Eliza has experienced leek rust for the first time & has asked TopVeg how this can be avoided next year.
For the first year ever, our leeks have rust disease. Have you any advise for the prevention of this disease for next season? Also is it OK to eat the parts of the leeks that aren’t affected by the rust, i.e. the white part?
Would appreciate your comments
bandit-cleaned-leek
TopVeg answered:
We are sorry to hear about your rust problems on leeks. How bad is it? Mild symptoms do not render the crop inedible – we just cut the affected leaves off before cooking. The white bit will be fine.
There are several rust resistant leek varieties, such as Bandit.
Bandit-leeks-growing
Causes of leek rust are:
- * crowded plants
* high humidity
* excessive soil nitrogen
* insufficient soil potassium
* poor garden hygiene – all plant debris must be removed from the beds so that the fungus has nowhere to hide. Burn effected leaves rather than putting them on the compost heap, just in case the heap does not heat up enough to destroy the spores.
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Leek rust (/Puccinia porri, or Puccinia allii/) is uncommon, but a
severe attack will ruin the crop. Mild symptoms do not render the crop
inedible. Leek rust is different from the rust that infects chives and
onions.
Appearance of leek rust:
* orange spots & blotches appear on the surface of the leaf
Causes of leek rust:
* crowded plants
* high humidity
* excessive soil nitrogen
* insufficient soil potassium
* poor garden hygiene – all plant debris must be removed from the
beds so that the fungus has nowhere to hide.
Treatment of leek rust
* remove and burn diseased leaves
* there is no chemical treatment available to use in the kitchen garden
Prevention of leek rust
* do not plant the leeks too close
* rotate crops – do not grow leeks where leeks & onions were grown
the previous year
* apply a potassium rich fertiliser (such as tomato feed)
* grow disease resistant varieties
* practise good garden hygiene, and keep the vegetable garden tidy
Onion Rust is caused by a fungus Puccinia allii. It is uncommon & rarely
causes significant damage to onions in the UK, unless it is being grown
next to an infected garlic crop.
SYMPTOMS
Small, reddish to dull orange, yellowy, oval-shaped spots and blotches
(pustules) develop on the leaves. They produce reddish airborne spores
in a powdery mass. These turn black later in the season. The pustules
enlarge to form a girdle around the leaves or seed heads. All plant
tissue above the girdle turns yellow and dies. If the infection is
severe, the size and quality of the onion will be reduced.
PREVENTION
* Destroy volunteer onion, garlic and leek plants – that is any not
planted in the garden that have grown on waste ground etc..
* Do not grow onions on land affected by rust in the previous
season, because onion rust overwinters on garlic and volunteer
Allium crops
* Grow varieties resistant to onion rust
TREATMENT
* Remove and burn diseased leaves
* Apply fungicides if a lot of pustules develop on the plants.
Follow the instructions on the label.
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