WIDELY ADAPTABLE HIGH QUALITY BUNCHING ONION
• A leaf bunching onion, (A. cepa x A. fistulosum)
• A fast-germinating, vigorous variety with early maturity
• Tall, erect blue-green foliage
• White to light green shank
• High percentage harvestability with good holding capacity
• May form slight bulbs at full maturity
Plant Characteristics
Plant Spacing: Optimal plant population is 2, 000 000 - 2, 500 000 plants/ha. Allow for in-row spacing of 20mm, inter-row
spacing of 250 - 300mm between rows. For best results spring onions must be produced on raised beds.
Variety Characteristics
Climatic Requirements: Soil temperatures for germination:
minimum: 10°C
optimum: 24°C
maximum: 35°C
Air temperatures for plant growth:
minimum: 12°C
optimum: 24°C
Soil Requirements: Sandy loam to loam soils with good drainage characteristics. Well drained and light textured soils
produce clean and well presented end product. Avoid soils with pH lower than 6 - nutrient uptake is affected at these pH
levels. Spring onions in general are sensitive to saline soils.
Nutrient Guidelines: N required / ton spring onions produced: 3.9 kg / ton product.
P required / ton spring onions produced: 0.7 kg / ton product.
K required / ton spring onions produced: 4.1 kg / ton product.
Apply Ca as CaNO₃ top-dressing during the initial growth of young plants. Apply micro nutrients as foliar feed or as
fertigation to plants. Do not over apply N as this may lead to quality problems with the end product.
Irrigation Guidelines: Keep soils moist, avoiding crust formation after planting to aid seedling emergence. Bunching
onions have shallow root systems - frequent irrigation if essential for the crop. Water required from planting to emergence: 15 - 20 mm / week. Water required from emergence to seedling establishment: 20 - 25 mm / week. Water required from
seedling establishment to maturity: 25 - 35 mm / week.
Weed Control: Bunching onions compete poorly against weeds in field as they take a long time to form a canopy. Early field
cultivation will control most weeds easing pressure on the growing crop. Mechanical cleaning of fields is not advisable as
this will cause damage to plants.