[AlaninCarlisle]

The old guy who lived next door to us grew an amazing onion crop but the strange thing was that he had a permanent onion bed in his garden that he tended like a baby. He never dug it over, just added fertilizer each year and raked it into a fine tilth. It's so at odds with crop rotation that I wondered if this was a common approach?

[mumofstig]

Some of the OBs still do that on our site, but they still use the old methods, and treat the soil with all manner of noxious chemicals so there is no build up of pests.

http://www.medwynsofanglesey.co.uk/articles/186/planning_for_next_year___onion_beds

[AlaninCarlisle]

Sounds like the old guy who lived next door. I think he used Jeyes Fluid rather than Armillatox though.

[Christine]

Shakes head. I know one old boy who goes down the route of using Jeyes fluid and says he has had a bad crop of onions. That's this year and last. He doesn't want to hear that there are other ways of doing things.

One day these older folks will no longer be around and someone else will have to sort out the soil.

[rowlandwells]

 on the question of Jayes  Fluid what would you suggest the mix should be say a capful to a gallon of water and how much would you say a can would do say 4 square yards I have got a knapsack sprayer if spraying  would do the job better

I'm very interested in trying either Jayes or Armilltox prior to planting my onions any info would be much appreciated 

[Pescador]

I understand that both chemicals are approved only as disinfectants and not for soil application.
My allotment has become infected with Onion White Rot, despite conscientious rotation. I have tried treating with garlic powder, and found a significant improvement.
I do not consider myself to be "organic", but I am certainly concerned about the use of unregulated treatments, especially the soaking of soil in distilled tar!

[AlaninCarlisle]

Just open Mumofstig's link in the second post of this thread and you'll see the concentration that people used to use in the bad old days when stuff like armillatox was authorised as a soil steriliser

[sunshineband]

on the question of Jayes  Fluid what would you suggest the mix should be say a capful to a gallon of water and how much would you say a can would do say 4 square yards I have got a knapsack sprayer if spraying  would do the job better

I'm very interested in trying either Jayes or Armilltox prior to planting my onions any info would be much appreciated 

Neither of these are licensed as soil sterilisers these days, one of the reasons being of course that they kill everything, good bugs as well as bad, earthworms included

Never a good idea imho, although we still have guys on our site who take this approach; as Christine said, one day someone else will have to sort the soil out. Soil is like our lifeblood and deserves nurturing really

[Pescador]

Each to their own.
Just because it was done before, doesn't mean it's ok to do it now.

[sunshineband]

Each to their own.
Just because it was done before, doesn't mean it's ok to do it now.

So right. Back in the day nicotine spray, made from cigarette butts, was used to kill greenfly, and I'd hope no-one would do that today either 

[solway cropper]

My grandad kept a bucket full of water in his greenhouse and he would throw all his fag ends in there to make a nicotine pesticide. He smoked high tar fags so the resulting liquid must have been pretty noxious as he seemed to always have a ciggy hanging from his lip. In those days gardening was a matter of them and us....them being anything and everything that wanted to nibble on his fruit and veg. I'm not totally organic but I strongly believe that a healthy soil is the ONLY way to get healthy crops and the thought of sterilizing it fills me with horror.

[Blewit]

An old chap near me soaks his beds prior to planting garlic and swears by it against white rot. Bragging about his crop earlier this year (a you organic boys don't know what you're doing - type brag) he showed me his harvest complete with white rot just creeping up from the basal plates. He's not said how they store and I notice he plants shop bought cloves each year.

[Pescador]

What does he soak the beds with?

[sunshineband]

My grandad kept a bucket full of water in his greenhouse and he would throw all his fag ends in there to make a nicotine pesticide. He smoked high tar fags so the resulting liquid must have been pretty noxious as he seemed to always have a ciggy hanging from his lip. In those days gardening was a matter of them and us....them being anything and everything that wanted to nibble on his fruit and veg. I'm not totally organic but I strongly believe that a healthy soil is the ONLY way to get healthy crops and the thought of sterilizing it fills me with horror.

You and me both, Solway Cropper. It makes me cringe to think of all those microorganisms being killed off, and folk thinking this is alright 

[Blewit]

An old chap near me soaks his beds prior to planting garlic and swears by it against white rot. Bragging about his crop earlier this year (a you organic boys don't know what you're doing - type brag) he showed me his harvest complete with white rot just creeping up from the basal plates. He's not said how they store and I notice he plants shop bought cloves each year.

AArrggh, early morning typo. Should have said he soaks his beds with Jeyes Fluid. (maybe he does soak his bed  )