This is the second year of my trialling of this method of combatting white rot in alliums, and another resounding success for the method.
Previously, I used to loose about 30% of my allium crops to white rot. I have just lifted the last of my alliums this year and only one garlic head showed any sign of white rot.
There is still time this year for you to treat the beds that you intend to use for growing alliums next year, with ground up garlic cloves.
For the method, see this page http://www.growyourown.info/page173.html
Has anybody else been trialling this method and what results did you get?
Sounds very interesting. Worth a try I should think . Thanks for the info
I bought a large tin of garlic powder and spread it using a flour sieve where the onions were going and so far not one onion with white rot the rest of the onions will be out tomorrow so far so good
Great to be getting feedback from people who have tried this :) Sounds like it is the way to go.
I must try this. Where is the best place to buy garlic powder. Is there anywhere on line? Thanks for posting. I would love to get back to growing onions.
I was going to try the garlic powder idea but opted for temporary raised beds with council compost as 40%+ were being lost to white rot, I haven't had a single one with the white rot this year, Winter or Summer, two went a bit mouldy but I put that down to a few bad eggs. ::) ;D
Thanks for the link - I intend to do the same!!
How long do we have to leave it for after treatment before planting??
kev, that's fine, but where do you go next year?
Another clean raised bed??
I'll level out the raised bed onto all the roots soil and move my wood and start another raised bed in the new crop rotation place with the free council compost stored on site, can't see a problem or am I missing something. ???
Fingers crossed!
I've done 8 beds & have now run out of room!!
There was suggestion that one should put a membrane in the base?
I treated the potato bed with garlic powder at 100g/sq metre and will be putting some onions in there next year.
I also washed out my assorted seed trays and pots over a part I've put shallots in this year. I was pretty splashy about dsoing it and was using armillatox... that area also seems unaffected too....
Garlic powder is available on line from horse supplies stockists!! as it is used in the treatment of horses. I just whizzed up garlic cloves with a little water and spread this further diluted with water in a watering can and spread it at the rate of a garlic head per sq m.
It needs to be applied this year while the ground is still warm, on ground that is going to be used next year for alliums.
Thanks for reply. Will be doing this over the next few days. Hope we get some feed back next year.
I pulled the last of my onions in the carlic treated area not one with White Rot
The evidence is mounting that the garlic treatment works.
If the garlic method works I'll breathe a massive sigh of relief... I'm an onion fiend (I grow way too many varieties) and the white rot disaster last year was heartbreaking... It doesn't work out particularly cheap and bits like paths are probably best washed down with a soil sterilant, but fingers crossed, it looks like we havea cure and and a natural one at that...
I've treated a restricted area as specified - my questions are: is it too risky to try for a garlic crop, I usually put mine in between Christmas and New Year? And, am I less likely to get rot if I grow my onions from seed? I usually use sets. I so hope this works, I am mortified to be buying onions and leeks for the first time in 35 years.....
At a 100 grammes a metre (about 3 oz a square yard) then control should be pretty much absolute if it was well worked in in the spring (at least according to the research paper I've seen).
We will only find out by growing in the treated areas, given white rots ability to survive anythign else it will either have worked or not. I'll be planting slightly further apart than normal to try and stop cross-contamination, but your mileage might vary...
Seeds sowing made no difference to me last year, the only thing that survived even slightly better than the rest were hybrid shallots, the thing that did worst was potato onions, I lost the lot.
chrisc
I made 2 raised beds treated them with garlic on the 27th Aug. and again a week later. I am planning to put sets and leeks in next Apr/May. I do hope this works and others report back next year.
Like crisscross I miss my onions.