Onions dying! (pics)

[TomNJ]

About a third of my Copra onions are dying as shown in the pictures below. The problem is scattered throughout the bed, and the Candy onions in the same bed are hardly affected. They were planted as plants from Dixondale three weeks ago and up until recently were looking fine. I didn't notice the problem during mulching with grass clippings four days ago.

Does anyone know what this may be?

[bower]

Aw Tom, that is awful and looks so strange, with the leaves still green above them.
I looked at this link from omafra http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...cts/95-063.htm and they talk about two things that can make the leaves turn white - one is herbicide, the other is injury from pelting rain.
Could there be herbicide residue in the straw?
If so I don't know why Candy would be unaffected.

You may have to dig one up and cut it open to see if there's a neck rot or something of that nature that could explain it.

[Patihum]

Dixondale has a page for onion diseases with pictures.
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/diseases

If you don't find anything there I'd send them a picture and ask. I would imagine they've seen it all.

[MissS]

Thank you Patihum for posting that! I never knew onions could get so many diseases. I like a day when I learn something new.

[Nan_PA_6b]

I didn't think onions could be killed.

Nan

[GrowingCoastal]

Originally Posted by Patihum

Dixondale has a page for onion diseases with pictures.
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/diseases

If you don't find anything there I'd send them a picture and ask. I would imagine they've seen it all.

This link confirms that onions get powdery mildew. I am not growing any this year in my small yard as I cannot get them far enough away from the tomatoes.

[GoDawgs]

Originally Posted by Patihum

Dixondale has a page for onion diseases with pictures.
http://www.dixondalefarms.com/diseases

Patihum, thank you for posting that link.

Tom, I sure hop you find out what the problem is and can save the crop!

[TomNJ]

I sent pictures of my onion plants to Dixondale and they suggested it was a fungal disease, specifically Downy Mildew, and sent me this link of onion diseases:

https://www.seminis.com/SiteCollecti...ease-Guide.PDF

My symptoms do not appear, at least to me, to match Downy Mildew, Basal Rot, Powdery Mildew, or any other diseases that I have looked at online. There is no mold, spores, fungus or other deposits on the leaves or bulblets, and the roots look white and healthy. It is just the leaves that are affected.

I do not use any herbicides on my lawn so the grass clipping mulch should be fine. Likewise neighbors as I am surrounded on three sides by cow pastures and the forth is woods.

At first I only saw the white patches at the base on the leaves, but now I noticed some patches higher up the leaves (see new photos).

Interestingly, if appears some of the affected plans continue to have healthy leaves, and some might even be putting up new leaf growth - hard to say
for sure.

About a hundred or so plants are randomly affected out of the 450 I planted or about 25%. 90% of the affected plants are Copra with only maybe a dozen Candy.

Dixondale was very fast to respond and offered to send me new plants for free, even though this was not their fault. Great customer service! My new onion plants are arriving tomorrow and I'll plant them in a remote location. Mean time I haven't given up totally on the existing bed. We'll see.

Tom

[bower]

Tom those pics are seriously wierd!!! White stripes with green on either side? Very very strange. I'm glad to hear Dixondale was helpful though.

[Worth1]

I would suggest clipping off the effected leaves.
Of course for me every treatment means amputation.
Good thing I wasn't a medical doctor.

Runny nose?
Amputation.

[Nan_PA_6b]

For plants, the general rule is if it's not looking good, cut it off. I'd cut the affected leaves off. It's great that it's not killing them.

Nan

[GoDawgs]

Man, that's the pits about your onions. Have you sent these photos to your extension service? They're usually pretty good about identifying stuff, at least ours is.

Thanks so much for that Seminis link. It's awesome!

Here's hoping they grow out of it, especially since they're sending up new foliage.

[PureHarvest]

Maybe this?:

Page 37: https://www.seminis.com/SiteCollecti...ease-Guide.PDF

white tip
Symptoms:
Initial infection mainly occurs at the leaf
tip and less frequently between the leaf
tip and mid-leaf. Disease first appears
as water-soaked spots that expand into
lesions. Lesion margins remain watersoaked
as affected tissue wilts and
dries to the bleached white appearance
for which this disease is named. When
environmental conditions favor disease
development, secondary lesions elongate
to the base of the leaf. Crop losses are
generally due to reduced plant weight
in leek and storage rot of onion bulbs.
Total crop loss may occur under severe
disease pressure.
Conditions for
Disease Development:
Phytophthora porri oospores can survive
for years in soil. High humidity and
rainfall combined with low temperatures
[15°C (59°F)] favor disease development.
This disease tends to be more severe
in fields with poor drainage. Once the
disease is established, wind-borne and
water-splashed sporangia and zoospores
are easily spread.
Control:
Avoid sprinkler irrigation. Rotation to nonhost
crops helps to reduce soil inoculum
levels and losses from this disease. Some
fungicides may be efficacious during early
stages of infection

[bower]

That disease guide is amazing... PH, I think you hit the bingo.

I guess that rounds out the applause for removing infected leaves! Anything with the name "Phytophthora" is darn scary and unwelcome. Favored by rain and cool weather, I will certainly be keeping my eye out for this one.

[oakley]

Dixondale is A+. Just planted my onions, shallots, leeks from them day
before yesterday...

It does look fungal but nothing I've seen before.