Topic: lime

[Froglegs]

:'( Just found clubroot in one of my beds :'( if i lime this bed over the next 3 seasons and don't grow any kind of brassica for the same length of time(belt n braces)what veg can i grow if any that don't mind a bit of lime, and will 3years and 3 lots of lime do the trick and rid that bed of clubroot ???

[Froglegs]

:-[ Get the feeling Ive asked a bit of a stupid question with the no replays :-[, i know ya cannot grow spuds with lime  :), but don't know if there is any other veg ya don't put lime with,sorry if Ive asked one them"is it not bleedind obvious"questions but i don't know ???.

[Froglegs]

whoops :-[ that's reply, now ya can probery understand why i dont know :P

[growmore]

Don't think you will  Rid it of clubroot altogether  .. Onions, garlic and leeks all like lime .. Beans etc like a bit of lime.. Just  rotate as normal keeping that bed free of brassicas for a few years .. Theres also a club root  resistant cabbage  out now  that  goes under the name of kilaxy ...If you find all your lotties got clubroot  there are methods where you can grow a crop of brassicas on it....  But better to try a different  bed first ...Cheers Jim

[Froglegs]

thanks for the addvice   :)was worried would have to leave the plot empty .how do you get club root this is the 1st time in the 4 years ive had my lotties that ive got club root. I grow all my brassicas from seed so did not get it from bought plants.

[triffid]

Growmore's right -- clubroot can live in soil for up to 20 years. That's even if you don't put brassicas (or stocks/wallflowers/candytuft, which are also hosts) there in all that time.   :(

It's also very easily spread. Growing from seed as you already are is really good practice. Clubroot isn't just spread by transplanted plants, though; it can be brought in on tools (think of hired/shared tools like rotavators!) and even on the soles of footwear.

Ok: living with clubroot...

Check the pH of the soil across your plot. Clubroot likes acid conditions, so if the soil's acid, lime it to at least 7.0.

Improving the soil's fertility will help overall, not least by improving drainage (like most fungi, clubroot likes moisture.)

Grow clubroot-resistant brassicas -- here are some more to add to the list begun by growmore: calabrese "Trixie", Chinese cabbage "Harmony" and swede "Marian".

Remove infected plants as soon as you can. Try to get affected roots out before the clubrooted bits start to disintegrate, and don't compost them of course.

And clean your lottie tools before and after dealing with brassica crops, to limit the spread of clubroot around your plot.

Good luck  :)
 

[manicscousers]

this is the eric's way to grow brassicas when there's clubroot around
plant seeds in sterilised compost,
when big enough, plant in to peat pots, again with compost
plant out when quite big, fill their planting hole with compost and a sprinkle of lime, if necessary
he reckons it gives the plant time to get a good root system before the clubroot can get to it, his brassicas are brill  :)

[Froglegs]

Thanks for the good addvice, will look out for the resistant brassicas.And i like the idea of a drop of lime in the plating hole, allways thought that lime would burn the  :P :-[ roots that's why :-[ i was unsure as to what you could n could not grow :P :P :P.

[moonbells]

If you want encouragement, go to see the model vegetable plot at Wisley.

Clubroot is endemic there, yet their brassicas are massive! They grow all of them in compost then 3" pots, and get them as large as possible before planting out.

Beware though of wearing gardening shoes to visit if you don't have clubroot already - cos you'll have to disinfect them somehow or risk taking it home with you! I didn't realise they had it when I went, so had to put the shoes in a carrier bag, drive back barefoot and then drop them in Jeyes! They stank for weeks...  :o

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0202/clubroot.asp

moonbells

[newbies]

Hi Moonbells,
Just looked at your blog, great stuff.  Where did you get the software for your planning, or did you do it yourself?  I could do with some of that!
Cheers
 :)

[moonbells]

hiya

sorry didn't reply earlier, didn't notice the post since I reset all flags after Christmas as there were too many to read!!!  :o

Only clicked on it today by fluke because edit seems to have vanished... and I wanted to test it with another thread I was in! Ooops!

I presume you mean software for planning the rotation? It's just M$ word, using the drawing toolbar. Basic plan and 1m² scales drawn first, with the permanent plantings. They are all grouped so can't be moved. Then the individual veggies are drawn (using colour-coded text boxes) on the beds. Easy to move about if there's a change in plan...

Next year I'll just pick up the text boxes and move them about on the basic plan. I have one large word file with all my previous years in, so I can refer back to them if I need, for instance, to avoid a certain area because of disease in one bed. (Like the sweetcorn smut quarantine that I've now got on two flipping beds)

moonbells