I used to grow great garlic at my garden, but for the last 3 years, my crop has rotted in the ground. I'm given to understand that it's white rot and once you get it in the ground, it stays there indefinetly. Is it a fungus, bacteria, or ??? How do I get it out of my soil so I can plant garlic again, and how do I prevent it in the first place?
Garlic White Rot
White rot is a fungus (Sclerotium cepivorum) and it appears to be very long-lived in the soil once you get it. I did find one article about solarization of the soil prior to planting as a method of control, from what I could tell in the summary an 8 to 11 week solarization provided some control for garlic planted that year, however it did not extend to a 2nd growing season.
Your best bet might be to solarize a plot of soil in the spring up until you plant the garlic there in the fall, then the next spring solarize a 2nd plot to plant in that year. Alternate plots to allow the ground to be solarized prior to garlic planting.
I really appreciate your input here, cybrczckh! I'll do exactly as you suggest and go with solarization. Many thanks!