onion fertilizing ?

[brash]

i planted some onions couple weeks ago and have some little shoots starting to show. looking around i found a 50lb bag or urea left at the house, would i be able to toss this on by hand, if i do should i be careful not to touch the shoots? will it even help.
should i even dust the rest of the unplanted garden with it?

[jal_ut]

Yes, you can sprinkle it on your soil. It is best to do it just before a rain, or sprinkle it in with the hose. Yes, be careful to not get it on the plants leaves. It can burn them. I side dress my plants at least once with urea during the growing season. Urea is pretty hot, so just a little does the job. Don't put too much on or you can kill the plants.

[brash]

would it be better to mix it say couple tlb spoons to a gallon water, then water

[jal_ut]

I have never experimented with that method with urea.

[2cents]

Yes, jal ut is right about Urea on plant leaves.
I've made that mistake......

I broadcast than put down a light layer of compost to hold in the benefit so it doesnt evaporate with water. Then let the watering begin.

[btrowe1]

What is urea?? Is it good for all plants or just onions??

[jal_ut]

What is Urea?

The compound sold as fertilizer is very high in nitrogen. Yes, it is a nitrogen boost for all plants.

[brash]

talked to a farmer down the road and he said should be careful it has a habbit of making plants grow but not producing and i might be better off going with something like a tripple 19. any truth to what he said

[jal_ut]

I think it is going to depend a lot on what your soil is. Here my soil is a silt loam with about 20% clay. It is a little on the alkaline side. There seems to be plenty of phosphorus, and potassium so the addition of some nitrogen helps out.

I think the clay is where a lot of the trace minerals come from and if you have a sandy soil, you may not have this benefit. Perhaps a soil test would be in order?

I kinda hate suggesting a soil test, because I have never done one on my soil. This is an agricultural area and the soils have been tested many times. Once the fertilization practices have been established for the area, it seems pointless to do another test. Addition of lots of organic matter and some nitrogen works here.

Perhaps it would be wise to give some credence to what the farmer said?

[jal_ut]

These onions were fertilized with urea. One application at planting and another side dressing later. Just a light dusting, it doesn't take a lot.

On the left, Yellow Spanish Onion. On the right, Big Daddy Onion.

[brash]

those are some nice looking onions hope mine look that good, i planted 300 this year, 100 valdalions (sp?), 100 keepers, 100 candies. buddie just gave me another 20 walawal's. i have some shoots starting, gonna rain (supposed to) tue. so i think i might give the garden a little bit urea then. the urea i have is like little bb's.