Allotments 4 All

My garlic seems to be quite badly affected by rust.  :'(  I've got about a dozen plants in a bed and they are all affected. They were bulbs that I rescued from my allotment before it was rotavated when I took it over, so I've no idea what variety they are or anything.

Is there anything I can do to cure it? Is it worth digging them up - will I get anything usable? I'm not even sure what time of year the garlic should be harvested  ???

Thanks!

PS. My 2nd crop potatoes seem to be dying too, but I think that may be through lack of watering! I weeded half the bed about a month ago (intending to do the other half later) but haven't quite got round to it yet. The spuds still covered by weeds seem to be really healthy, it's only the ones that I've weeded round that are affected!  ??? Think I'll leave the weeds to take care of the spuds next year!  :P

My garlic was solid orange with rust last year, and I still had a good crop! I do grow alliums in a different spot each year, this is the first year they only had a touch of rust before harvest so I wouldn't worry too much.

Are all of your potatoes the same variety? Could some be ready now?

Oh that's good to know - I don't have any other onions etc that close to the garlic so hopefully it won't spread.  At least all is not necessarily lost :)

The sick potatoes are all variety Charlotte, although as I say the ones still under a cover of weeds are looking OK. My King Edward's are starting to have one or two brown leaves, so I gave them a good watering this evening. The first earlies (variety Rocket) are all looking very healthy at the moment.

Thanks!

I've just read back your old posts and saw that your plot was rotovated at the end of March so your garlic was transplanted then after having been in the ground for how long?  If they were planted last Autumn then I think that the upheaval may check the growth a bit but you might still get usable bulbs.  If they were planted this year then transplanted, I'm not sure you'll get anything wirth having.  The rust won't kill them.  Leave them in the ground until they start dying back then dig them up.

Your potatoes are probably just going over - time to start harvesting!

Quote from: ceres on June 23, 2009, 23:16:04
I've just read back your old posts and saw that your plot was rotovated at the end of March so your garlic was transplanted then after having been in the ground for how long?  If they were planted last Autumn then I think that the upheaval may check the growth a bit but you might still get usable bulbs.  If they were planted this year then transplanted, I'm not sure you'll get anything wirth having.  The rust won't kill them.  Leave them in the ground until they start dying back then dig them up.

They were probably planted in the autumn - I signed the contract on my allotment in January, although it was a while before I got it rotavated.

Would the potatoes be ready already? I wasn't expecting to get anything from them just yet. Maybe I should have a feel around and see if there is anything there!

When did you plant the potatoes?  It's worth having a look at earlies at around 10 weeks.

I planted the spuds over the Easter weekend, so that would be nearly 10 weeks now I guess. I'll have a look tomorrow and see if there are any spuds there! That would be very exciting! :D

Thanks!