This is a fungal infection attacks onions, shallots and garlic as well as leeks, and is most noticeable in hot, dry summers.

 

Plants grown in overcrowded conditions are particularly vulnerable. Infected leeks will have yellow leaves, with a white or grey fungus covering the underground base of the plant, they look like stands of white thread.  The spores can remain viable in the soil for at least eight years, so proper crop rotation is the pest precaution against white rot.  Leeks grown on fertile, organically manured soil seem less vulnerable.

 

 

 

 

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