Club root

its not something you can get rid of without replacing all of the soil on your plot,you can however manage it and still get good results. Ialso suffer with this problem and have for seven years but it does'nt have an adverse effect on my end product. Putting lime on your brassica bed amonth before planting and adding a small amount to each hole when planting helps me greatly. when picking the produce cut off the swollen root and burn it. As I earlier stated this will not cure the problem but will lessen the effect.
good luck
phil

Hi like phil says its hard to get rid of but i have been told by a good frind of mine that last year he dug a large hole where he wanted to plant any brassicas and filled it with a mix of compost and horse manure. Doing this he said the plants roots didnt come into contact with the infected soil and got good strong plants at the end of it. It is only my second year in the allotment world and i'm eager to try it out as my plot mas the horrid club root too. Hope this helps.

The only sure way to get rid of it is to not grow brassicas for about 10 years ! Even then , it only takes a crumb of infected soil to start the whole thing off again .
Club root is a slime fungus ( lives in the film of moisture between soil particles ) and it needs a soil pH of below 7 for the spore to hatch . Limimg the plot prior to planting and putting lime in the holes at planting time will work .
The best lime to use is slaked lime , get it from a builders merchants , because it is soluble and acts quickly to raise the pH .Garden lime is usually ground limestone which is not soluble and takes longer to work.
I also put a ring of slaked lime around the plants which washes in . It also deters slugs .
Failing this , move to an old derelict plot that has been fallow for 10 years and grow cabbages on that .
Regards Tom

Hi,
thanks all I will let Art know what you have all said and he
can take it from there.
gilly