In message , Bob Hobden
writes


"someone" wrote
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
Anyone else having a problem with their onions in store this year? I ask
as ours are going rotten at an alarming rate and we have never had
that problem before, ever. They are being stored as usual, in
plastic mesh crates so the air can circulate around them and they
seemed as dry as usual before storage.
The Stuttgarter Giants we grew have almost all had to be thrown away
and the Sturons are also suffering but nowhere near as badly. A lot
of our red onions have had mould growing on them as well as rotting
internally.

We've had a lot of problems with our onions from the allotment. They
seemed to develop a white mould, and even when left to dry in the sun
many of them have been going rotten. I often have to cut out large
bits to find a good bit when I'm cooking.

Worse still, our leeks on the allotment have failed for the first
time ever. Most of them have got a sort of rot which makes them
basically inedible. We have harvested a few small ones, but the rest
get a brown streak and then rot. It's not just us, it's everybody on
our allotments. Must be some virus or something going round.

OTOH, the apples have been fantastic, we're making about 200 gallons
of cider in our local cider group, plus here at home I have 8 gallons
of different wines on the go - apple, grape, and elderberry.

What a year - and my loquat tree (planted from a seed) is flowering
for the second time ever.
Sound like you have White Rot in your ground. In which case you will
have it for ever unless you use drastic measures. (Sterilise the soil)
We also have it but because we plant our onions 9 inches apart it tends
to be restricted to one or two in a row, it does not spread through the
row. The onions also grow bigger BTW. Might also be Downy Mildew so
have a look on Google and see.
Leeks, could be Leek Moth especially as all on the site are affected.
Important to pull up all unused plants and get rid of them as I
understand the moth overwinter on old leeks. They usually grow through
an attack though. I have known them also attacked by White Rot but they
usually don't suffer as much as onions but then again you usually plant
them further apart.

I returned from a week's hols l2 weeks ago to find my leeks cut down to
ground level. No leaves or foliage left. Then I got a call from the girl
who had looked after our garden while we were absent. She told me she
felt awful but she had cut down the leeks but they had been hit by Leek
Moth. I had noticed a slight rusty tinge before we left but didn't think
too much of it. Anyway, the leeks are still growing and doing so
beautifully. It seems that the grubs hadn't got right down inside so our
crop seems assured - if slightly more stunted than anticipated. However,
we will probably lift them earlier than normal and give the ground a
thorough digging to expose any eggs laid in the soil to the frost.

We've never had a problem other than with White butterflies caterpillars
but this year we also got hit with Cabbage Root Fly. I blame Gordon
Brown!

Moral is ...... have someone who knows what they're doing look after
your garden when you go on holiday!
--
Gopher .... I know my place!