Downy Mildew on Onions

[mogs]

Oh Dear

My spring planted onions have started to collapse with grey mould on the stems! ..and it seems others on the allotment are having the same trouble. I'm told its Downy Mildew and have been advised to cut off the infected leaves and burn them. The onion bulbs seem to be still firm, whilst one chap showed me his and the bulb was soft and oozing liquid and was rather smelly!!

Having removed the leaves and burnt them, should I leave them in the ground or is it best to 'whip them out' and just get on with eating them (can you still eat them?). I understand they won't store?? Some have no leaves at all left and I wouldn't think they could grow any bigger without the leaves or can they?

Is there any advantage to leaving them in the ground like the chappie advised me?

[PAULW]

MOGS
Same problem farther down the page under black death, I have lifted mine we had a mild hit so I sprayed with dithane then over a week later we had another hit so instead of watching the bulbs rot or spraying again I've took them out.