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GROWERS' CLINIC -

Send your growing query or pest and disease problems, and we'll do our level best to answer them. Or if you know the answer to a problem here, then share your knowledge with everyone. All your tips are very welcome, so don't be shy!

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Is it true that rhubarb can prevent clubroot?

30/6/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture rhubarb, can it prevent clubroot
Old country lore says that putting a short piece of cut rhubarb stem, or torn up rhubarb leaves, in the planting hole when planting brassicas will prevent clubroot. Another version says boil the leaves in water and pour the water in the holes. "Does it work?" We're asked . . .

The idea is, apparently, that the calcium oxalate found in the leaves kills the fungus. However, when tested at the University of Edinburgh in 2008, it was found that the use of rhubarb had no significant effect. What little effect it did have was due to the calcium, which increased the soil pH slightly.

The usual way of keeping clubroot at bay (apart from being very careful when buying plants)
is to practice good crop rotation and lime the soil well before planting. The lime (calcium carbonate in the case of powdered chalk) has a much more powerful effect in controlling clubroot, but crop rotation is also very important. Rhubarb has no noticeable effect.


For more about crop rotation click here


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Silvery white leaves on courgettes and squash

26/11/2013

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Picture
Pretty as the effect is, John doesn't think his squash should have looked like this by September.

The culprit is mildew, usually worse if plants are dry at the root. This particular kind of mildew will reduce yields (because the leaves aren't working so efficiently) but doesn't kill the plant. If it appears early in the season, it is worth tackling - by September the plants are past their sell-by date anyway, so don't worry. If you don't want to use a fungicide (and personally I never like to spray anything I'm just about to eat!) then try this tip. Make up a solution of ordinary Bicarbonate of soda - how strong doesn't matter much - and spray the leaves regularly as a foliar feed. It helps control it. Planting over a trench of rotting compost helps avoid the roots getting dry - click here to go to our page with tips on on trench composting

Click here to go to an article on the "Gardening Know-How" website on using bicarbonate of soda to control mildew.

PictureClick on the pic to go to seed supplier
Some types of squash are more resistant than others. This is "Tromba", a summer squash very like courgette in flavour, growing not far from the silvery plants above. By September, when all other squash plants had at least a touch of mildew, "Tromba" was still totally disease-free.

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Is this honey fungus?

26/11/2013

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Picture
"Is this honey fungus?" asks Anne.
No, after double-double-checking, it isn't. John agrees. Admittedly it looks very like . . .
click here to go to the rhs page on honey fungus.

Picture
Honey fungus is rare on allotments, because it can't survive on dug-over ground. However, it may invade a fruit patch from a nearby hedge, or appear if you leave old roots in the ground. Always clear the soil thoroughly before planting fruit bushes, and regularly dig over any soil between them and neighbouring hedges. If you get honey fungus in a garden, there are ways of treating it, but they are expensive, and if your fruit section is affected it would  be better to dig out the bushes, clean the soil thoroughly to a couple of spade spits down, and start again. If you can move your fruit to a different area, do so.

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