permanant onion bed

[womble]

I was watching the big dig last night and this guy had one of these, it looked very high off the ground.
I'm very interested in this as I have had white rot for the first time this year and the speed at which it sped across my onion bed was scary.
I'm almost certain that it came in from free soil I got from freecycle, so it means almost all my beds are infected.

I've tried finding out about a permanent bed for them on the web, but there is not that much about them.

What I can gather, it that it would have to be isolated from the soil with a membrane and then clean earth/compost and manure used to fill it.

I've also read about using ***** fluid at the end of the year to disinfect the bed.

Does anyone have any practical advice?

[Flummery]

I've never heard of a permanent onion bed Womble. It's one of those crops I always try to move around because of the problem of disease. If you start with guaranteed clean soil (but I'm not sure how you know) I would have thought you could get disease in on sets?

[PAULW]

Robinsons seeds claim they have been using the same onion bed for donkey's years, they must have a very strict regime of sterilising the soil at the end of each growing season.

[Snadger]

Local growers around here grow show leeks, another allium, in the same bed year after year. I don't wholeheartily agree with it but these growers spend a lot of time on there 'trenches' and at the end of the year the whole trench is dug out, various secret compounds added and the soil is returned in the spring.
I myself have two raised trenches, one woth carrots and one with onions and leeks. I've used the same trenches for two years running but this year my onion trench will become my carrot trench and vice versa.

Monoculture sometimes works........but is a heck of a lot of work to get good results.

[womble]

Agreed with the hard work, but what do I do about the white rot? Got to deal with it somehow.
The only thing I am doing is growing spring onions in pots at the moment.

[Geordie]

I have used the same onion bed for my large onions for what will be the 5th year this coming year. It was started using advice given by Robinsons and so far has always been productive.
If indeed you have imported the spores of white rot onto your plot I'm afraid you might have to grow onions in pots for the next 15 years or so. Failing that you could always remove the soil from one bed and start again, but this would mean cleaning tools, boots etc after being used on other beds to avoid spreading the fungus.
As far as I am aware no treatment exists for white rot and it will just lie dormant in the soil. It is a chemical produced by the roots of the growing onion that activates the white rot which then attacks the roots.

[womble]

Well that was the rough plan, to have new soil and try to not contaminate it.
I was aware I would have to clean the tools, I wouldn't walk on the bed anyway, so wouldn't worry about the boots.

I can see it is a bit dodgy, but as my options are a bit limited. I do want to grow onions and I can't really put main crops in pots.

[Duronal]

could you not grow them in containers instead? like toy boxes or barrels, a bath, or something like that...

[baggyman]

I read somewhere that if you boil garlic and use the liquor from that on the onion bed, it fools the white rot spores into growing. They then die off since there is no onions to feed on. Then plant your onions and bobs your uncle!
Off course it could be an old wives tale but it seems to make sense. Anyone else heard of this?

[Farmer_Gyles]

i have a couple of old veg growing books that mention permanent onion beds, so could be ok

[zazen999]

I read somewhere that if you boil garlic and use the liquor from that on the onion bed, it fools the white rot spores into growing. They then die off since there is no onions to feed on. Then plant your onions and bobs your uncle!
Off course it could be an old wives tale but it seems to make sense. Anyone else heard of this?

Well, that sounds like a plan and I think I've read that before [somewhere in the depths of my brain stirred some recognition].

It's worth a try...

[BrideXIII]

garlic powder apparently, see here:

Onion White Rot - symptoms, causes and treatment

[Snadger]

I have onion white rot in two of my beds! I have lots of beds so it isn't too much of a problem. By the time I need to use these beds again for alliums (3 years time) I may try the garlic powder idea before hand as a trial to see if it works!

[di]

I used to know a very(extremely very!!)good gardener & she never moved her onions!!Saying that until disease showed it's head there was no need!Personnally I'm not so brave!!I try to have at least 2 years between last crop & next.
re the ***** fluid.It may have been my imagination but...our 1st year at the lottie~when we weren't having much luck with our carrots~a knidly chap used to stock us up with his,they always seemed to have a slightly perfumey flavour.Found out later that he used to pour ***** fluid in the drill before sowing carrot seed(to deter root fly).Like I say it may have been just my imagination,but I'm sure the flavour was effected??Sure if I'm totally wrong & there's anyone out there that uses it without suffering the taste,then feel free to correct me!!