Dutch Crop tour Onions - week 25
Are the seed onions catching up?
The seed onions have a difficult start due to the cold and wet weather conditions. Even after temperatures soared in early June, growth has lagged in some areas. The seed onions now seem to be recovering. Are they catching up?
Particularly in the north and center of the Netherlands, the cold period, in combination with highly effective soil herbicides, is the cause of slow growth on many plots. In addition, parcels are regularly damaged by hail. The south seems to lag less far behind, although the parcels there are also sometimes variable.
Precipitation decisive
When the higher temperatures came, many onion growers were surprised that growth was lagging behind in the fledgling crop. The seed onions still seemed to have to recover from the temperature difference in combination with soil herbicides and other factors. Another issue for the onion grower was whether sufficient nutrients were available.
Leaching was a regular occurrence this year. The prolonged high temperature in combination with the precipitation now seem to be decisive for the rapid growth. The differences can be seen almost every day, several onion growers from the Boerenbusiness Crop tour. The plot in Kimswerd (Friesland) is a good example of how fast the growth is in 8 days. The plot was sown April 3.
Number of onion pipes
It is a fact that the seed onions are very variable. The seed onions are still in the process of developing the tubes. It is not exceptional this year that there is no question of a fourth pipe and the third pipe is just beginning, such as on the Gewastour plot in Dronten. The plots in the south are traditionally always earlier and are well filled against the rows and have 5 to 6 pipes.
Last year Most growers were now on about 5 to 7 pipes around the end of June, although even then there were some differences between the plots and bipolarity was common. Now most come to a maximum of 4 to 5 pipes in the north and center of the Netherlands with occasional outliers to 6 or 7. Moreover, spherical formation is not yet everywhere, although it was June 21. In the south the onions are usually on at least 5 pipes, but here too there are plots that have been severely damaged by the weather conditions. The crop is a lot higher in the south and the bulb formation also seems to have started.
Catching up
The seed onions may have started to grow, but so far there is no question of catching up. Growth must continue if it is to come close to previous years. Moreover, we have to wait and see how the foliage develops, because the sap flow is partly changed by the bulb process. The foliage is still growing, but it certainly has an impact.
The images below give a nice overview of how well the onions have grown.
Jesse Torringa
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