Seed onions continue to grow nicely, MH spraying on the way

The growers of yellow seed onions participating in the Boerenbusiness Crop tours try to stay ahead of downy mildew by maintaining a strict spraying schedule. This is not easy due to the weather conditions. The first parcel of onions is almost finished. It doesn't take long before the first plot is sprayed with MH.

Due to the volatility, it is difficult to find the right spray moment. This means playing with the weather. It is getting wetter on the plots seen by growers. The onions benefit from the precipitation and can therefore continue to grow.

Find the right spray moment
In Kimswerd (FR) Reinder Hogenhout tries to keep his crop as vital as possible. As a result, Hogenhout tries to keep the spraying schedule tight at seven days. It is not always easy to find the right spray moment due to the weather. That is why spraying is sometimes done a day earlier. On Friday (today) Hogenhout wants to spray a round with Zorvec Endavia, Scale and KaliZulfur. "You can see that the soil is starting to become saturated. The water remains in the spray tracks and on the headland. The weather makes the onions bulge hard. The trick now is to keep the crop healthy," says Hogenhout.

Jan Berend Biesheuvel from Zeewolde (FL) tries to spray his onions every seven days. As with Hogenhout, whether that will be successful also depends on the weather. "It's getting wetter in the country. That doesn't make spraying any easier. The onions continue to grow nicely, we just have to wait and see what the rest of the season will do," says Biesheuvel. In Beemte Broekland in Gelderland, Ruud Vossebeld is satisfied with how the onions grow and bulbs. There are too few plants on the plot. "So the yield in terms of kilos will not come, but what is there is of good quality and will become coarse onions. The plot had a lot of water after sowing in May, which resulted in plants dropping out. The plants that are there have grown well and there is sufficient foliage," says Ruud Vossebeld.

Onions are up against MH spraying
In Philippine, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the onions at grower Jacky Dieleman are almost finished. "So the moment of spraying MH is getting closer," says Dieleman. The disease pressure is under control and he sprays according to the spray schedule. "This week's precipitation is good for the onions. The onions can continue to grow nicely this way."

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