Is this Allium white rot?

[4390evans]

Hi guys,

Could you tell me if this is white rot?
Or is it just that I have left them in the ground to long?

All my onions are in one area and before I put the sets in (which were from a well know supplier) I put about 3 inches of compost down. There is only about 5 onions like this and they seem to be my biggest ones, any ideas?

Thanks

[Thelma Sanders]

Have a look for 'black seeds' on the roots and in the soil where the roots were. These are the new spores of onion white rot.
Basal rot, which also shows the white mould on the roots has orange to salmon coloured spores on the bottom or in the soil.

Either of them probably mean that you can't grow onions in that place any more

[Mark_Riga]

It could be white rot but does not look quite the same as what I get. I have a patch infected that I use for autumn planted sets - will be replanting in the next couple of weeks. If I had onions in this patch now, they would likely all have rotted clean away or have quite a thick coat of cotton wool and all the roots tend to rot first and yours looks to still have some even now. It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like the onion might have split. if so, rotting could have set in. The onion itself looks like it is still edible. If I were you I would hope that it isn't white rot but not grow onions there for a few years - which would be the case if you use a 4 year rotation say. I would expect white rot to show up in July/August even late June for autumn planted. Plants would start yellowing and a gentle tug will bring them out of the ground

I rotate my Autumn planted around this plot and get a reasonable crop. When they start to swell up, I keep a close watch and pull and use any affected. This year quite a few were got and I harvested them very early - but I'm still eating them now.