Best recommendations: how to keep onions at home in an apartment

Onions are one of the most sought after vegetables in the kitchen. However, it is used not only in cooking, but also for medicinal purposes, so gardeners, having harvested, strive to save supplies as long as possible. This culture is good stored in cool cellars, but you can keep it at room temperature. We will tell you how to store onions at home in an apartment in the article.

Basic rules for storing onions in an apartment

The storage area for onions should be dry and cool, well ventilated and darkened. Each type of onion requires its own storage conditions.

Green onions

The less time has elapsed between harvesting the onion and laying it on storage - all the better. Choose dense, elastic feathers with a waxy coating on the surface. You cannot wash onions. Feathers will remain in the refrigerator for the longest time: 2-3 weeks at + 3… + 4 ° C, 1-2 months at 0 ° C.

The lower part of the bunch is dipped in a glass of cold water for several minutes so that the feathers are saturated with moisture. Wrap the bundle in a piece of gauze, on top - in parchment paper and put in a plastic bag.

Council. You can make a simple blank: chop the herbs and mix with salt (250 g per kg), put in layers in a jar. Shelf life is 4-6 months.

Onion

In winter, onions are well stored in the kitchen, in the room, and even on the balcony, withstanding low humidity (55%). Optimum storage temperature- 0 ° C. Frozen onions are stored at temperatures between –18 ° C (12-18 months).

Leek

On a balcony, leeks can withstand temperatures of –7 ° C if the box is properly insulated. In the freezer - for about a year at a temperature not lower than –18 ° C. In the refrigerator - 2-3 weeks.

Preparing onions for storage

Preparation for storage begins in advance, even at the stage of growing. 2 weeks before harvesting, they stop watering it to dry out. Harvested in dry weather and poured under a canopy to dry, spread out in one layer.

If you plan to store onions not in braids, the feather cut off after 2-3 days, leaving 5-8 cm, and the roots are cut off. Drying takes from two weeks to a month in a dry and well-ventilated area. At the end of October, the bulbs are stored.

What storage space in the apartment to choose

To save onions all winter, choose a place that meets the requirements of the culture.

Refrigerator

Onions do not last long in the refrigerator. The bulbs are wrapped in a plastic bag or placed in containers. Most often, the chopped onion left over after cooking is preserved in this way. Polyethylene protects other products from onion odor. You can also use a paper bag with holes. Shelf life is a week, maximum one and a half.

Whole onions, washed and dried, are finely chopped and put in bags, stored in the freezer. So a vegetable can be stored for 6-8 months without losing its taste. You can pre-fry the onions: separately or with other vegetables.

Balcony

A storage balcony is not very suitable: since the temperature there often drops below 0 ° C in winter, onions can freeze and become unsuitable for eating... Onions retain their properties only in the case of quick freezing, and in a balcony, the temperature drops gradually.

However, as a last resort, this place will do. If possible, the balcony is insulated so that the temperature inside, even in frosts, is kept above zero. Vegetables are placed in boxes, which are placed on thick foam sheets and covered with a thick blanket.

Attention! If wrapped too much, the onion will start to sprout.

Additionally, you can sprinkle the bulbs with chalk or dry sand: they will help maintain optimal humidity, temperature and prevent pathogenic microorganisms from multiplying.

Loggia

On the loggia, the bow is stored in the same way as on the balcony.

The corridor

In the corridor, it is convenient to store onions in braids, hanging them on the walls or putting them in wooden boxes placed on pallets.

How to store onions in an apartment

In the apartment, onions are stored in any convenient container: a box, box, bag. If there is little onion, use thick paper bags, fabric bags, nylon stockings.

Boxes

The container can be wooden or plastic with one prerequisite: there must be drain holes in the box for air circulation. Dry the onions before laying.

No more than a 10-liter bucket of vegetables is poured into the box. Onion layer - no more than 30 cm in height. Thick cardboard is laid at the bottom.

If the box is large, with large holes, and the bulbs are small and can slip out, a plastic mesh with small cells (for example, designed to protect against rodents) is laid around the perimeter of the container.

