Grow Your Own Magazine

Evening all! I have just discovered rust on my leeks. My veg bible says this is very unuusual (aren't I the lucky one! ) and that it can prove fatal. It suggests cutting and burning affected leaves (which is what i will try )but what i want to know is can I pick leeks now and still eat them even if they have rust or must i bin them?Also - what did I do wrong????
Please help!
Raine

You didn't do anything wrong Raine, Rust is an airborne fungus & it's not that rare so don't feel too honoured

You can still eat the leeks just don't compost the foliage. you can smear vasaline on the pustules & it will stop them spreading or you can spray if your not organic. Try giving them a really good feed of something as yuo usually fined that most things if growing vigourously will out grow the problem.

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ntg

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

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My friend has rust on her garlic, and when I googled it, it suggested they are more prone to this fungal infection in moist, shaded areas. As her garlic was ready for pulling, she was able to chop off the leaves and dry indoors near her boiler.
If your leeks are quite well developed , it might be worth pulling , cooking and freezing some now so if things do get worse,then at least you have rescued some of the crop.
I do this with outdoor tomatoes as we get potato blight every year on the spuds and tomatoes.
If your leeks are in a sheltered spot, make sure they get a brighter location next year, as you will have resident spores from this year waiting to get a hold.
All this rain is welcome,but it is causing problems for some plants.
I wonder if there are any rust resistant leeks on the market for next year??..bound to be!

Thank you for all your help. I'll give it all a go tomorrow after work (booo) Thinking about it the leeks were in quite a shady spot so i'll pretend I'm all knowledgable next year and say to my mates 'the leeks need a sunnier spot than that otherwise they'll get rust you know....'
Raine

That's the way to do it!!!!

The following varieties claim to offer some resistance to rust
Zermatt - some resistance
Ardea - high degree of rust tolerance
Tornado - some rust resistance

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Rat

British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God

Blog updated Wednesday November 13th