Onion White Rot, Can The Bulbs Be Saved?

They are safe to eat - I always chop and freeze any that have rot on, as I found they don't store.

Any further advise with regards to this problem?
Thanks in advance 

You have an onion bed similar to one I had 4 years ago, and this year I don't have any rot. I did this:
1. Keep to the same bed each year. If you have 20% then you have got it everywhere.
2. Make the bed 4' wide. You then don't have to walk on it to plant and maintain. You can transfer white rot on your boots. When digging use planks etc. and do not use you own homemade compost. You could be recycling the rot. I prepare a horse manure compost just for the onions.
3. Plant the sets/seedlings about 9" apart. The rot travels from root to root. The onion root fans out from the bulb and 9" should mean the roots don't touch.
4. During the growing season in July check the plants by giving them a tug. If the roots have been attacked they will be weak and the plant will pull out easily. The leaves will brown at the tips. Dig out all the soil I do a cubic spade and refill with clean soil/compost. Mark the spot with a stick, so that the following year you will know where the rot was. Keep checking to stop the rot reseeding itself (called scleroti ?)

1st year I had over 25 bulbs affected, then 13 and last year it was 3. This year the best crop of shallots ever, with no sign of rot. The onions are swelling up nicely. Worth the extra effort.

Todat i pulled what was left of my onions i had 5 wheelbarrows full of white and red onions  with bosirot all ruined i am gutted,i had a bit of white rot last year but this year its very bad,i know i should not  have planted them there'so ive lost nearly all the crop from 2000 sets 

Quote from: MickyB on July 18, 2014, 23:51

Any further advise with regards to this problem?
Thanks in advance 

You have an onion bed similar to one I had 4 years ago, and this year I don't have any rot. I did this:
1. Keep to the same bed each year. If you have 20% then you have got it everywhere.
2. Make the bed 4' wide. You then don't have to walk on it to plant and maintain. You can transfer white rot on your boots. When digging use planks etc. and do not use you own homemade compost. You could be recycling the rot. I prepare a horse manure compost just for the onions.
3. Plant the sets/seedlings about 9" apart. The rot travels from root to root. The onion root fans out from the bulb and 9" should mean the roots don't touch.
4. During the growing season in July check the plants by giving them a tug. If the roots have been attacked they will be weak and the plant will pull out easily. The leaves will brown at the tips. Dig out all the soil I do a cubic spade and refill with clean soil/compost. Mark the spot with a stick, so that the following year you will know where the rot was. Keep checking to stop the rot reseeding itself (called scleroti ?)

1st year I had over 25 bulbs affected, then 13 and last year it was 3. This year the best crop of shallots ever, with no sign of rot. The onions are swelling up nicely. Worth the extra effort.

Do you use different tools & boots for that plot as well? I know you say make the bed 4ft wide but you must stand on it at some point, I do my beds 5ft & don't walk on them as a rule but at some points for digging you end up walking on it.

Do you use different tools & boots for that plot as well? I know you say make the bed 4ft wide but you must stand on it at some point, I do my beds 5ft & don't walk on them as a rule but at some points for digging you end up walking on it.

No but I do wash the spade  with a solution of Jeyes Fluid. When digging I stand on two planks and when I get to the end of the row I move the front plank behind the second plank and carry on digging. I choose 4' to give me 5 rows which is what I need.
However today I found  an onion with white rot. (spoke too soon) White rot does take a long time to eradicate.

Well, you have given me the notion to cover the bed with 6" of horse-muck and plant on that