Topic: Club Root

[Jesse]

Have heard that if you place a Laurel leaf in the soil when planting brassicas it can help prevent club root. Has anyone tried this?

[Doris_Pinks]

Jesse have heard about planting an inch piece of rhubarb in the hole, but never laurel leaves! ( perhaps they both have the same chemicals in them???)

[adrianhumph]

Hello Jesse :D
                   I have not heard of either of these ideas, but if any one knows of any method (other than not growing brassicas) I would like to hear them, I have just pulled up 3 sickly looking winter cabbages, to find them infected with the evil disease, hopefully the other cabbages seem to be ok, but who knows ???
                                     cheers  Adrian.

[Multiveg]

Garlic cloves may also work instead of roobarb.

Think it is in Bob Flowerdew's companion planting book about using mustard for clubroot (and eelworm). Repeated sowings of mustard in a clubroot patch, and turn it in when it is about the seedling stage may reduce the levels of clubroot. The idea is probably to get the clubroot spores to grow on the mustard, but then as the mustard is turned in, the clubroot can't complete it's life cycle - suppose it is like weeding the annual weeds. Wonder if this sort of method would work for white rot using onion seedlings - Tim?

[growmore]

I use liquid club root control ..
A systemic protection for brassicas..
made by Bio..
It comes in sachets which You mix with water and dip plants in prior to planting,,.
                    Cheers Jim
                 

[Wicker]

We mix in about small spoonful of lime direct into the soil at the bottom of the planting hole.  Can't say it completely controls but plants seem to survive better tho roots can look a bit like "finger an toe".

[budgiebreeder]

I would like to report that the rhubarb method does really work.As dicussed in previous threads i tried it this year and Hey Presto!!!!!!!!!![/img]
My plot is really bad with Club Root.

[Mrs Ava]

Reserecting this one for a mo please.  I think I have the dreaded club root, to add to my list of joys on the plot.  My sprouts and kale are fine and growing tall and strong, altho my sprouts haven't made huge buttons....  Pulled a couple of red cabbages and the roots were quite shallow, plenty of them, but twisted and contorted.  The plants seemed relatively healthy, and have been in the ground since they were seedlings in the spring, but they aren't huge...altho slug and flutterby damage didn't help.  What should the roots of a healthy cabbage look like?

yours already worrying about now not being able to grow cabbages to go with the onions!

[Wicker]

Re the red cabbage - if the plants aren't wilted but just sort of"stunted" then it could be a type of weevil (gall weevil?) that made the roots swell or contort, don't think its too serious not like club root.

EJ we just lime the soil and roots and sow cabbages (rotating of course) every year - I know the experts will frown but we have been working away the same way for years and still get crops...

[sandersj89]

Reserecting this one for a mo please.  I think I have the dreaded club root, to add to my list of joys on the plot.  My sprouts and kale are fine and growing tall and strong, altho my sprouts haven't made huge buttons....  Pulled a couple of red cabbages and the roots were quite shallow, plenty of them, but twisted and contorted.  The plants seemed relatively healthy, and have been in the ground since they were seedlings in the spring, but they aren't huge...altho slug and flutterby damage didn't help.  What should the roots of a healthy cabbage look like?

yours already worrying about now not being able to grow cabbages to go with the onions!

Cabbage have a fibrous root system, not too deep but spreading out around the main stem.

Club root infection looks like this:



Re small size of spouts buttons, Bob Flowerdew recommends removing the tops of the plant to eat, this then diverts the plants energies into bulking up the actual sprouts.

Not tried it myself as this year I seem to have lovely sprouts that are a nice size and firm.

Jerry

[Mrs Ava]

Oooo, looking at that pic, and googling and looking at others, me thinks I am safe...for now!  Problem with my plot is no extra water (far to lazy to lug watering cans from the stream around the plot), and the cabbages etc were planted in the dappled shade of a row of weeping willows.  Altho the sprouts are smallish, they are tight, sweet and perfectly formed, and are all reserved for Christmas and Boxing day.  Thanks for that info about club root.  Have never used lime and am always nervous about putting things in the ground.  I really should stop reading my trashy novels at bed time and start reading books about gardening/farming/allotment practises!

[Wicker]

Brassicas do appreciate lime EJ (don't do well in acidy soil I believe) so we dig in compost in Autumn and lime the ground in the winter then a sprinkle of Growmore in spring and go walkabout on the surface before planting out!  the walkabout is our Spring ritual and we have developed quite a shuffle!!