Club root..any tips

[Jeannine]

The club root is bad on our gardens and have sevral brassicas from the UK which are claimed to be club resistant.

Does anyone have any extra tips that I can use.

The seeds just arrived today so am sowing them in pots tonight.

Thank you to the smashing A4Aer who let me order to her address and many thanks to herr Canadian visiting relative that brought them home for me.

Any experience with the varieties would be very welocme too.

I have...

Cabbages....Kilaxy,Kilazol,Kilaton and Chinese cabbage, Kilakin.
Brussel Sprouts....Cronus, Crispus.
Cauliflower...Clarify,Clapton.
Swede....Invitation

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

[pumkinlover]

Grow on well into 3" pots first. And lime of course. Then look out for the affected ones and get rid quick!

[goodlife]

Pre- growing in pots for larger plants helps.
Some organic books recommend dipping bare rooted plants roots into clay-manure-ash paste before planting into well limed soil and using plenty of compost in planting holes so the plants have 'clean' 'soil' to grow into before the roots spread into 'proper' soil. That way they should able to make sizeable plants and able to resist the desease or reach maturity enough to produce crop.

[Jeannine]

Did you get good crops using these tips Goodlife?

XX Jeannine

[goodlife]

I haven't used the dipping method myself..just read it. But I do grow my plants in pots first and use the compost 'pockets' in soil when planting too. And haven't had any problems with clubroot that way.

[pumkinlover]

I've heard about the  rhubarb in the planting hole?
I cannot understand this one- any ideas. Rhubarb acidic -Lime alkaline? so how does that  work?

[Jeannine]

Does your ground have clubroot Goodlife XX Jeannine

[goodlife]

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Does your ground have clubroot Well...I've had odd case popping up now and then in past..but I can't say that it is proper 'infestation'.  I always grow my own plants from seed and never buy any. Those brassica plants that I occasionally accept from chap next door are always raised in commercial compost. So I'm trying to keep 'accidents' in minimum.
Last 3 yrs I haven't come accross any sign of clubroot in my plants...oh, and all spent plants I burn/bin them so there is nothing left to go into compost bins.

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I've heard about the  rhubarb in the planting hole Hmm..I can imagine using rhubarb leaf instead of collar on surface against rootfly..but haven't heard it being used against club root... ???

[davyw1]

Using a one inch cube of Rhubarb in the bottom of the hole where your plant is going is an old remedy that by all accounts does work, it has something to do with the with the acid  ( acolic or somethin like that) in the rhubarb prevents the club root getting to the roots of the plant

[pumkinlover]

Goodlife-the advice is def. to put it in the planting hole- I know what you mean it seens strange-hence the question!

(Just read davyw1's reply)

Jeannie- I have coped with club root infested soil for twenty years using above methods.          
No chance of getting rid of it as certain people wander all over the plots when they fancy a chat ;D ;D ;D                                          

[saddad]

Oxalic acid... that's why it puts your teeth on "edge", and why it makes such a potent insecticide spray...  :-X

[davyw1]

Jeannine the way i look at it you have to cover your odds if you want to get results.
Why not grow your young plants on in 4" plant pot so they become well established and plant them out into a larger than normal hole filled with grow bag or compost ( which ever is the cheapest by volume) and put a one inch cube of rhubarb in under the plants. I would also put a sprinkle of Fish Blood and Bone in with the compost and around the plant on the surface to help the growth of the plant.
You could also just do half in compost no rhubarb or no compost just rhubarb or all three if you want and monitor the results.
Keep them moist to to encourage quick growth

[5rod]

hi jeannine
my allotment has club root,came with plot. i look and try most things
the 1" of rhubard did help,the only idea i havnt try
is planting large pots in ground fill with good soil mix
about 5" pots would do, im luck to have 2 plots so
i just move to other plot
                              5 rod

[Ellen K]

As others have said, what you have to do is to plant the largest healthiest plant you can grow in a pot, put loads of good stuff in the ground and hope the plant can outrun the club root (and the slugs ......... and the whitefly .................. and the pigeons).

:'(

But some of the vets use Jeyes Fluid or Armillatox (sp?) on the ground to keep the club root down though I don't know if that fits in with organic gardening.

[artichoke]

Our allotment is riddled with it and always has been. Yet one of the older plot holders has massed ranks of brassicas with enormous crops, very healthy looking. His advice is the same as others': grow on in pots, plant out with lime. He has never mentioned rhubarb.

[manicscousers]

Our great friend, Eric said the same, grow on until they're quite large and plant up after putting some lime in the planting hole, he always grew brilliant brassicas so we do the same  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

A neighbour of mine grows brassicas in pots, and gets excellent crops despite having clubroot. Apparently, once they get started, the disease affects them less.

[davyw1]

OK so grow your plants in a 3"/4" pot till they are well established dig a hole a little larger than you would normally, sprinkle with lime, put some compost in, a cube of rhubarb, fill the hole, firm the plant in..............cant go wrong.

[Plot22]

I have Club Root I inherited it but manage it with the following method. I grow all brassicas the same. Start them off in modules then when large enough but not too large transplant them to cardboard modules ( 20 for a pound from the £ shop). I then grow them for perhaps another 3/4 weeks.
2 weeks before they are ready I prepare the site rake well and water with  Armillatox diluted with water. Two days before I transplant I make the holes and fill them with Armillatox/water also I water the soil that I have removed as this will be used to fill round the plants.
I plant the carboard pots and plants together but tease off the bottom of the pots first in case they have dried out too much.
I am successful with the above method I still get Club Root but the fact that the plants have a good start means I inevitably get a good crop.
I used Jeyes Fluid in the past but have changed to Armillatox because of costs and I believe Armillatox gives better results

[daitheplant]

May I ask a seemingly stupid question? What symptoms of Clubroot do you all have? 8)