp cloth. Cover the top again with a damp cloth. Place the seeds in a warm place. After 3 days, the seeds begin to hatch and thin white sprouts appear. This is the period when the seeds are planted in prepared cups or trays.
You may ask: why germinate seeds? The fact is that the seeds do not always germinate well, sometimes the germination rate is 30-70%. To avoid planting extra cups, plant each seed separately. If you don’t care how much weight the bulb grows, then plant the seeds directly in cups and then plant them. But in this case, 30-40% of the seedlings are lost during picking.
The sprouts have very delicate roots, so each seed is planted in a separate container. The onion will later take root well and grow.
In the glass we make a small depression of 1 cm and place the seed there. It is better to take the seeds with tweezers so as not to damage the seedlings. Then lightly sprinkle the seed with earth and be sure to water it generously with warm water.
As soon as the first green sprouts appear, we immediately begin to add additional light to the seedlings. There should be at least 10-12 hours of daylight. With short daylight hours, the seedlings stretch out, fall over, and nothing good will grow from them. It is better to supplement the lighting with phytolamps.
When planting seeds at the end of March - beginning of April and growing seedlings in a window, in this case they are not illuminated, since there is sufficient daylight at this time.
What you need to know to get a big harvest
There are a few more tricks that will help you get a large harvest of exhibition onions:
- Trimming . To improve the health of seedlings and redirect nutrients from the development of feathers to the development of the underground part. This “haircut” is carried out at least a couple of times. For the first time a month after germination, and then a couple of weeks before planting in a permanent place in the garden.
- Planting on a high bed. To prevent excess moisture from accumulating near the bulbs, it is better to grow exhibition onions in a bed raised above the surface of the site.
- Fungicide treatment. Heavy or prolonged rains are a reason to treat with fungicides. The fact is that fungal infections spread better in damp conditions, so additional spraying will not harm onion plantings.
- Disembarkation dates. The bow can withstand temperatures as low as -6, but then with a high degree of probability it will shoot. Therefore, before planting seedlings in the garden, check the weather forecast.
When to plant Exhibition onion seedlings in open ground
As soon as 2-3 feathers appear on the seedlings, the seedlings are ready for planting in the ground. Do not water the seedlings 2-3 days before planting in the ground, otherwise the earthen ball will crumble when planted.
First, we prepare a bed for planting seedlings in the ground. For this purpose, the bed is dug up with a shovel or loosened with a walk-behind tractor to a depth of 30 cm. Per 1 sq. m add a bucket of humus and a glass of wood ash. If the soil is acidic, it must be deoxidized with chalk or dolomite flour. Although it is more advisable to deoxidize the soil in the fall. By the way, ash is not only a good soil deoxidizer, but also a fertilizer.
- In the prepared bed, we make holes or grooves about 10 cm deep. If the soil is not fertile, add a handful of humus and ash to the bottom of the hole. Mix thoroughly and add water.
- We remove the tape and plastic film from the homemade cups or, squeezing a disposable one, carefully take them out and place the seedlings along with a lump of earth in the prepared earthen slurry.
- Holding the seedlings with one hand, carefully add soil to the seedling with the other. Fill with soil to the level of the growing point.
- Seedlings are planted at a distance of 25-30 cm from each other. Planting should not be done often, since a large plant needs more nutrition.
- After planting, be sure to water well with warm water, about 1 liter for each bush, so that the air comes out, the soil settles well, and the earth sticks to the root system. This way the seedlings will take root better and will immediately begin to develop further.
How to sow seeds correctly?
- It is better to plant the seeds in separate peat cups, with which the strengthened seedlings are subsequently transferred to open beds without damaging the root system.
- Containers with soil are placed tightly in a large box with low sides. Place one sprouted seed in each glass and deepen the grains by 1–1.5 cm.
- The plantings are lightly compacted with loose soil and irrigated with warm water using a spray bottle. The entire box with cups is covered with polyethylene film and set aside in a warm and dark place until shoots emerge.
You can learn about the method of planting onion seeds in a “snail” here.
Planting and caring for Exhibition onions
Be sure to mulch the planted seedlings. Mulch provides many care benefits:
- retains moisture
- prevents weeds from growing,
- in hot areas it prevents the onion from overheating when the ambient temperature is more than 30ºC.
By mulching the plantings right away, after 2 days the onions will look healthy, the feathers will turn green, become stronger and look like this.
Caring for plantings comes down to watering and removing weeds. Watering onions is carried out every 3-4 days. There is no need to water during rainy times. To keep the soil constantly moist, drip irrigation is done. And you won’t need to weed out weeds when mulching, and it won’t take long to remove the isolated ones.
