Topic: What's your opinion on shop bought shallots?

[Robert_Brenchley]

I don't like chemicals at all, but the Jeyes idea sounds good. I get the odd one with white rot; I rotate and it's never got any worse, but if I water the spot with Jeyes or Armatillox when I find a dodgy one that may help.

[qahtan]

Whats anti sprout????? sounds like modifying of sorts. qahtan

[Geoff H]

It is just a chemical to stop the shallots sprouting and growing as they will do if left in the warmth for any length of time. That will be what the shops want so they have a long shelf life. I think a lot of potatoes are sprayed with a similar chemical for the same reason. Another good reason for growing your own.

[redimp]

I wonder whether it works. I notice the page says nothing about latitude or weather, both of which would have a large influence on the temperature reached. One comment adds a little, but I'd expect it to be addressed properly.

A second article here:
http://landscaping.about.com/od/weedsdiseases/qt/killing_weeds.htm
Wondering if using black plastic may increase the temperatures achieved or whether it is necessary to let the light through.

[Baccy Man]

you could solarize  the soil
http://www.ehow.com/how_4037_solarize-soil.html
this should kill just about every infectious agent in the soil.

I wonder whether it works. I notice the page says nothing about latitude or weather, both of which would have a large influence on the temperature reached. One comment adds a little, but I'd expect it to be addressed properly.

The aim is to raise the soil temperature to between 45ºC and 50ºC in the top 10 cms of soil for a period of 4-6 weeks, we would have to have a very good summer to acheive that. It was always claimed that the pathogens were killed off yet the beneficial microbial life was unharmed to a large extent. This claim was discredited in a recent study which demonstrated just how much stress microbial populations & enzymatic activity were put under during the solarisation process. They also demonstrated how those detrimental effects could be lessened by adding organic amendments before solarising the soil.
The results of the study was published as:
Soil solarisation: Effects on soil microbiological parameters, by Scopa and Dumontet, it was published in the Journal of plant nutrition, Volume 30, Number 4, April 2007.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Bare soil is always likely to produce a crop of weed seedlings, especially if it's been dug over. Any mulch will deal with these, apart fron a few species - goosegrass is one - that can grow through anything other than plastic or paper. Solarisation seems to be an American idea, and if it works at all, I suspect it'll be less effective in a cool maritime climate like ours.