Page 17 - ALG Issue 2 2021

garden QdocA
I always grow onion sets (Sturon I have known several people over from Kings) and often keep a bed the last year or so complain of
tor
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going for many years rather than rotating. However, I moved the bed a few years ago and have now been on this area for three years. My problem
is not new, but it seems to be getting worse, and that is storage problems. I try and follow the lifting and leaving in the garden to dry, then dry them in trays for a few weeks before finally storing in a frost-free garage. This year the crop looked great and I thought was a great success but I am losing more than 50% to rotting. Sometimes a fungal growth is obvious but other times the rot has started inside leaving a shell, and in others the onion looks okay until you cut into it. I have heard in the past about plunging sets in a fungicide before planting; is that the way forward and what do you recommend? (Something that was also unusual, was many of the onions seemed to 'bulk up' growth on one side with thicker darker growth. You may be able to make this out from the first photo – coincidence? Why?)
Eric Styan
similar issues, and indeed this year I have suffered with some storage issues myself. I feel the wetter summers are largely to blame (especially for me in North Yorkshire!). I personally find that onions grown from sets often produce a much more 'bull necked' bulb, no matter what variety is used. Onions grown from seed, though requiring a little more input of time, often have much more slender necks, which seem to store better in
the long run. Also, I recommend using
a bed for onions for three years at the absolute maximum, but ideally, they should work with a standard three-year bed rotation so that they only return to the same bed into the fourth year. Many of the pathogens that cause storage rots can remain soil borne for a few years, so the rotational system can help to break this cycle. Lastly, I don't know if you feed your onions or not, but, if you do, I would highly recommend not feeding with anything high in nitrogen after June at the latest.
Aaron Hickman
Q
long orange marks and some splitting. Is this also caused by the rust? I had unfortunately used dried chicken manure on this patch before reading that high nitrogen manure was not good. Any advice will be appreciated. Regards, Jim Aston
ALeek rust can be something
of a problem, especially in
warm damp areas, in which the pathogen can thrive. Unfortunately, yes, nitrogen rich soil can encourage the problem, which is why it is always best to test soil annually, rather than just applying fertilisers as a matter of course. In future, it will help to try and reduce the applications of nitrogen rich feeds, and also to plant out at a slightly wider spacing, as more air movement around plants can really help to reduce fungal problems in the future. Also, some varieties claim to be either rust resistant, or at least somewhat more resistant against attacks, and it may be useful to try one of these next year to further reduce chances of re-infection. Aaron Hickman
My leeks unfortunately have a lot of rust on the leaves; also,
the inner white core has a lot of
Many of the pathogens that cause storage rots can remain soil borne for a few years
Allotment and Leisure Gardener 17