On fertile soil, fertilizing is not necessary. But if it needs to be carried out, feed it once every 10 days with green fertilizer, ash, and infusion of chicken manure.
Reviews from gardeners
Irina, 42 years old, Tula
I really liked the white onions – sweet, tender, juicy. Our family loves onions in salads, so we ate the entire harvest until November. There were no problems with growing. True, our soil is sour and we water from a watering can, but Exhibition doesn’t like that. I had to add dolomite flour and carry out drip irrigation. Otherwise, it is easy to care for. I plan to plant more this year. The variety is excellent for salads; we use it from the beginning of summer, little by little cutting off the sweet green feathers. However, it is not suitable for long-term storage; it does not want to lie - it begins to germinate en masse.
Peter, 63 years old, Krasnodar region
Of the white salad onions that we planted, I liked this Dutch “giant” the most - it grows well in our conditions, the heads are large, even, and beautiful. The seeds are not cheap, but germination and varietal qualities correspond to the description on the packaging of agricultural manufacturing companies. After the end of frost on the soil, we sow them in dry ditches. The harvest is consistently high. The turnips are sweet, juicy, “golden”. Excellent for sale. For care, I can advise using drip watering and not feeding with fresh manure, and not sowing very thickly. When thickening, after the appearance of 2-3 true leaves, carry out the first thinning, leaving 4-5 cm between plants; it is better to start the second thinning after the appearance of 4-5 “feathers”. To prevent the onion fly from appearing, we spray the sprouted onions with an infusion of garlic and tomato tops, and alternate them with rows of carrots when planting. So far there have been no problems. I will definitely continue to plant it.
Zemfira, 59 years old, Bugulma
I harvest when the root neck of the feather dries out and becomes thinner, and it begins to lie down; the heads are covered with white hard scales; When you pull out the bulbs, you can see that most of the roots have become thin, thread-like. If the weather is sunny, then I dry the ripened onions in the beds for 3-4 days; if it is cloudy, then I lay them out under a canopy. Only after this I trim the feather, carefully reviewing it. I shorten it high, leaving 5 cm from the bulb. Heads with a thick neck that is not completely dry, as well as damaged ones, are immediately put aside for food. Full-bodied and densely scaled turnips last well until January. In winter I store it in the basement of the house at a temperature no higher than 1-2 degrees Celsius. This is the ideal temperature at which the bulbs store well and remain strong, without sprouting or rotting. After harvesting, this variety does not like frequent movements from a warm room to a cold one.
Alexandra, 62 years old, Kazan
I have been planting this variety for ten years now and always with an excellent harvest. I sow seeds for seedlings around February 15-20, using a special stencil with holes (2x2 cm). I don’t soak them, because I don’t buy “nigella”, but “greenbacks” treated with thiram. Before sowing, I level the soil and moisten it. I place the seeds directly on the surface of the soil. I sprinkle them with sifted sand through a strainer. To prevent the soil from drying out, I cover the top of the box with film and put it in a warm place. After 4-6 days, the first shoots appear. Then I remove the film and put the box in a cool, well-lit place. Caring for seedlings comes down to only moderate watering until planting in the garden. Around May 5-6, the seedlings are ready to move into open ground. For good survival, it is important that the roots do not bend upward when planting. Therefore, before planting, I shorten the long roots of some plants. During planting, the feathers are very small, thin, like straws, and you are even overcome by doubts: can a bulb weighing up to 800 g really grow? The largest and most beautiful bulbs (I have 400-600 g each) grow with proper care. How, that is, to what extent, the variety is sweet, I cannot say. Personally, for my taste, it is definitely not bitter. I eat it fresh with great pleasure, like radishes, and add it to all salads and other dishes.
Pest and disease control
A frequent pest that loves sweet onions is the mole cricket. To protect onions from this pest, when planting seedlings, add finely chopped eggshells to the hole. The bear will not like the sharp edges of the shells and will leave this place. The soil around the plant is sprinkled with shells.
An effective way to repel mole crickets is to add sawdust soaked in tar into the hole and around the plant. The smell of tar will also repel the pest.
The onion fly turns into another problem. To avoid attracting her attention, use regular baby powder. It can be bought at any pharmacy and is inexpensive. Before planting, powder the feathers with this powder. It contains talc, starch and zinc oxide, which protects the plant from fungal infections, and calendula extract. Flies also don’t like its smell, just like the smell of marigolds.
Planting methods
When growing Exhibition onions, preference is given to the seedling method. Its advantage is a high percentage of fruit ripening.
