Stagonospora infection - collected threads

[Alan_b]

Chris, I'd expect some total losses, weak growth with small leaves and few, if any, flowers.

[kentish_lass]

Have been busy potting bulbs into lattice pots and have now had to order some more.  My Avon order arrived yesterday - very nice with extra bulbs here and there....but no lattice pots.  Had to put into ordinary pots and into the net tunnel out of the rain.

Was doing a check to see how the pots were doing outside and came across this (below) on Baytop rizehensis from Snowdrop Company.  I only got it just over a week ago and it was potted into a very free draining mix and the lattice pots were stood on gravel and put outside.  I cut off the infected area and put it straight into fungicide for 4 hours.  The bulb itself looks fine.  Should I complain or is it something that just happens?

Does anyone know what it is?

thanks
Jennie

[Alan_b]

My oh my, Jennie, that looks disgusting.  It could be a very bad case of Stagonospora Curtisii but surely not if it looked fine a week ago.  It could be damage/stress to the roots causing the leaves to die-back prematurely then get overtaken by some form of rot.  Are you sure the bulb is not discoloured?   

[kentish_lass]

My oh my, Jennie, that looks disgusting.  It could be a very bad case of Stagonospora Curtisii but surely not if it looked fine a week ago.  It could be damage/stress to the roots causing the leaves to die-back prematurely then get overtaken by some form of rot.  Are you sure the bulb is not discoloured?   

I did not get a chance today but will inspect the bulb again.  I suppose I will have to write a letter to Snowdrop Company and explain as there is no other way of contacting them.  What a nuisance.
Thanks Alan
Jennie

[johnw]

How can we interpret this intriguing article to come up with a possible treatment or preventative?  Is there a chemist in the house?

http://www.gardenerscorner.org/subject056362.htm

johnw

[mark smyth]

You may know garlic keeps slugs and snails away from Hostas

[Brian Ellis]

Damn I knew I should have paid more attention to the man on Gardeners World who boiled a whole garlic bulb up to make a solution to spray on hostas - they were perfect John, not a hole anywhere and they had hundreds of them, sounds like this could be worth looking into.  I don't suppose for one minute it is still on iPlayer but I will see what I can find.

[Maggi Young]

The Beechgrove Garden has been using a garlic extract to spray roses.... though, as might be expected
( ) neither the Beechgrove website, not the Gardeners' World site (since Brian remembers a feature there too)  reveals any details of this matter.

here are some links to sites with recipes for garlic sprays.....
http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/plants_in_pest_control/garlic.html

http://www.infonet-biovision.org/default/ct/232/recipesForOrganicPesticides

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/a/spraysforaphids.htm

[Brian Ellis]

This is the recipe from the Gardeners world programme.
Crush one whole bulb of garlic, add 1 litre of water and boil for 5 minutes.
When cool strain and bottle, keep in the fridge.
Add 1 tablespoon to a litre of water and spray.

I dare say it is the same as the ones you indicate Maggi. 

Just checked and it is quite different!

[Maggi Young]

Well done, Brian, where did you find it?

[johnw]

Brian -  I guess we should now find out exactly how to precisely come up with the highest concentration for stag.  I wonder if you can overdo it?

Funny you should mention hostas as a friend was visiting from Holland and she said she was astounded at the hostas in NS. Well the year's weather has helped them attain great size but her question was how do you keep the slugs off them? Well strangely I never considered hostas as a target for slugs.  The only one mildly attacked here is 'Invincible' which was selected for its fine shiny leaf and its resistance to....

johnw

[Brian Ellis]

Maggi it was still on iPlayer so I whizzed through the programme to the right spot

John we shall have to have a controlled experiment!

[Maggi Young]

Maggi it was still on iPlayer so I whizzed through the programme to the right spot

Okay, so it was a recent programme, I feared it might have been ages ago.

[Brian Ellis]

It was July 22nd Maggi, episode 15

[Alan_b]

Suppose you just grow garlic in amongst your snowdrops?  It's probably not going to yield the right conditions for a bumper crop of garlic but that's not the point, is it?