Grow Your Own Magazine

When I got my allotment no-one told me that the soil was infected with clubroot. In fact everyone on my site let me get on with it, sowing my brassica seedbed with umpteen varieties!

It wasn't until I came to transplant the seedling that I noticed that some of them had swellings on there roots. I new about clubroot but had never encountered it so guessed what it was straight away! I was actually embarrased and was frightened to mention it to anyone in case I was shunned like a leper!

While I was contemplating what to do, my allotment neighbour decided to break his silence and let me know that he never grew summer brassicas as his, and as far as I know, every other plot on the site was infected! In a way I was actually pleased, because I knew they were having to cope with what I had, just they had been forewarned and I hadn't

Anyway, after my first season gardening with clubroot I can use a quote from a Rocky film when some-one is beating the crap out of him and he keeps saying "It's not so bad!! It's not so bad" I can empathise with him and say "Do your wor'st s*cker!! I can take it!! You aint so tuff!! I can beat you!!"

I have learned a heck of a lot in 2006 by experiencing clubroot and living with it! I now know I can grow brassica's and with the know how I have picked up, I can grow damm good brassica's!!!.
Here are a few tips from my arsenal that do work, and a few more that I haven't tried yet that might work!

1) Best to start your brassica's off in pots of sterilised soil to allow the root system to establish to enable it to fight off the inevitable attack
2) Grow some clubroot resistant varieties of Swede and cabbage. The resistant cabbage (quite expensive!) stands well and its roots are unaffected, but also grow whatever brassica's you like, just take a few precautions!
3) Lime is recommended, but even though I bought some I didn't use it last year because it can cause problems for other crops and I don't want scabby tatties! I may just dust the planting holes with it (well in advance) but not sure as yet!
4) The fungus doesn't like the cold so usually Spring Cabbage is pretty free from it and the Kales have a natural resistance because of of there solid stems (apparently it finds it hard to penetrate there cell structure)
5) I used rhubarb leaves at the bottom of some plants which seems to have worked as they aren't affected (Oxalic acid being the active ingredient here)
6) Armillatox can still be bought although it is not legally categorised as being a soil fungicide now, so I can;t advise you to use it!!!
7) My plot used to have a communal dumping ground where everyone had there bonfires. The soil is red from being burned, but I am not affected by clubroot in this area, my theory being that it has been burned out!
8) With the last fact in mind, this year I am going to do a bit more experimenting with heat! I shall drop a lighted firelighter into some of the planting holes and see what effect that has? I will also use a flame wand (flame thrower) in some of the planting holes, keeping it there for a minute or so, and see if that helps kill the fungi!
9) I will stake every tall growing brassica because if they are infected the root system is weekened and it makes them succeptable to wind damage!
10) I am going to keep my used engine oil when I do an oil change, put it into a bucket, and each time I dig a brassica up, cut the root off and drop it in the oil.
Once I have a few oil soaked roots,I will form them into a pyre and torch the s*ckers( not forgetting the feather in the hair, my underpants on backside forward, engine oil stripes on my face and me doing an appropriate dance bemoanng the death of the dreaded clubroot!!!!!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

I'm not sure how legal some of those sound Snadger!

They earth where the fire was... I can almost see that actually, as fire's sterilise the ground below them, so maybe it killed the clubroot disease, and then new compost was added over time to make it plantable again?

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

Nothing illegal, only a sick bird!


The soil was a three foot high bonfire remnant and is now a brassica bed with red soil..no new soil just perfect cabbages!!

__________________
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Hey Snadger....you have almost tempted me to try more brassicas again!!!

Good posting!!

Thanks for that Snadger! I know I said I wasn't going to grow any this year, but that was before I got my lottie. I'll bear in mind your advice when I get going, sorry! growing! LOL Dexterdog

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things