Carton boxes

It is no less convenient to store bulbs in cardboard boxes than in a box, but you need to lay a clean and dry newspaper on the bottom, change it to a new one every month.

Vine baskets

Baskets woven from the vine are durable and do not emit harmful substances, unlike plastic counterparts. It is convenient to carry the basket thanks to the handle. The container must be dry: before laying the bulbs, it is dried from all sides.

If onions were previously stored in this basket, pre-treatment is carried out: the basket is sprayed inside and outside with 2% Bordeaux liquid and allowed to dry. The volume of the baskets is 5-6 liters, it is no longer necessary, since in a too deep container, the bulbs lying in the middle will begin to rot.

Cloth bags

Only bags made of natural fabrics are suitable: linen, cotton, burlap. In such bags, the bulbs will be successfully stored throughout the winter. Vegetables are packaged in 4-5 kg.

Thick paper bags

Thick paper bags also keep the harvest well. The rules are the same as for fabric bags.

Polypropylene mesh

The good thing about the polypropylene mesh is that it allows air to circulate, and if a vegetable starts to rot, the spoiled vegetable will be immediately visible. This mesh saves space - it can be hung in any convenient corner.

In braids

This storage method is not only convenient, but also acts as a kind of decoration element for the room. Weaving work is not difficult, but it requires perseverance and skill. Heads with a stem at least 15 cm long are suitable, and specimens of the same size are selected.

Choose the bulb with the longest feathers and tie the tail to a rope of the required length so that there are three edges: one from the tops and two from the rope. The one from the tops should be in the middle. The braid begins to weave according to the principle of a regular braid, but with each grip, one onion is added on both sides. Weaving is stopped when 10 cm of rope remains to the top of the braid. The remaining ends are tied into a strong loop, for which the braid is suspended in a convenient place.

Store onion "braids" in a dry room with good ventilation at a temperature of + 18 ... + 20 ° C and humidity not more than 70%. A storage basement is not suitable.

In nylon tights

Experienced gardeners prefer to store onions in nylon stockings or tights. A small number of heads will fit into the stocking, so the bulbs are ventilated and not dampened.It is convenient to observe them in order to detect and remove spoiled vegetables in time. The stocking is hung on a hook, it does not take up space on the floor or shelf.

Council. Sprinkle the onion skins, sawdust, chalk, or finely chopped dried nettles on the bulbs generously. This will increase the shelf life of the vegetable.

Optimal storage conditions

For spicy onions: –1 ... –3 ° C and 75-90% humidity, for semi-spicy and sweet - from 0 to –1 ° C at the same humidity. In the apartment: at a temperature of + 18 ... + 22 ° C and a humidity of 70%.

The optimum moisture content for sweet and semi-spicy varieties is 70%.

It is best to store onions separately from other crops without fluctuations in humidity and temperature.

Reasons for spoiling onions during storage and how to avoid it

Onions of late hot varieties are stored better and longer than others. Yellow onions remain unchanged longer than red or white ones, and spicy varieties last longer than sweet and semi-sweet ones. Sweet ones spoil the fastest.

Tips from experienced gardeners:

1. Handle the bulbs carefully before storing them: do not wrinkle, do not drop from a height.
2. Once a month, sort out the stocks: remove the vegetable that has begun to deteriorate (not only rotten, but also soft) immediately from the stocks.
3. If in the room where the onion is stored, the temperature is kept within + 20 ... + 25 ° C, do not try to peel off all the dry scales from the onion, leave them on the onions. Better yet, add an extra portion. It will help to retain the right amount of moisture and prevent the bulbs from drying out.
4. Treatment of roots with lime will help to avoid germination of bulbs. However, they will no longer be suitable as planting material.
5. If you have to leave onions in a room where the humidity differs from the permissible standards, put another one next to the container - with sawdust, salt, wood ash or lime. These compositions, acting as a sorbent, absorb excess moisture.

Conclusion

There are many options for storing vegetable crops. The main thing is to strictly follow the instructions and observe the four main storage conditions: air humidity, temperature conditions, cleanliness of the room and storage tanks and ventilation. Then a long wintering onion will not harm.