Pre-winter planting of onions always resembles a lottery: will it sprout, will it not freeze, will it not rot during the winter. But there is an easy way to turn this gamble into guaranteed success. Just one natural material, harvested in the fall, can create ideal wintering conditions for onion sets.
We are talking about ordinary sawdust from deciduous wood. Not conifers, which acidify the soil, but birch, aspen or alder. This seemingly useless waste becomes a reliable blanket for the garden bed, working in several directions at once.
Shelter technology:
After the first light frost, the bed with planted onions is covered with a layer of dry sawdust 4-5 centimeters thick. Spruce branches or dry branches are thrown on top to protect against erosion by rain and snow. In the spring, as soon as the snow melts, the spruce branches are removed and the sawdust is left – they will continue to work as mulch.
Operating principle:
Sawdust creates an air layer that prevents the soil from freezing to a critical depth. At the same time, they do not interfere with air exchange, which prevents the bulbs from dampening off during winter thaws. Gradually rotting, sawdust releases nutrients into the soil, which become available to plants just in time for spring.
In spring, such beds warm up much faster. The bow begins to grow together, almost without skipping. The shoots appear strong and rich green in color. The root system develops more powerful, which allows plants to more easily tolerate possible spring droughts.
The difference is especially noticeable in years with unpredictable winters, when frosts are replaced by long thaws. In ordinary beds, onions often freeze or get wet under such conditions, while under sawdust cover they are preserved without loss.
An added bonus: sawdust prevents weed growth in early spring, giving onions a head start in development. By the time the bulk of the weeds appear, the onion feathers are already strong enough to prevent uninvited guests from entering their territory.
