General information and discussion about cultivating onions, garlic, shallots and leeks.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Floyd VA
Posts: 771
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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? |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
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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. |
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Southeast Kansas
Posts: 878
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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. |
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,148
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Thank you Patihum for posting that! I never knew onions could get so many diseases. I like a day when I learn something new.
__________________
~ Patti ~ |
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#5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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I didn't think onions could be killed.
Nan |
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#6 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Vancouver Island Canada BC
Posts: 1,253
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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. |
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#7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
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Tom, I sure hop you find out what the problem is and can save the crop! |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Floyd VA
Posts: 771
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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 |
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#9 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
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Tom those pics are seriously wierd!!! White stripes with green on either side? Very very strange.
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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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. ![]() |
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#11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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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 |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
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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. |
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#13 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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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 |
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#14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 6,794
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That disease guide is amazing... PH, I think you hit the bingo.
I guess that rounds out the applause for removing infected leaves! ![]() |
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#15 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: NewYork 5a
Posts: 2,303
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Dixondale is A+. Just planted my onions, shallots, leeks from them day
before yesterday... It does look fungal but nothing I've seen before. |
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