With the seed method, germination is only 40-50%. Even air temperatures are of great importance during seed germination. The choice of planting method depends on the region.
Seeds
The southern regions can afford the seed method of growing Exhibition onions. In central Russia and Siberia, preference should be given to seedlings. When growing sweet onions directly from seeds, there is a high probability of getting only 50% of seedlings. In addition, seed cultivation produces medium-sized heads weighing up to 300 g.
Onion seeds
The seed method is preferable only when growing winter onions. This will allow you to get early shoots and harvest.
Unlike “summer” onions, winter plantings have stronger immunity, as they undergo natural hardening. As a result, the keeping quality of the heads is maximum.
To maintain agrotechnical standards for this variety, winter onions are sown immediately before frost.
Seedlings
The preferred method, which allows you to get the maximum yield with the highest possible quality heads. This is due to the long growing season of this variety. At the same time, unlike the seed method, growing seedlings is much more difficult in terms of agricultural technology.
An important rule of the seedling method for Exhibition onions is that the seedlings should be kept indoors for no more than 2 months. It is necessary to clearly calculate the timing of sowing seeds and the time of transferring seedlings to a permanent place.
If in the conditions of central Russia the time of each stage of cultivation can be calculated as accurately as possible, then the northern regions often lose out due to unstable temperatures. At the same time, for Siberia, seedlings are the only possible way to obtain sweet salad onions in short summer conditions.
Onion seedlings
How to grow onions from seeds in open ground
If you live in a region where summers are long and warm, and these are the southern regions, onions are grown from seeds directly into the ground. Moreover, the harvest is obtained already in the same season. Preparing the soil is no different from how you prepare it before planting seedlings.
Before sowing, the seeds are placed on a damp cloth for 2-3 days to allow them to swell. Immediately before planting, they are placed in a warm pink solution of potassium permanganate for several hours, then dried slightly and sown. Some gardeners, in order to save time, make ribbons with seeds even before the planting season. The seeds are glued to a paste on toilet paper, dried and rolled into a roll and left until planted in the ground.
Sowing seeds in the soil is carried out in April - May, when it warms up to 10-15ºС. The swollen seeds are sown in prepared grooves located at a distance of 15-20 cm or ribbons are laid out. It is important to remember that the seeds are sown no closer than 20-25 cm from each other to a depth of 1 cm. After planting, the seeds are not sprinkled with a thick layer of soil, and then watered well. After the shoots appear, you notice that the seeds are planted often, they are thinned out, otherwise the onion will not grow so large and even small.
Growing onions in the ground from seeds will require more careful care. Seedlings emerge weak, so it is important to preserve them from unfavorable conditions, weeds, pests and diseases.
- After sowing, mulch the soil so that weeds do not choke out the seedlings and excess moisture does not evaporate;
- To prevent fungal infections, treat the soil with Fitosporin;
- Water no more than once every 4 days, this is especially important at the beginning of plant growth and during the formation of the bulb.
In the future, caring for Exhibition onions is the same as when growing through seedlings.
Preparing the bed
I have already prepared a bed for onions: I added wood ash to the soil for digging to deoxidize and make it more loose. The width of my onion bed is 1.5 m and the length is 4 m. I will cut grooves for onions along the bed, leaving a distance of about 30 cm between them. Since the Exhibition onion is quite large, it needs to be planted in 20 cm increments.
- Vertical method of growing cucumbers: garter, shaping, watering
I marked the line of the first row, and in order for the planting to be uniform, I will use a device I made myself from a piece of metal-plastic pipe, on which segments of 20 and 30 cm are marked.
At the beginning of the furrow, I marked the place where the first seedling was planted, measured 20 cm from this place with a pipe and also made a mark. This way I swept the entire row.
Onion harvesting and storage
When the green feathers dry out by 30-40% or even more, it’s time to harvest. Onions are harvested in dry weather, otherwise bulbs harvested on rainy days are prone to rotting. Keep an eye on the weather forecast. When expecting rain, try to remove the onions in advance. If you still cannot avoid rain, put the onions in a semi-dark room and leave them there to dry for 3-4 days.
After drying, the tops are cut off. Store onions in a dry place. But in order not to lose the commercial qualities of the vegetable, use Exhibition onions in salads and for canning for no longer than 4 months.
Have a good harvest!
Pros and cons of growing
The Exhibition Bow has strengths and weaknesses. Positive qualities include:
- high productivity;
- lack of bitterness;
- when cutting, onion juice does not cause lacrimation;
- winter planting.
- Flaws:
- short shelf life;
- the variety is fastidious to care for;
- weak immunity to diseases.
