club root

[plot ten]

i once read you can sterilise soil with bleach diluted with water does anyone know anything about this and would it kill clubroot infections hope you can help

[plot ten]

[Kepouros]

You can (if you don`t mind poisoning your soil with chlorine), but while it may temporarily clear the bit you`ve treated, by the time it is safe to plant the club root will already be moving back in from the surrounding area.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you use the peroxide bleach you won't be putting chlorine into the soil.

[Rose.mary]

Why not try other methods, you may not cure it completely but you will be able to grow good brassicas.
The NVS site has a good suggestion for the problem. I personally use kilos of lime and water all brassicas in with a strong solution of lime and water. It has worked for me this year. Last year my brassicas nearly all failed either with cabbage root fly or club root.
Apparently you need your PH to be above 7.5

Rosemary

P.S. If you really want to sterilise your soil and are not organic you could use Jeys Fluid. It was regularly used by the old brigade

[Kepouros]

If you try to buy enough hydrogen peroxide bleach to sterilise your plot you`ll have Special Branch knocking at your door.  It is also (like most hydrogen compounds) an acid, which will lower your soil pH (not the best effect for brassicas).

I don`t think that there is any legally usable substance which actually kills clubroot, but in any event the fungus would still move back in from surrounding areas as soon as the effects on the soil wore off.

The best soil sterilant for clubroot I have found is Armillatox used at 1% solution at 20 litres per sq. metre 3 weeks before planting, which does not kill clubroot but considerably lessens the severity.  Unfortunately our EU Masters have decreed that Armillatox may no longer be sold for this purpose, but you can still buy it to sterilise your shed, and it`s still the same stuff.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you want to make anything go bang effectively you need much stronger peroxide than that, but I wonder whether they'd know the difference.

[Kepouros]

Robert, don`t forget that the would-be bombers started off by buying 3% hairdressers`solution and distilling it.  I think 65 % is getting near the `bang` stage, and they hadn`t managed to reach that level.

[plot ten]

thanks for your comments,don't think i'll bother with the bleach now though.I'm a newbie by the way the names phil and i have an allotment in scholes which is near cleckheaton which is near bradford w yorks

[ACE]

Blimey! some drastic measures there.

Use the old boys method of sweetening your brassica plot with lime for next year but no manure. Also I have used the small cube of rhubarb in each hole method, it worked for me.