[Marston]

Went to the plot today for the first time this week and saw that my whole crop of Sturon onions have leaf curling. Is this Thripps? and what action should I take?
I did not have my camera with me so was unable to get a pic.
Thanks
Mike

Sorry forgot to mention I had a look around the site and it seems as if it is widespread.

[Bing]

mine are the same, I pulled them all up, peeled some and found little insects inside! however, some of the later planted ones are fine.

[RJR_38]

Some of mine are like this too - I was hoping they would 'grow through it' but if you found insects inside I am guessing not

This mild winter has been a nightmare as we have far too many bugs and fungi !

[Marston]

Hi took some pics today. Spoke to quite a few allotment holders who have the same symptoms but nobody knows what the cause is. There is evidence of some of the leaves being eaten. I took a couple out but could not see any pests.

[RJR_38]

Exactly the same as mine! I dug a couple up to look today but no evidence of any bugs

[AnneB]

I have not come across this myself, but have seen this suggestion of allium leaf miner.  Sounds possible.

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/allium-leaf-miner-231881.pdf

[RJR_38]

Yes, reading that it does sound possible... I had a good nose at other plots today and couldn't see any on other plots so I guess my timing was wrong for planting out the sets luckily it is only about 1/3 of them so at least I will get some....

[Marston]

I have not come across this myself, but have seen this suggestion of allium leaf miner.  Sounds possible.

This sounds like the culprit. Thanks very much. The whole crop will come out tomorrow. I have not had to buy an onion for over a year and now am losing my whole crop. Very sad. Maybe we need some of these commercial pesticides !!.
Hope it has not got my leeks that I planted a couple of weeks ago, they are quite close.

[Twitch]

Hi took some pics today. Spoke to quite a few allotment holders who have the same symptoms but nobody knows what the cause is. There is evidence of some of the leaves being eaten. I took a couple out but could not see any pests.

That's exactly what mine and a few others on the allotment look like.

I dug a few up yesterday, but couldn't see any bugs

 

[Marston]

I removed all of the onions this morning and would be very interested to here from those of you that decided to keep them in what your results were like at the end of the season. I had about 40 tomato plants over so decided to put them in where the onions were.
 

[safetrade]

i think there is actually a disease called twister which affects onions but im not sure if thats what yours have.

[Fairy Plotmother]

Oh dear, my onions look like this. I thought the weather was to blame! Tomorrow I will dig up the worst affected for an inspection.

[RJR_38]

I read about onion twisting disease but it says only in America and US?

I have also dug up the worst affected today - couldn't see anything especially different about them. I have left some of the 'in betweenies' to see what happens

[Fairy Plotmother]

Pulled up a few of my curly onions this morning.  No sign of any bugs. I will leave the rest and hope for the best. I will keep a beady eye on them though.

[GJ77]

Hi - I've found this exact problem on my onions too. It is definitely allium leaf miner. This link shows the small brown pupae I found inside my onions:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=643

This next link gives a bit more information and supports what we have seen on our site (over wintered onions are unaffected and spring planted sets have been hit). Worryingly, there is no treatment. The first link also acknowledges that the problem is worse in the Midlands (where I am).

http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/allium-leaf-miner-231881.pdf

(I was searching for a solution tonight, found this site so registered to share what I'd found.)