mould on my onions

[daisymurtle]

Hi for the last few years my onions have grown well to start then develop an orange/white mould, does anyone have experience of this ? I always rotate my crops over 3 years. my leeks have also decided to be a challenge,they start off strongly then gradually bend over & disappear ,the few that have survived look like large chives ! Can anyone offer any help ? Hate the ground being wasted let alone the disappointment of watching them fail,thanks.

[Zech]

I had a similar problem with my garlic last year, and I know someone here who's suffered greatly - I'm sure she'll be along to sympathise shortly! I came across this article today which might be of interest.

http://www.youfarm.org/index.php/growin ... xperiments

[oldjerry]

If it's white rotand it sounds like it ,that's not so good.SusieGee knows tons about this,see old threads,maybe think about some containers,and (I don't know this) but I wonderif Jap overwintering onions also suffer.BW

[Carltonian Man]

Unfortunately it does sound like white rot which seems to be rampant at the moment. It's running riot over our allotment site (over 100 plots but fingers crossed not mine so far); also my daughter has it on her plot six miles away. I know it spreads easily and stays in the ground for years but her plot had been unused for an age (a complete tangle of eight foot high brambles).The first year was fine but she was hit in the second year. I wonder if it perhaps spreads also on some onion sets.
There's various talk about how to tackle it, some say water the ground with chlorine bleach or J@yes fluid but this will kill the soil and I've read somewhere that white rot resides down to two feet deep. I've also read that when using a four year crop rotation cycle it can be kept in check by annually spreading garlic flakes over the beds. The compounds in the garlic trigger the white rot spores to germinate but there's nothing for it to eat. By the fourth year when you plant your alliums the rot is sufficiently weakened for it not to be a problem. Haven't yet sussed though the cost or availability of garlic flakes.
@OJ I've got Japanese onions in the ground at the mo and so far they look ok. Also have shallots and various types of garlic, most appear fine but one type of the garlic is a complete no show. I'll have to have a ferret about to see what's happened to it.

[Flo]

Ooops Carltonian Man it's illegal to use both chlorine and Jeyes fluid on the soil now. There have been a lot of chemicals banned for home use and not widely known now. Also the "old boys" continue to do these things and ignore the law.

[daisymurtle]

Hi thanks for all the advice , think i need to read up on this problem then decide the best course of action. I will need to resist the temptation of giving it one more try when i see all the lovely shallots,onions & garlic @ my favourite garden centre . Hopefully my allotment is in the pipeline (by spring say the council) so i can in future grow them there ,

[Zech]

I had a similar problem with my garlic last year, and I know someone here who's suffered greatly - I'm sure she'll be along to sympathise shortly! I came across this article today which might be of interest.

http://www.youfarm.org/index.php/growin ... xperiments

Would that be me Rachel

Yes indeed, Susie I was going to send you that article, but then spotted this question and thought I'd post it here instead - I was sure you'd see it just as quickly!

[oldjerry]

Ooops Carltonian Man it's illegal to use both chlorine and Jeyes fluid on the soil now. There have been a lot of chemicals banned for home use and not widely known now. Also the "old boys" continue to do these things and ignore the law.

Bless you Flo,and I'm sure you're right,but let's face it it's legal to pollute with all sorts of chemical stuff if you're a business etc ,but use something a bit dodgy on your allotment....call the police!!! How much crap results from bringing onions from New Zealand for goodness sake?
The white rot is areal prob,,cos the 2 things you really need to grow are ,I reckon,onions and tomatoes.As a group,one worthwhile thing we could really do ,as a group effort ,by sharing experience,is find a way round this lousy white rot problem.

[Mrs Moustoir]

Looking on the bright side it might NOT be white rot but could be leek rust which also effects other alliums. Not quite as common as white rot and still a fungal disease but I think you can grow onions on previously infected land before seven years!

Symptoms are orange-y spots which leave the plant susceptible to downy mildew.

Could be wrong but it is something else to consider.

[Carltonian Man]

Been having a natter around and Armillatox has been mentioned a number of times. A couple of chaps also said they thought soot dug into the soil helped prevent against white rot. I thought the old lads added soot to darken the soil so it warmed up earlier but who knows, maybe it's an unexpected sideline bonus.. Luckily, not had the rot so can't vouch for either method.