white rot :(

[w33blegurl]

Ok, so to add to the general rubbishyness of this year's growing it seems I have white rot. I had to chuck out about one third of my (already badly rust infested) garlic in the bin and can only assume my rather weedy looking onions will be affected too. I had a look at some old threads on here which suggested growing caliente mustard or using garlic spray on the affected soil. Just wondered if anyone has tried this with any success?

[kathyd]

You poor thing, I do feel for you . I've not tried garlic or mustard against white rot in the soil, but it sounds possible... garlic seems to have magical effects on all sorts of things doesn't it? I'd certainly say it's worth a try, you don't have much to lose. I might try that on the ground outside my chicken house actually, to try to clean it up a bit . Garlic is even recommended for chickens to eat and drink to help keep parasites at bay, so there must be something in it! I've been watering some of my crops with garlic solution to try it against slugs - difficult to tell how effective it's been so far really, given the damage that's already been done! However, in the polytunnel I do seem to have a few dwarf french beans sprouting up now, despite the usual attention from mice and slugs. So far. And an almost-decimated courgette or squash plant outside has finally got big enough to survive the ongoing onslaughts. Fingers crossed - it may just be coincidence, but I'm living in hope! So I'd definitely try spraying with garlic solution, if it's been recommended elsewhere. And let us know how you get on!

[Newton]

I've just for it in some spring onions for gods sake! One it's there in the soil it's there!

I have had some success with overwintering onions planted in October and harvested in may June before it sets in........

Best of luck.....

[SarzWix]

The theory behind the garlic drench for white rot, is that it triggers the spores into thinking there's a host for them, but then as there is no host they can't survive. I think I'm right in saying that Zaz is doing some experiments in this area, hopefully she'll spot this and give a better explanation than me

[Shadylane]

I think she's tried the caliente mustard too with some success.

Just wondering, why did you throw your garlic? Was it too tiny? Mine nearly always gets rust but it's still good to eat. I don't find it affects the onions though.

Our second plot has white rot - as does the entire site but apparently, people generally lose only about 10%. I lost nearly all my over wintering reds but our neighbours ones are looking good so all isn't lost. Try different patches, some may be worse than others. Snadger had some success with a white rot resistant variety - Glolden Bear I think it was.

[w33blegurl]

Shady - I only chucked out the rotten ones, I kept the rest although some of them are so small it wasn't really worth the effort!

I have ordered some caliente mustard, as stated by another poster, nothing to lose, right? Will also obviously put my alliums as far away as poss next year and maybe start them off in modules as well.

On the upside, I dug up my shallots yesterday (probably a bit early but the slugs (I assume) had eaten all the foliage) and only a single clump was affected by the white rot, so hopefully the onions, which all of a sudden are swelling nicely, will be mainly OK!

[Shadylane]

My over wintering ones (in the white rot plot) have looked sickly for ages so hopefully, if yours are looking good you might do okay. Good luck with the caliente mustard. I'm thinking of trying it myself. One of the reasons we got another plot was so we could grow more onions, so was pretty miffed to find out about the white rot. It really is minging.

[zazen999]

Yes - for some reason I get terrible white rot even though the two blokeys on either side don't get it at all.

Garlic drench - literally drench the soil in a whizzed up garlic mix - I can't remember the exact quantities but I took a half full 25l bucket to the plot so it must have been 10 cloves per 10l. Then you have to leave it a year.

Caliente mustard - again, seems to have done something. Sow and mash it in - the smaller the pieces the better. I didn't mash it it as much as I should have but will be doing so from now on.

Another trick is to mix a load of sand into the place it's going, and keep them under plastic all winter [for overwintering onions] - it seems keeping the moisture out really helps. Did it this year again and only 4 went straight to the burn bin.