HELP with Onion white rot

[podfather]

While weeding around my onions i discovered several but not all of my onions have a fluffy white growth on the bulbs after consulting my r h s book i disccover this is white rot. this is only the second lot of onions i have grown and am not sure what to do . the book tells you to destroy infected onions,
and that the fungus will stay in the ground for up to seven years. does this mean all the onions will be lost and that the onion bed will be unuseable for upto seven years . any help much appreciated.

[crichmond]

Usually it means growing all your onions in a different location for several years as the white rot persists in the soil and will infect subsequent crops of onions and members of the onion family.

[zazen999]

I get a little on alot of my onions.

Over winter, I added some onions to a sandy raised bed, and when they were pulled in the spring - not a sign of the rot anywhere.

So, all my beds are getting a sand treatment - I try and look at it like....they get rot because they aren't draining well so improve the drainage and it will help to keep the rot at bay. I am also trialling rot resistant onions and also putting sawdust into the sieved soil now that I have bags of the stuff.

[womble]

I'm afraid it doesn't look good for your onions, last year I had white rot, it started out with a couple of my garlics and spread to my whole onion bed, I lost the lot, I think you will too.
Beware of spreading the white rot through tools and feet.
I am struggling big time to deal with it and through extensive research have come up with virtually nothing to get rid of it. There is a school of thought that says you can water on garlic water which may help with the removal of the disease, but this is just hearsay, although commercial growers are now starting to do the same thing, although in much tighter regulated amounts.
I've found it again this year in a pot and I am really at my wits end to know what to do, I almost certainly know that it came in with a load of soil, but it's everywhere in the garden and we used to rely on leeks in winter....

[podfather]

Not the best of news ! but thanks anyway.

[Snadger]

Like Zazen I am trialing some onions grown from seed called Golden Bear. They are reputed to be white rot resistant so I have purposely planted them in an area where I had white rot last year. So far so good..........but we shall see!
My worst affected bed (which incidentally also had clubroot, another long term fungal disease) has now become a permanent runner/French bean trench!

[SlugLobber]

Oh poo. I just found the name white rot on the merged thread and I think this is what mine have got. I have pulled up the infected ones that I saw and chopped up the good parts (they were only affected on the bottoms, except one) and frozen them. I wonder if it's because I watered too much (actually hardly at all, but I am on clay and that bed has only had one year worth of compost on it, so has a long way to go before being 'good').

Would it be wise to simply stop watering? I only water them on the way past (my spuds, squash and beans are at the other side of the onion patch and it's a long way from the hose tap!).

[Snadger]

Oh poo. I just found the name white rot on the merged thread and I think this is what mine have got. I have pulled up the infected ones that I saw and chopped up the good parts (they were only affected on the bottoms, except one) and frozen them. I wonder if it's because I watered too much (actually hardly at all, but I am on clay and that bed has only had one year worth of compost on it, so has a long way to go before being 'good').

Would it be wise to simply stop watering? I only water them on the way past (my spuds, squash and beans are at the other side of the onion patch and it's a long way from the hose tap!).

Mine weren't watered, were on fairly free draing soil, but were still affected! Golden Bear onions seem to be ok up til now, but it's usually once they start maturing that problems occur!

[di]

I'm totally gutted,we seem to have it to.
Quick question though...how do you know it's deffo it & not just down to them being too wet & in poor draining soil?

[zazen999]

I get it in some and not in others.....it's very weird. Some spring onions had it when they were grown in jiffy 7s and planted out and the surrounding ones haven't got it. As soon as the leaves look dry when the others around it are ok, or the leaves start to look not 100%, I pull them and invariably they are white rotted.

[di]

Not all of ours have got it in that patch(thankfully I've got more planted elsewhere as well),but would it be advisable then to pull up all the ones that seem OK there now?
(can you freeze onion marmalade???)

[stupot]

I went OTT with my garlic and onion set this yeat and most have white rot. Gutted! I'm clearing the beds and hoping and praying that my elephant garlic won't get it - though EG is more related to leaks which apparently aren't as affected as onions and galric. Fingers crossed!

[zazen999]

Di: it depends on how bad it is I suppose....I leave mine unless 9/10 are bad.

[Snadger]

I get it in some and not in others.....it's very weird. Some spring onions had it when they were grown in jiffy 7s and planted out and the surrounding ones haven't got it. As soon as the leaves look dry when the others around it are ok, or the leaves start to look not 100%, I pull them and invariably they are white rotted.

You're right Zazen. I can now pick out ones that are affected, and if not sure give a light tug and affected plants will lift out. Just been pulling some more out today.......probably running at about 50% affected.

[di]

If the rotty bit isn't too bad are they still edible?
Also,another thing that sprung to mind...I assume even the ones that seem OK,if amongst others that aren't,then it's probably best to burn them & not compost?