[engineer]

Anyone had any problems with neck rot this season? I have lost about 50-60% of my crop, i have looked at this site http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=747 and would agree with what they are saying however if the fungus is in the seed/set already and that there is nothing available to the amateur, what can we do if no sign of an attack is seen until after harvest and storage? One thing they do not mention is what to do with an infected crop! Idea's please

[JayG]

The RHS article pretty much says it all - in fact it probably says too much given that there is no effective control for the amateur! 

Other than crop rotation, I don't think you can do a lot more than pay great attention to the drying procedure, and to use thick-necked bulbs ASAP rather than trying to store them.

I used to lose over a third of my shallot crop in storage until I identified the bulbs most likely to rot in storage (thick necks is one type, those which have more than one bulb under a single outer skin is another, because they are separated by an internal skin which is impossible to dry out.)

I still expect to lose a quarter of mine before the winter is over though. 

Given the way the fungus overwinters I think the infected bulbs should be binned rather than composted.

[engineer]

Thanks JayG, i most certainly agree with your comment about the RHS.

I don't think we will get better drying weather than we have had this year, i am usually most carefull at sorting and storing however something has gone drastically wrong this year, the only thing i can think of is that the sets were infected before purchase 

I don't think i will be using the same supplier next year, and i shall now rake the infected one's off the compost heap and burn them.