Allotments 4 All

Some of my onions are suffering with white rot which is rather sad to say the least

I am told by a neighbour on the plot that this stays in the soil for about eight years. He says that the rotation of this crop is now very important to reflect this

Any other suggestions? 

Derek

Look back on all the old & recent comment on the subject!!

Or, to be kinder, start with http://www.hdra.org.uk/factsheets/dc16.htm ??

Thanks Tim

I completely forgot about hdra

Derek

Saw this on another forum - anyone have any thoughts?
I too have the dreaded thing - just  dug up mine last week - most Ok but some affected so out they all came.



Alternatively I will have to devise some sort of cage to grow them in on the
allotment after I have tried the treatment for onion white rot I read about.
Has anyone tried it yet.  They say you should water the soil, the year
before you plant onions, with onion water.  The white rot fungus will think
onions have been planted there and will start to grow, then when there is nothing for it to live on, it will die.   Worth a try, don't you think?

I think they are trying something similar commercially, putting loads of onion waste on affected soil for same reason as you stated ..So rot attacks it and cant survive, so it burns itself out ...Not heard of using onion water though..
Might be worth a try If You can find out more about it ..cheers Jim

I have read somewhere that you can plant onions as a sacrificial crop if you have white rot - plant them, then dig them up and destroy at the right time.  Also heard that it might be possible with potato blight in the soil.  If they work, seems like a good idea to me - and onion water seems like an economical way of doing it if it works.

Horrible fungus!  Dug my white garlics today, binned over half, completely rotten!  Lost almost all of my spring planted sets also.  I am going to have to find somewhere in the garden at home to grow onions next year!

Redclanger

You are correct... the information from HYDRA says to plant an allium crop, wait for signs of insfection then immediatly lift and dispose of the crop and surrounding soil....it goes on to say that you may need to repeat this operation but even that beats at least an eight year downtime.

Maybe try a bit of both, an allium crop and an onion spray.

Derek

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but a question has been puzzling me - do you think you just soak the onion bits and bobs in water, or should the whole concoction be boiled and steeped or boiled and simmered?

Do you know anyone with a auger type juicer. Fresh onion juice (my eyes are watering already) and onion pulp I can imagine would be quite convincing.

Two garlic bulbs I lifted had a white fungus both of which I burnt. I also burnt the top growth for the whole row which had rust. Any chance that it wasn't white rot? Off now to dispose of some soil and investigate the adjacent row of softneck garlic.

I also noticed some white fungus on a few onions and shallots on the lower half of the bulbs around the roots. They went in the compost bin at home. I hope my compost skills are up to the job of killing the fungus with heat although I doubt it.

Hmmm! Do you think inoculation with frendly fungi would in any way inhibit the growth of white rot?

From HDRA:  Other things to try: Try growing garlic in large (10cm/4in diameter) holes filled with uncontaminated soil. When infection is triggered in spring, there will be minimal root damage before higher soil temperatures halt the disease. Leeks are worth trying, even on really infected ground. They may survive and crop well due to a combination of soil temperature and root development at a crucial time of growth.

Thought the above might help having gone looking to see how to identify it!