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  • #1

    Garlic white onion rot?

    Last night we dug up 3 heads of garlic to see what stage they are at. Two were fine and we'll be using them as wet garlic but one had white mould and was rotten. I'm assuming this is white onion rot?

    We bought certified bulbs but it has been a very wet year - our autumn planted onions didn't survive the winter but I was hopeful that the garlic had and overall the patch looks well. We prepared the bed from what was previously grassland. This is our first year of proper veggie gardening and we haven't grown garlic before.

    Should I take up all the garlic to ensure we save the crop? I've picked up a few recipes for freezing and pickling the garlic from other parts of the forum to use the garlic if it isn't big enough for drying. Or should I leave well alone in the hope that the bulbs develop further?
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  • #2
    I don't know where it came from but I appear to have "Onion white rot" in our garden. I lifted all the galic and onions and scrubbed the mould from the root plate with well diluted bleach but they were a sorry sight. The only thing we could do was to collect as much as possible and fry it and freeze for later use. A few I tried to store just went worse and worse.

    The problem will only get worse so I should collect what you can. There seems to be no remedy for this ailment either, just a six or seven year gap in growing alliums in that area.

    Cheers, Tony.
    Semper in Excrementem Altitvdo Solvs Varivs.

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    • #3
      Thank you Tony for the very useful response, I'll lift them to see if I can save a reasonable amount. Ah well, it's all part of the learning curve.

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      • #4
        Garlic are particularly prone to white onion rot. They are in the ground a long time during which soil temperatures are low.

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        • #5
          I took up the six garlic bulbs which were around the infected one I took up last night (carefully cleaning and disinfecting my fork between taking up each) and they are all alright. Hopefully it hasn't spread too far. I think we'll carefully dig out the soil in this area and dispose of it - and not plant any onions there for the next few years.

          This week I bought Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland and reading it just there are a number of suggestions for cutting down the length of time in the ground to prevent the garlic bulbs rotting (sowing later, starting in peat under a greenhouse bench etc.) so I may experiment a bit next year.

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          • #6
            I think you'll find that it is pretty common. Something you just learn to live with....I expect to lose a 1/4 each year and I whittle that down by spotting onions early. They just look a bit palid or lacklustre. You use what you can of that first and save the best.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Kleftiwallah View Post
              There seems to be no remedy for this ailment either, just a six or seven year gap in growing alliums in that area.

              Cheers, Tony.
              I'm sure I read it takes15 years minimum to clear so I have planted fruit bushes in the owrst affected part of my plots. In the other bad bit, I have strawberries. By the time I have used the whole plot renewing the plants a row or two at a time and going through a full rotational 4 year cycle(excluding alliums) and then repeating the process I should be in a position to find out. I'm not holding my breath though. I still expect the disease to be there.

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              • #8
                I am using the organic control of white rot as detailed here:- vegetable diseases

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                • #9
                  I always plant my garlic and onions into the top of ridges, i find that i get less losses that way as the water runs away from them quicker.
                  Not sure wether i have been lucky this year, but no white rot is showing on the garlic heads. Plenty of rust though.
                  Just a little extra insurance against the wet stuff
                  "He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart"

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                  • #10
                    That sounds a very good idea vegnut - we do get a good deal of rain!

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                    • #11
                      The really garlicy garlic farm near Nairn, plants their garlic on top of ridges.

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