[martcol]

Hello I seem to have lost about a third to a half of my onion sets planted last Autumn. I have pulled some to inspect and can't see anything obvious; no mould or rot, no discolouration and no nasty bugs unless they are very tiny or really good at hiding.

The bad onions are randomly spread across the patch but with a couple of complete rows gone but mostly interspersed with healthier looking plants. If you stand back from the area and look at al the rows it does look like something "swept through" the area a bit like an Old Testament plague.

The plants almost all took off about the same time and seemed to be doing okay at the beginning of the year but then when the growing season kicked off, things became apparent that something was going wrong. The bad onions just look miserable. A bit yellow, no swelling of the bulb, and tiny. Here are a couple of Flickr photos.





And here's a 30 second YouTube vid: ro13Owc5jvA
Thanks

Martin

[sunshineband]

This might sound a bit random, but you haven't had a mole or rat tunnel under that row have you?

This has been a problem for me in the past, funnily enough under onions (and squashes) and it left the roots without enough soil contact.

You might have to dig to see if that part is softer, or as you cannot use a hose right now, pour a whole canful of water into the space where you have pulled out an onion. If the water disappears, you know it has gone down a hole.

I hope that helps

[martcol]

No moles!

I think it's probably a virus.

martcol

[missmoneypenny]

It's probably no consolation but my onions are looking just like yours and I still have no idea why. Until recently I thought the little ones would catch up but it's obvious now they won't. An old boy at the allotment has the same problem and just explained it by saying "bad year for onions". So we're none the wiser.

[fatcat1955]

Have you forked the ground over? The soil look's very loose to me. I run the hoe between row's and use my finger betwwen each onion to loosen the soil and remove weed's.

[Plot 6B]

Some are mine are like that too! Another problem I am having is that the Onions are going to seed already whilst still immature.
Another thought..............Could it be rust?
 

[fatcat1955]

Onions going to seed is probably due to the extremes of weather we are getting.

[martcol]

Well,

I guess I'm none the wiser.  If it's any consolation, my broad beans are good!

Other plot owners have pretty good looking onions.  There's a bit of rust but no worse than other years.  I'm thinking now that I should pull the weedy looking onions and stick a lettuce or two in the gaps.

Martin

[Ivor Backache]

Google 'onion downey mildew' It is a fungus disease which occurs in cool wet weather. It causes the leaves to die back from the tips.
In particular have a look at the RHS web-page.
Nothing else seems to fit.

[Anton]

Yes, my onions look a bit like that as does a neighbours. It wouldn't be the onion moth, would it? The same sort of thing that hits my leeks most years. The neighbour is treating her onions with a mixture of water, soap and methylated spirits. She uses the same mixture for her tomatoes apparently. I forgot to ask but does anybody know the right proportion for this conconction? In fact has anyone every used it? I've used the baking soda mixture for my tomatoes over the last few years with only moderate success!

Anton

[JayG]

Aggravating though it is, any pesticide which has not been expressly tested and approved by the EU is, by default, illegal to use in the EU, which obviously includes all home-made remedies (some of which not only work but are almost certainly harmless to the user and the environment.)

For that reason this site can't be seen to promote the use of such remedies (of course, if someone knows the answer and were to PM Anton that would be different..................) 

[fatcat1955]

Well put JayG

[gavinjconway]

Some are mine are like that too! Another problem I am having is that the Onions are going to seed already whilst still immature.
Another thought..............Could it be rust?
 

Nige, a lot of my winter onions are also starting to go to seed heads.. this is the most and earliest I have had. Must be the different weather conditions we are having..

[Anton]

Excuse my ignorance but what does "PM Anton" mean? It sounds a bit painful!

Anton

[JayG]

Excuse my ignorance but what does "PM Anton" mean? It sounds a bit painful!

Anton

"Personal Message" (It's like sending an email but done via the forum so it shouldn't be painful, although I suppose it could depend on what's in the message!) 

You can send a PM to any registered member by clicking on their username at the left of any of their posts and following the link.