Bow Carmen MC

The Carmen MC onion variety is regularly included in the selection of the best. Belongs to the purple group. These varieties have a rich burgundy-violet color of the covering scales and purple internal ones.

Carmen MC is a Dutch onion, included in the Russian State Register in 1997. The variety is resistant to shooting. It is rarely grown on a feather, the main value of the variety is beautiful, very decaying bulbs.

Ripe bulbs have a rounded, slightly flattened shape. Inside there are 2-3 nests. The weight of the bulbs is 50-70 grams, but sometimes the bulbs are already gaining up to 220 grams by August. Covering scales are violet-red, very bright. The juicy scales are white with purple interlayers. In cross section, the bulbs are very decorative.

The bulbs tolerate transportation and store well. They have very high commercial qualities: beautiful, aligned in size, chiseled shape.

The taste is excellent, slightly spicy. The pulp is juicy, fragrant. The variety is universal. Purple onion varieties are softer than white ones, contain more antioxidants, are sweeter and more interesting, less pungent. They contain anthocyanins and flavonoids, so such onions are often used in fresh dishes to minimize the loss of valuable substances during cooking. But the Carmen variety is suitable for everything: salads, first and second courses, sauces, pickles and canned food, snacks. Looks great pickled.

The variety is mid-season, the feather begins to lodge 64-96 days after the mass germination of seeds, 90-110 days pass before the full harvest is obtained. The harvesting time, as with all bows, depends on the region and the timing of planting. Approximate average harvesting time: southern regions of the Russian Federation - from July 15 to August 2, middle strip - mid-August, Urals or Siberia - early August.

The variety is very productive, on average 3-4 kg are removed from 1 sq. m. The maturation of the bulbs before harvesting is excellent - 90-100%.

It is recommended to grow onions in the western part of Russia: Central region, Chernozem region, Middle and Lower Volga regions. The plant's resistance and fast ripening times make it a suitable variety for other regions as well.

For seedlings to obtain bulbs in the same year, seeds are sown in early March. The grown seedlings are planted in a permanent place after 1.5-2 months. In open ground, seeds can be sown at the end of April, they endure cold snaps down to –6 ° С. Onion sets are planted during May.

The Carmen MC variety is grown from seeds or from onion sets - in a two-year culture. If larger bulbs are needed, the seedling method is preferred. Sowing soil should be loose and nutritious, with a good peat content. Seeds sprout in 4 days. Sometimes onion seeds are tightly similar, when sown in the ground dry they can germinate for 2-3 weeks, so it is better to soak them first in a growth stimulator and wait for pecking, and then sow.

For sowing seeds in open ground, the bed is marked with the back of the board, grooves every 10-15 cm.The seeds are laid out so that in the future there is 5-7 cm between the shoots.

Sevok is planted at a distance of 10 cm from each other, in row spacing - 20 cm.

The seeds are buried by 2 cm, the nigella - by 2-3 cm, counting from the shoulders (not from the bottom).

A sunny, open place is chosen for the onion; it grows poorly in the shade. His favorite temperature is + 18 ... 20 ° С. Withstands a drop in temperature up to + 13 ° С. But if the temperature is kept lower for a long time, it starts to hurt and stops growing.

Basic rules of care.

1. The variety is watered as needed. The soil should have time to dry out. As a rule, onions need watering no more than 1 time in 2 weeks, only in hot dry summers and until mid-July. Then they stop watering the onions, even if the weather is dry. Otherwise, it will be poorly stored. As a general rule, underfilling is better than overfilling.

2. There is no need to feed, there is enough fertilizer that was applied in the fall or spring during digging.

3. Weeds are removed regularly. Like any root vegetable, onions do not like them. Some gardeners immediately prefer to make wide aisles so that they can quickly walk over them with a hoe, and the bed was always clean.

The onions are harvested when the tops begin to turn yellow, but have not yet dried. The bulbs are left to ripen - they are dried for a couple of weeks under a canopy. But, since the ripening of the Carmen variety is close to 100%, you can immediately cut it off, cut the roots and tops, leaving the tails 3-4 cm. They dry a little, and you can immediately put it in storage.

Onions love fertile, well-drained, airy and nutritious soil with a neutral or slightly alkaline pH, from 6.4 to 7.9. Too acidic soils oppress the plant. Deoxidizers are introduced into acidic soils a year before planting: chalk, slaked lime, dolomite flour or sifted ash.

Onions like cultivated soil after plants that have been fertilized with a lot. Grows well after tomatoes, potatoes, squash, cucumbers and legumes. On saturated clay soils, the bulbs turn out to be more tasty, in pure sandy soils, the bulbs grow faster, but lose their brightness.

In the spring, the selected place is dug up, compost and some wood ash are added. Autumn preparation of the site is more important: they dig up the site, bringing in peat and compost from 1 bucket, 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate 1 sq. m. This is a general scheme. Baking powder is introduced into dense soils, more organic matter into sandy soils.

Carmen MC is a very resistant plant. Practically does not get sick, is not susceptible to downy mildew and cervical rot. There are no varieties completely immune to onion fly, but Carmen MC can be attributed to the most resistant varieties. For prevention, plants are regularly fertilized with ash. Ash is scattered between rows and buried with a hoe once every 2 weeks.

Planting onions and carrots together is useful. These two plants have a positive effect on each other. Carrots scare away onion flies, onions - carrot flies. Plants are planted along the ridge in wide lines (for the convenience of irrigation, the needs for which may differ for crops by August). A marigold edging around the onion garden is also useful.

If preventive measures did not help, the plantings are treated with Aktara or Mukhoed.

Reviews of the variety are positive. Gardeners are unanimous: Carmen MC is an unpretentious, easy-to-grow variety with magnificent, very beautiful, almost neon bulbs. It keeps well, does not rot and does not dry out. The pulp does not change its properties at all until deep winter. Very beautiful in thin slices, in salads.

The variety is often used for experimentation. Growing onions in a one-year culture through seedlings is still a curiosity, most gardeners are accustomed to the old two-year scheme. But the Carmen variety is unpretentious, the seeds germinate very actively and quickly, it has a quick ripening period, so even beginners get strong bulbs in the first year.