There are a number of diseases and disorders that affect onions and related crops. Most of these are either fungal or bacterial whereas others are caused by air pollutants, adverse weather, nutritional imbalances, soil conditions and pest control products.

It is important to recognize onion diseases early in their development so that you can implement effective management strategies. This means carefully and regularly monitoring the crop. You also need to know the field and cropping history because some diseases recur annually whereas others are more incidental and unpredictable. If you can, try to perform a soil test for salt levels, pH and nutrient availability.

Purple blotch

This is not an easy disease to control. Although it can be seed-borne, it usually starts off from crop residue. After an outbreak, you will need a rotation of at least several years. The most common source of infection is the pile of infected onions thrown near the packing shed. You have to bury diseased onions to prevent infection.

Related Article: Tips for correctly fertilizing onions

Purple blotch usually starts off as water-soaked spots on the leaves. These usually become oval or elongated and then turn brown, red or purple. They are usually 2cm to 3cm long, sometimes with faint concentric rings on the outer edge.

The disease often targets older leaves first, and these fold over from the damage. Infection is far more likely when there is thrip and hail damage.

The literature usually suggests spraying dithiocarbamates as a preventative measure, but I have had no success with this method. I recommend using systemic products at the first sign of the disease.

Downy mildew

This disease can ruin a crop rapidly in cool, humid conditions. It often appears in warm areas in spring and late winter, flaring up where conditions are favourable. Pinpointing its origin can be difficult, however.

The fungus survives the off-season in plants of the Allium genus (onions, leeks, chives and hundreds of other wild species) that can grow during this time.

Spores landing on the plants do not need rain or irrigation to germinate; dew is sufficient. The spores can germinate in temperatures as high as 25°C, with 7°C to 16°C being most favourable. Spores are released in cycles of about two weeks.

After infection, the leaves become yellowish and the downy fungus is visible on the leaf surface. This matures to a purple colour.

Downy mildew does not usually kill the plant, but will greatly reduce yield and quality.

You might also like: How to grow big onions

Systemic products are now available to control the disease.

When growing onions commercially in an area where downy mildew was an annual event, we would carry out preventative spraying using a very high rate of 2 000ℓ/ ha water with a wetting agent. We used dithiocarbamate products to try to prevent the downy mildew, but with only limited success.

The arrival of the first systemic products changed all this. I vividly recall the first trial I did with metalaxyl; I used a knapsack for the experiment and to my astonishment, obtained complete control wherever I sprayed.

Botrytis leaf blight

Botrytis squamosa favours cool, moist conditions. I often come across it on leeks as well. It starts in a similar way to purple blotch, with elongated white spots. However, these occur in greater numbers and are found all over the leaf.

They are also smaller – no more than a few millimetres in size – and the spots later become slightly darker in the centre. Hail and thrip damage increase the likelihood of this disease.

The control measures are the same as for purple blotch.

Pink root

Phoma terrestris is easy to identify. The onions fail to grow as expected, and the roots show a pink colour in a plant removed from the soil.

The disease often occurs where onions are grown repeatedly in the same soil. Some soils are more prone to pink root than others. The best course of action is to plant resistant varieties.

Farmers weekly