Welsh onion is native to Central Asia. This plant is a perennial, undemanding in care, for which rural residents love it. Another advantage of this type of onion is its winter hardiness.
Batun easily tolerates frosts down to -40 degrees, for which it is highly valued in Siberia and the Far East. The plant forms a large number of leaves and, unlike ordinary onions, does not form a head.
It starts to grow back as soon as the snow melts, and gives up its last greenery in late autumn. For its ability to grow back after complete pruning, chives are valued in industrial cultivation for greens, as they are capable of producing a large harvest.
But since this plant is perennial, summer residents are faced with the question of how long it can be grown in one place.
Time spent in one garden bed
In fact, chives can be planted once. Many people have them growing in one place for 10 years or more, turning into a huge bush. This method is suitable for people who are relaxed about their garden, not trying to squeeze the most out of it, not chasing rich harvests.
But if you approach cultivation responsibly, you should observe crop rotation for batun, as for any plant. The fact is that each plant consumes certain nutrients in certain quantities. This leads to soil depletion. The plant reduces its yield, since it lacks nutrition. Of course, fertilizing partially solves this problem, but not completely. With crop rotation, the soil self-restores, “resting” from the previous crop.
The second reason for crop rotation is the accumulation of pathogens and pests. Any plant has enemies that eventually find it. If the problem may not be noticeable in the first year, then over the years pathogens accumulate, pests multiply. Waking up in the spring, they immediately attack the onion and continue their life cycle, multiplying again.
If you change the crop, the pests will have to look for food elsewhere, and the pathogens will die after a while without “their” plant.
For perennial onions, the optimal period of growth in one place is 3-4 years. During this time, the plant will give the maximum harvest, and then it will begin to age, get sick, and be affected by pests.
Batun is propagated by dividing the bush and by seeds, which can be collected independently. And if you feel sorry to throw away the old bushes, you can dig them up in the fall, send them to a cold place, and use them for forcing in the winter.
You just need to plant the rhizomes thickly in a container with soil and move it to a warm room. After 3-4 weeks, you can cut off fresh feathers and eat them.
