Mouldy Onion Sets

[stavroslinni]

well after starting my red onion sets in a tray inside to get them going theyve started going mouldy ..... my fault though.

The soil was close to drying out so id left them in the sink for what should of been a quick soak..... but forgot about them. Soil was drenched, tryed to drain it off as much as I can but now theres mould starting to grow around the bottom of the sets.

Will they still be ok , kind of grow out of it?? Or am i better binning the lot and starting again ???

[rustylady]

How long since you planted them in your tray, and does the tray have drainage holes?

[stavroslinni]

the tray does have a fair amount of drainage. They've been planted around a week. Nice white roots now showing on them, just starting to get mouldy

[rustylady]

If they are producing roots they might be OK. Perhaps it's just the compost that has gone mouldy. Get them into the fresh air during the daytime.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I would take them out of the compost, give them a bath in a solution of domestos and water, one part domestos - 50 parts water and leave them for at least an hour. Afterwards replant in a mix of 6 parts general purpose compost, 6 parts john innes 3 compost and one part perlite or vermicullite (to keep the compost open). The bleach solution should kill the pathogens causing the mould without damaging the roots - it's the same strength as the one I use with leek pips and doesn't touch them. The compost mix is quite free draining and won't encourage formation of mould.

[cptncrackoff]

I had some of my overwintering sets that moulded, actually some moulded shriveled up and died, some moulded and grew normally, and some moulded and I thought they had died but after lifting they were starting to root, just behind the others.
I only lost a couple out of two bags of sets.

They might be OK.

I put my mould mostly down to being in the greenhouse, lack of air circulating, with the damp compost I believe is a recipe for mould etc.
( I am also a closet overwaterer)

[Linzy]

Just wait and see if they have roots they should in the next couple weeks send up a little green shoot and i would say your in the clear if that happens