QUICK ... help needed - rust on my garlic/onions

[Lady Willow]

I've just discovered rust on my garlic ... what shall I do???

Some sources say rip up the lot and burn it... others say I will get a reduced crop.

It is affecting garlic and onions .... and I have other onions close (3-4 metres) by which do not yet show signs.

And things were going so well!


EDIT ... I've just given them a spray of Bordelaise mix ... fingers crossed.

[MKG]

Pick off all of the affected leaves (NOW!!!!) and burn them (don't put them on the compost heap). It might not save them, but on the other hand, it has a good chance of doing so. I'm not at all sure if rust affects the bulbs, but you don't want it blowing all over all of your other plants.

EDIT: Yet again, stop watering too much.

[Millymollymandy]

I have rust on my garlic and I don't worry about it. It hasn't ever affected the bulb. In fact I just discovered flower buds on all my garlic so it appears to be time to pull it already!!!

I get rust on leeks too yet there are few that are inedible.

Don't pull anything up and chuck it just because of rust!

[Lady Willow]

I got my books out last night after after spraying them ... both Bob Flowerdew and Sarah Raven also said not to worry about rust. Bob said that rust doesn't travel from plant to plant ... if it appears on other plants it's simply because the conditions are ripe for it.

I got a shock last night as I've never had rust before and it had spread so rapidly (the day before there was nowt) ... not that I'm a panicker or anything!

MMM - I don't pull my garlic when it's flower buds appear, I cut them off and it encourages the bulbs to grow bigger.

[JR]

I have some flower buds on my onions, should i cut them off, does it make them swell too?

[Lady Willow]

I have some flower buds on my onions, should i cut them off, does it make them swell too?

I'm cutting them off mine ... I'm not saving seeds from them, so I'd rather the energy went into the bulbs.

[Cheezy]

I have some flower buds on my onions, should i cut them off, does it make them swell too?

You should remove the flowers ASAP so that the onion can put it's energy into the bulb...unless you want seed.

Also I pull the buds off garlic (hard neck ones always produce flower heads) , these are called scapes, and are very fasionable veg, stir fried etc, very nice to eat.

One problem with onions flowering (mine are doing it because it was so dry earlier and put them under stress so they have bolted), they will start to form a hard core in the centre, which can also prevent them from being good storers. Some of the guy's on the allotment pull the flowering onions up straight away to eat , before they fully grow and go hard, and also becasue the opinion is that the flowering ones some how encourage the other onions to flower as well....personally I think this is rot. More to do with it being so dry, so all your onions start to go to seed.

[JR]

Thanks I will remove. I went a bit overboard on the garlic and onions so probably not a 5 minute job!

I know everyone probably suffers from the same thing but I have really noticed that those 5 minute jobs on the plot always seem to take a little longer. Although enjoying time at the plot, wish I could find another few hours a week at the moment. I dont think I would get much more done just have time to enjoy it more and soak things up.