April 12, 2009: Sickly Garlic

Yesterday I noted my garlic seems to be suffering from a disease. Just Jenn thinks it's a victim of purple blotch. I looked at photos of affected plants on Google Images, and it does look like the same affliction.

My garlic.


Purple Blotch

Jenn gives the following information:

"Purple blotch is a fungal disease that is most common in areas where plants are irrigated and in the South. The spores, which are spread by splashing water, overwinter in crop refuse and germinate in moist conditions.

SOLUTION: Use a fungicide to control this disease. To discourage purple blotch, remove crop debris and avoid growing in wet soil.


*Spray plants with garden sulfer, an organic fungicide, at the first sign of the disease, and repeat according to package directions.

*If sulfer is ineffective, remove the infected plant. At the end of the season, make sure no plant debris, where the spores can overwinter, remains in the garden.


*Discourage the disease by growing future onion family crops in well-drained soil and spacing plants to allow for air circulation."


Jenn has been spraying her garlic with a commercial fungicide, and it doesn't seem to be working so I'm going to try a different approach. I remembered reading how corn meal is very effective as a fungicide. That's something I have on hand, right here in the kitchen. so if it doesn't work, I'm really not out anything.


Cornmeal Has Powerful Fungicidal Properties in the Garden
Using Cornmeal as an Organic Fungicide

Who would have thought that something as seemingly innocuous as cornmeal would have such potent fungicidal properties? Researchers at Texas A&M Research Station in Stephenville, TX, noticed that a peanut crop planted following a crop of corn didn’t suffer the usual fungus diseases. Further research showed that cornmeal contained beneficial organisms that were at least as effective as common chemical fungicides. Somehow cornmeal is able to attract a member of the Trichoderma fungus family, which is a good fungus that kills off disease causing fungi in a matter of weeks.

Howard Garrett, the Dirt Doctor, has continued the study and finds cornmeal effective on most everything from turf grass to black spot on roses. Furthermore, since it is entirely organic, it can be used on edible crops.
How To Apply

Dry: Work 2 pounds of cornmeal into the soil for every 100 square feet. Water well, to activate the fungus killing properties. One application per season is usually sufficient, but repeat applications won’t hurt anything.

Spray: What’s called ‘cornmeal juice’ can be made by soaking 1 cup of cornmeal in 1 gallon of water overnight. Strain the liquid and use as a spray on susceptible plants.

Tomorrow my garlic will get a cornmeal juice bath.

28 comments:

  1. I'm giving up on mine. I planted six squares with five cloves and only three are growing now. I think I planted them too early. Oh, well. Better luck next year for me. Hope the cornmeal work for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cheryl, this is the first time I've ever overwintered garlic. I have always planted it in the spring and harvested it in the fall with no problems. I think I'll be doing it that way again after this year. I'm not trying for giants, just a bit for cooking.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG...Ha...I thought it said "purple bitch" for a second....You can delete this if ya want!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm not going to delete it, EG. I like to embarrass you *snicker*

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting post. My garlic was a bit sickly looking too. I figured it was nutritional damage due to bulbs planted by squirrils poping up amongst them. Grrr. I sure hope mine turn around. I don't think I've got fungal issues.

    Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sinfonian, I trimmed off the dead ones, but the newer growth is doing the same thing, so I think mine are diseased. I guess that is a problem with some store bought garlic being planted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I appreciated the info on the cornmeal. I've heard this before, but I appreciate the concise information. Carolyn P.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I only had four out of thirty six survive the winter. They were all doing fine last fall. I don't know if they got a fungus or I planted them too soon after top dressing the RBGs with fresh horse bedding. I don't think they got burnt but it may have been too much nitrogen for dormant plants.

    John

    ReplyDelete
  9. John, all of mine survived and grew, then began getting the brown leaves. I'm going to cut off the sick leaves today, before I douse them with the corn meal tea, and see what that does. I might just have to start using young, fresh garlic.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Carolyn, let's hope it works! I'm also going to dig it in around my roses, as I usually have problems with black spot on them.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's really interesting about the cornmeal! I'll have to remember that. I have a big bag of the stuff that I probably won't use up since Hubs hates anything made with it. lol

    Hope you had a Blessed Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yes, Amy...I figured since the guys won't eat it, we might as well put it in the garden! Which reminds me, I have to get some rabbit food on my greens ;-) The alfalfa pellets make a perfect fertilizer for lettuce, spinach, etc!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have tulips that look like that. They have not bloomed yet. But some of the leaves look like your garlic.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Caseysmom, I really thought it was just winter damage, but I cut the bad ones off and it hasn't been cold enough to damage the new growth, so that wasn't it. I was going to spray mine with the cornmeal tea today, but it poured down rain and looks like it will again, so now I'll wait a day or two.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I wonder if my tulips have the same thing. Aren't tulips and garlic related?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I wouldn't worry to much, the fresh growth looks great. It may just be some winter damage. If you trim it off it would probably do it again to seal the edge.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Caseysmom, I don't know if they are related. But I would think it is possible to get the same or similar type of fungus disease.

    ReplyDelete
  18. OK, Dan. I'll take your word for it, since I've never overwintered garlic before. I made the cornmeal tea already, so I'll go ahead and use it...it won't hurt anything.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ooo! Didn't know about the cornmeal. I'll have to try that. I was using the organic sulfur which slowed it down but I still lost a few bulbs. They were all very healthy coming out of winter and when it warmed up just a bit at the very beginning of spring they started turning brown and falling over. I dunno. I might be in your camp with just chucking what doesn't make it and planting new cloves. I didn't plant nearly enough garlic anyway. ;^) And if I learned anything from this - I won't be overwintering store bought garlic, that's for sure! Now I'm off to see if I can't find some cornmeal.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jenn, it rained all day yesterday, so I'm going to spray mine today. Then I'm going to dig some dry cornmeal in around my rosebushes to see if that keeps them from getting black spot on the leaves. Mr. H is happy to see me using it in the yard, because he really doesn't like anything with cornmeal in it ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Let me know how it works. Sounds pretty cool. I'm in the same boat, I love anything cornmeal, but hubby, not so much...LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  22. SB, I removed (cut off) all the damaged leaves, and sprayed what was left. Then I poured the rest of it on the ground around the plants. We'll see if it does any good. If it ever warms up a bit, I'll go dig the dry stuff around the roses. Too darned cold right now!

    ReplyDelete
  23. After I read your post on purple blotch, I went outside and spread cornmeal on my onion plant for prevention.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Annie,
    How's your garlic doing now? Did the cornmeal bath help?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Toni, YES! I was impressed at how quickly the garlic looked better, and now it is nice and green and growing well. I only did one drench with the corn meal tea. I do think, in the future, I will incorporate some dry cornmeal in my garlic patch at planting time. This is supposed to work for black spot on roses, too.

    ReplyDelete