Vernalization

One of those that is very relevant to today's story of Vavilov is a man named Trofim Lysenko.

Lysenko was doing research on the impact of temperature on the development of different plants, specifically in peas and wheat, which led him to coining the term vernalization.

Vernalization is the process of exposing plants to cold temperatures in order to trigger or accelerate their ability to mature and flower.

And as many of you already know, vernalization, it's a real thing and something that is used to this day.

But there are a few big problems with Lysenko's work.

And wheat just has to germinate in order to vernalize.

Vernalization is that cold period that allows the wheat to joint when it comes out it breaks dormancy next spring.

So that just needed to germinate.

However, I like to see it planted early, as early as you possibly can.

That flowering switch is what is triggered by vernalization.

Again, the sustained period of cold that tells the plant that winter has happened and now it's safe to shift into reproductive mode.

Vernalization in biennial crops generally needs six to eight weeks of temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Of course, you know, the specifics of this is going to vary based on the crop and the variety.

For our purposes with onions, what this means is when you overwinter an onion, you are deliberately exposing a living plant to exactly the cold exposure that can flip that reproductive switch.