Topic: Gutted by Garlic!

[1066]

well at least you dont have white rot, all my autumn red onions and garlic have it... :'(.......gutted..

Sorry to hear that.  Do you have deep window boxes that you can grow garlic in?  Or make a trench and line with thick black plastic with a few drainage holes.  You'd have to fill with bought compost, but that should still make growing garlic and onion possible.

Sounds like a good idea to me, one of my beds now has it, just trying to keep it off the others. So digging / lining a trench might be a possibility for me. I've been wondering what approach to take, so time to put my thinking cap on !

[tim]

In a way, I'm glad that I've been forced out of Garlic growing by White Rot. This year's reports seem to show something strange?

I have one little caveat - if you intend to plait, I believe that you should leave a touch of flexibility in the stems - not brittle dry.

And YES to raised beds etc if you have the rot.Some of our best has been in them - see pic.   BUT - do NOT use the same bed or the next ?9 years. And DO sterilise your tools in between jobs. And what about your FEET??

Do EVERYTHING you can to minimise the risk of future failure. Life's not the same without the plaits hanging in the kitchen.

Which brings me onto keeping quality. And green lily's comment. Professional advice suggests that early Spring is good - but some say May. So June is exceptional - & not to be taken as the norm. And although we used to keep our Solent Wight into May, it was a shadow of its former self by then. Which suggests freezing  - for cooking, not for fresh. Works fine.

= Tim

[1066]

And YES to raised beds etc if you have the rot.Some of our best has been in them - see pic.   BUT - do NOT use the same bed or the next ?9 years. And DO sterilise your tools in between jobs. And what about your FEET??

What do you sterilise tools with? I remember watching a program about a kitchen garden, and remember the gardener stating how important cleanliness was to them. Picking up all leaves, scraping boots, sweeping paths etc; it stuck in my head.
 
At the moment I've left the garlic bed as it is, until I get round to working on it. I've been very wary of going anywhere near it, until I can figure out what to do. I was planning on using it for brasicas and winter salads. So the next garlic bed (I rotate) I need to look at raising.

Life's not the same without the plaits hanging in the kitchen.

My sentiments entirely! I couldn't agree more, and as to the flavour, well it stands far above shop bought

[ConfusedRhubarb]

I'm wondering if i am the only one who has leek miner in their garlic?  :-\

Some of the stalks had that twisted effect, that i'd seen in last years leeks - so i looked for and squashed the little pupae, but some were just doing so badly that I dug them up - and found the little maggoty things down below too.  yuck.  Not sure now whether to lift them all now - it seems cruel to take them out when the rain has only just arrived to give them a fighting chance.

Either way, at least i've had a few (also unsplit) garlic - my shallots have been totalled by the d**n things.

[Garden Manager]

I've recently noticed (after recent change in the weather) that some of my garlic plants were dying off and looking a bit 'mouldy'. Not every plant but it had become about 1 in 3, the rest look OK. Thought it was natural die off come early (normaly not ready to lift until July). i decided to dig one up and see what was going on and the plant appeared to be rotting, at least the topgrowth was as it came away from the bulb in my hands. On further investigation it appeared the cloves inside were fine once the outer skin was removed, I normally lift and store the whole plant, which then keeps a long time hung up in the garage. Now the cloves of the affected plants might be Ok now but i am guessing they will not store well. We dont use garlic that often in cooking, so how can i make the most of the crop?

I am guessing its the weather thats caused the rotting and not white rot.

[macmac]

I've dug most of mine for the same reason.
Not all are affected but the ones that are seem to be going soft and mouldy from the roots.
We gave up trying to grow onions with similar problems so perhaps I was expecting too much to get away with garlic  :(

[boydzfish]

I was just about to ask about when to harvest garlic when I saw this thread. I too have been stricken by the white rot and I am hoping the garlic has not been affected - so when should I pull them up anyone? Should I wait for the leaves to turn or something, this is the first year of garlic for me.

[tim]

Sickening, isn't it!

The cloves could well be OK - I would clean & freeze individually.

I would take up the immediately surrounding soil with the bulbs & bin it to try to limit the spread.

Clean your tools& shoes & keep Alliums away from that patch for the recommended time.

[artichoke]

My garlic has been looking like rows of healthy leeks most of the winter and spring, but suddenly quite a large percentage sickened and rotted. I'm really sad about it. I've dug about half of them and will do the rest this week.

I have been able to use some by scraping off the blackish rotting outside layers and finding small white clean cloves, but it is very discouraging.

The ones that were starting to develop a whiter rot have been trimmed, cleaned and dried, and I know from earlier years that they will harden and keep quite well.

Garlic is one of the  crops most worth growing because of being expensive to buy, so it's a shame.

[Mr Smith]

The only bit of White Rot I have had is from the Garlic I grew of my raised beds  but only a couple of bulbs which must say something about raised bed growing for Garlic, but I'm already planning for next year crop to go in later this year, I will be adding top soil to the raised beds to give it a 50/50 compost/soil content, :)

[Garden Manager]

Rotting seems to have ocuurred pretty quickly considering that not too long ago we would have been worried about the garlic not getting enough water. then a relatively short wet spell and they are gone. Very odd. My garlic are planted in raised beds too, so can't have got too waterlogged. Nothing like this has ever happened to my garlic before. always had a good crop. 

What are the main indicators of white rot over other kinds of rot/disease. How can i know i have definately got it? If i have it it is a big problem. I grow lots of the allium family (onions, shallots and leeks as well as garlic).

[tim]

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=226

Can't mistake it!

[cambourne7]

What about growing garlic in sterile soil in a container such as a long window box?

[tim]

Yes indeed,No7!

But you need a new box every year!!

We rotated 7 raised beds until it caught up with us again.

[Mr Smith]

Rather than start another thread but my garlic has 'Rust' on the leaves, anyone suffered this fate before?, looking at info on this disease it seems that the Garlic is still ok to harvest, :)

[Garden Manager]

Aww looks like i have 'The Rot' then. Typical. grown onion family crops for years no problem. Then one year after a long dry spell followed by wet i get it an i am knackered. Argh! Still on the upside its only one bed (only built this spring, - double Argh!), the rest of my alliums are fine, onions and shallots doing well - so far.

If it is only one bed affected, would it be worth changing the soil or some of the soil in the affected bed? How much should I remove to get rid of the worst of the white rot spores? How should i deal with the soil. can i loose it in a non cultivated part of garden or should it be taken away from the garden completely? I could 'lose' it in my front garden, which is down hill from the veg plot in the back and not dug that often.

I am also guessing that i shouldnt save any otherwise healthy looking garlic bulbs to replant next year?

What causes White Rot? anyone know? How might it have got into the garden?

Re: Rust on garlic, had this in past wet summers to no detriment and in fact this year it seems the garlic that isnt showing signs of white rot seems to have some rust on it.

[tim]

1. No expert, but I say NO to trying to change the soil.

2. As above, but I would play safe & but new garlic. It's just not worth the gamble.

The rot is probably the expensive & widespread enemy of farmers - hence the very long rotation period.

Plenty about it on Google.

[brown thumb]

been reading this thread, couldthe soil be sterilized by jeys fluid or wouldn't that work( or is it a banned substance) :-X mind the wouldn't be able to be used for a while :-\

[tim]

Even Armillatox is no guarantee. It's just not worth the agony.

And I imagine that one has take care not to spread the rot to other beds.

My only resort was raised bed & I had the best crop ever from the first one!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

Armatillox might help, watering with onion water the year before you planted a bed might help. I manage to keep ahead of it by rotating, but I always lose a few.