Page 12 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2022

of everything and not be hampered by any poor feeding, weeding or watering.
Liquid seaweed fertilizer sprayed along the rows will give any slow crops a boost in growth when I notice a spell of showery weather coming along.
Carrot Root Flies have to be mentioned here! They are particularly active from
late April onwards with successive broods during the summer. I anticipate growing the crop covered by a fine mesh netting, with
a Garlic concoction sprayed on the rows every couple of weeks.
Hand weeding and picking for summer- salads will soon see me
on my knees during the evening doing a pick-over even when the plants are quite small.
Annual weeds. Thankfully the soil is clean, and I will be able to keep the weeds in check by regular hoeing and encouraging dense summer foliage.
Finally, watering. Not to be soaked but well-watered during the drier weeks of summer.
Liquid seaweed fertilizer sprayed along the rows will give any slow crops a boost in growth
Particular to note:
After a persistent dry spell carrots are liable to split if there is an unplanned down-pour of rain.
Mission achieved?
Storing ready for use in the kitchen.
During the autumn, I
will get my fork busy and carefully lift the carrots avoiding any bruising
and damage to the roots. to store sound carrots I will
Anything less than an inch of rain each week means that I will have to water them, and I am considering 1⁄2 pint of water each day for every plant.
Choosing only
store them in a box of dry sand and keep them cool in my shed.
Onion White Rot and Clubroot diseases
KELVIN MASON
In the survey carried out by Raymond Higgins last year a couple of members asked for articles about clubroot of Brassicas and white rot of onions and their control. I had intended to include this in the October edition but was it was not completed in time. I have set out below the latest information on the two diseases and some possible controls although there is no magic wand that will control either disease.
They are both soil borne diseases that are very persistent in the soil being active for up to 20 years and at present there is no approved chemical controls available. The main control is to avoid getting them into your soil in the first place so keep your boots, tools and equipment clean to avoid carrying the spores onto your plot. Do not accept plants unless you are sure they are disease free.
ONION WHITE ROT
A soil borne fungus that attacks members of the Allium family including onions,
leeks, garlic, and shallots; it is now called Stromatinia cepivora but used to be called Sclerotium cepivorum and will be called that in old books and magazines, both names refer to the same disease. As stated above it is very persistent and can survive in the soil for up to 18 years
white fluffy fungal growth, hence its name, this will become covered in small round black spore like bodies called sclerotia which are the resting spores that infect the next crop.
The black resting spores are about .5mm
as black toughened resting spores. One point of interest is that it only attacks Alliums so other crops can be grown without any problems from it. Because it can survive for so long in the soil rotation does not give any control unless it is a very long one!
It is very persistent and can survive in the soil for up to 18 years as black toughened resting spores
dia and will remain dormant in the soil or growing
media until members of the Allium family are sown or planted. These plants give off an exudate of certain volatile chemicals that are sensed by the sclerotia and they germinate producing fungal growth that infects the plants roots. When
the plant dies and more sclerotia are produced and re-contaminates the soil. It appears that the sclerotia’s
The symptoms are usually
seen from mid-March to
early autumn, the first one
being a yellowing of the
foliage that wilts in dry
weather. If the soil is moist the plants may not wilt but will be loose in the soil as the roots will have rotted. On the roots will be a
germination and growth is inhibited by temperatures over 20°C so the disease tends to be more of a problem in cool
12 Simply Vegetables