Had a busy couple of mornings at allotment , broad beans & spring onions planted under clouches , o/h cleaned the Rhubard bed and weeded a large bed and covered with Lidl’s membrane until needed still harvesting carrots , chard , broccoli, leeks & parsnips , however , parsnips getting rather large and cores a bit hard , so lots of vegetable soup has been made As ever lots of little jobs done Needed to finish pruning , hopefully start this Friday
Hi Allotment Boy--Rock Dust? Is this a specific type of rock (Chalk based for example) Has any0ne else come across it . Always interested in new ideas. The only guaranteed way to eliminate white rot is to have a 4yr rotation which for small plots can be dificult. I usually use a purin of prele (marestail ) and Tansy, as a prevention but I have to admit to never having white rot here in the first place. I have always grown the onion family in orange boxes or polystyrene boxes and not direct in the garden. I have had 3yrs of heavier crops and no disease to date, this method also releases much needed space for other crops. Other ideas please anyone.I do grow garlic amongst flowers and other veg like carrots and peas because this has a double benefit of deterring carrot fly and pea moth, plus seems to be a good companion plant for flowers.
Hello , never had white rot on onions 🧅 , I’m pleased to say
Have heard of rock dust but thought it expensive , compared to chicken pellets & blood fish/ bone , particularly as I tend to buy these when in a sale
Hoping to be spending sometime at allotment this weekend Just had a good day in the garden , tidying g/h and loads of little jobs done , very pleased , think I deserve drink 🍺 tonight
Rock Dust or Remin, it's crushed volcanic rock. It's well known that volcanic soils are very fertile, this is a long acting fertility builder, & also adds vital minerals to soils especially for people who don't like blood fish &bone meal for various reasons. I do use bfb & chicken pellets too. I found this particularly helpful for long standing crops fruit trees etc. It's not cheap but you don't need much, a 20 kg bag will treat over 250 sqM ie a full size Allotment. I tend to use it selectively as I mentioned. I
Sadly white rot is on most plots on my site. The RHS are now saying you need a 7 year gap. I am trying my onions in a deep bed with imported soil & compost this time so will see how we do, I'm using a bit of the rock dust as well as it seems to boost other crops I have tried it on.
Be interesting to see what the mineral analysis is so that one can look toward purins & decoctions to make up for shortfall as foliar feed. Because prêle (Marestail) is a prime source of silica it gives the leaf growth strong resistance to fungal infection and the Tansy stops Onion Fly in their tracks as they hate the smell, so this double purin works well and gives the stem and leaf growth better immunity. I have heard that once there is Onion Leaf Rot which is a fungal problem in the soil, it spreads like wildfire. Not sure I could wait 7yrs though! Make sure you add sand to your new bed for drainage AB and no fresh manure, as they will just bolt with too much nitrogen. The Bio Market Gardeners here in France collect seaweed (as we are on the coast) rinse out the salt and place it between Leek &Onion rows. This is also a fine source of Silica and Iodine which acts like a disinfectant killing spores. Unfortunately liquid seaweed does not have the same cleansing quality but will promote good bulbs and stems.
We are just 20 kms from the Atlantic coast here and I have yet to see enough seaweed on the shore to gather. I expect the wave action and currents take it all away. I have yet to see seaweed products in the GCs and plant shops either.
Happily, we don't have marestail in this garde, but we do have lots of nettles we leave for the butterflies and I am starting a comfrey patch for making teas. I wonder if bindweed has any useful purpose as a purin.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
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Had a busy couple of mornings at allotment , broad beans & spring onions planted under clouches , o/h cleaned the Rhubard bed and weeded a large bed and covered with Lidl’s membrane until needed
still harvesting carrots , chard , broccoli, leeks & parsnips , however , parsnips getting rather large and cores a bit hard , so lots of vegetable soup has been made
As ever lots of little jobs done
Needed to finish pruning , hopefully start this Friday
Working around weather at moment
Stay safe & enjoy the garden 🪴
Have heard of rock dust but thought it expensive , compared to chicken pellets & blood fish/ bone , particularly as I tend to buy these when in a sale
Hoping to be spending sometime at allotment this weekend
Just had a good day in the garden , tidying g/h and loads of little jobs done , very pleased , think I deserve drink 🍺 tonight
Happily, we don't have marestail in this garde, but we do have lots of nettles we leave for the butterflies and I am starting a comfrey patch for making teas. I wonder if bindweed has any useful purpose as a purin.