Those Damned Nematodes!

[DirtMechanic]

Southern Root Knot nematodes must die. Who has the best recipe to hold them back? I am applying the Montery product from the soap tree bark to the garden this year, and the Thyme oil product from Humagro called Promax. Timing and soil temperature are critical as I understand, because the dragon eggs in The Game Of Thrones hold nothing on the multilayer wrapping of needle nosed nematode eggs. Thus, kill the infants, Game of Thrones Style! Oh-ok I should calm down.

 

[Chuck]

Southern Root Knot nematodes must die. Who has the best recipe to hold them back? I am applying the Montery product from the soap tree bark to the garden this year, and the Thyme oil product from Humagro called Promax. Timing and soil temperature are critical as I understand, because the dragon eggs in The Game Of Thrones hold nothing on the multilayer wrapping of needle nosed nematode eggs. Thus, kill the infants, Game of Thrones Style! Oh-ok I should calm down.

I don't have them where I live now but when I lived in Houston I had them and the preferred method of dealing with them was to till and till and till and then till some more during the winter months. Freezing weather kills them. I grew tomatoes commercially and had to either get rid of them or go out of business. I had 10 acres under cultivation and I bet I ploughed that 10 acres 50 times the first winter I was there. It worked too because my 2nd crop of tomatoes was excellent. My first crop I lost money

 

[DirtMechanic]

Thank you so much because I literally have never heard this before and I am a Google Whisperer! I am glad I have loaded the garden with leaves because I am going to start my tiller tomorrow am, and some neighbors will be wishing me ill on this Sunday am I am sure!

A technical question please, how deep were you tilling?

 

[Chuck]

Thank you so much because I literally have never heard this before and I am a Google Whisperer! I am glad I have loaded the garden with leaves because I am going to start my tiller tomorrow am, and some neighbors will be wishing me ill on this Sunday am I am sure!

Then all you need is freezing weather. There wasn't any of todays chemicals or whatever to deal with them. It was a big deal when nematode resistant tomatoes came on the market. Now just about all of them are.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Oh no..@Chuck how deep were you tilling? These are creatures of the earth, and can move downward as easily as sideward, even if that is only 3-4 feet per season?

Also I called my neighbor and told him. He said Thank You also. He will be 90 this spring and had not heard of your experience either. His dad gave him a large property business, so garden is hobby, but we trade and his garden is 3x mine.

 

[Chuck]

Oh no..@Chuck how deep were you tilling? These are creatures of the earth, and can move downward as easily as sideward, even if that is only 3-4 feet per season?

I was using a mold board plow so I guess it was about a foot. But then I plowed so many times that it may have been more

 

[DirtMechanic]

I am always in awe of how how I can study the hell out of something on paper and then poof, experience lights a match to all the paper in my hands. Thank you again!

 

[Chuck]

I am always in awe of how how I can study the hell out of something on paper and then poof, experience lights a match to all the paper in my hands. Thank you again!

After posting on this thread I researched killing nematodes with tilling. Back 40 years ago it was common knowledge to till or plow numerous times during winter. Now the WWW says to till numerous times during the spring and summer when it is hot as heat and dryness kills them. So I guess the moral to this story is to till and till and till and till some more all year long. It did take 4 seasons to finally get rid of them all but the first year of plowing killed the majority of them. And as soon as my tomatoes were in I sprayed the field with some kind of herbicide, probably a 2-4-D derivative to kill all vegatation and then I burned the field. And then I plowed it getting ready for a fall crop of something.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I want to say that while I appreciate all the organic efforts people are making, it has been my observation in my garden that Mother will eat your lunch with her fungi, bacteria, and subsoil creatures, unless you get nasty about sterilizing the soil prior to growing season.

 

[CanadianLori]

This is an interesting thread. What is the difference between these "nasty" nematodes and the ones that we are encouraged every spring to buy to eliminate grubs in our lawns? Or perhaps they are the same and because we have extended periods of sub zero conditions and they get wiped out?

 

[Chuck]

I want to say that while I appreciate all the organic efforts people are making, it has been my observation in my garden that Mother will eat your lunch with her fungi, bacteria, and subsoil creatures, unless you get nasty about sterilizing the soil prior to growing season.

I must say that I used that herbicide before I learned about organics. But in my defense there was no organic alternatives back then.
I have found that sterilizing my seed starting mix will save me a lot of misery later on. But the garden soil itself I have found the opposite to be true. The more good bacteria and fungi the better. My garden is 20 years old and has never seen the first drop of any kind of synthetic or oil based herbicide, insecticide or fungicide. Insects are nothing to speak of, a herbicide is unneeded and the only fungus I ever get is Early Blight of which I can control until harvest. The reason for this is because I try to imitate Mother Nature as closely as possible as Her gardens have been successful for quite some time. It is when one's garden is out of balance that severe problems arise. Most folks who have a vegetable garden take but they don't give back in return. Take for instance synthetic fertilizers. They feed the plants wonderfully but what do they do to the soil itself. The answer is they take away the organic matter that the soils trillions and trillions of micro-organisms need to survive. Ever heard of a worn out farm or worn out soil. That is the end result of years and years of synthetic fertilizer use. If one must use synthetic fertilizers they should at least replenish the soil with something Mother Nature provides such as compost, manure or other organic substances. Insects. How many folks are happy the way their vegetables are growing until they walk out into the garden and find their plants eaten. How can this happen? Almost overnight? Sometimes it is unavoidable such as when grasshoppers are a plague, but most times insect control is nothing more than keeping your plants healthy. A healthy plant is hard to hurt and by maintaining sharp vigilance in your garden insects will not become a problem as you will take care of them as they arise. Keeping plants healthy is easy. Just mimic what Mother Nature does to her plants. The simplest thing to do is mulch. It keeps down the insects, conserves water and helps keep the plant warm or cool. I could go on and on about this subject but I have ranted enough for one day

 

[Chuck]

This is an interesting thread. What is the difference between these "nasty" nematodes and the ones that we are encouraged every spring to buy to eliminate grubs in our lawns? Or perhaps they are the same and because we have extended periods of sub zero conditions and they get wiped out?

BIG difference. There are approximately 200,000 different known types of nematodes. Many are harmful and many are beneficial. The only bad thing about the beneficial nematodes is that they are specific as to what they attack. And so far science hasn't, as far as I know, found a beneficial nematode that attacks the root knot nematode. But they are looking, you can be assured.

 

[DirtMechanic]

@CanadianLori , the peircing dart at the head of the pathogenic nematodes allows the creature to peirce the root wall, It injects "chemistry' which turn the cells into a tubular straw, and they exhibit gigantism and swell. It is a genetic control at a ancient and chemical level. Other nematodes without the dart cannot hurt the root in this way. Some fungi and some nematode prey on these creatures, but one the critter has buried into the root, only its hind part sticks out, and I believe I am right saying its something of a cross between a nostril and an anal canal, but little is left as a unprotected target for predators at that point. When temps are cold, it might have a 90 day cycle. When hot, say 25c, a 20 day cycle. During this time 1 egg can have 500 embro. The oils I am using for example catch the creature mid process and interrupt its cycles. Its eggs are like motorcycle helmets and hard to crack, but you can heat them and freeze them evidently, where chemistry cannot get to them.

I went out and tilled into the garden a lot of yard leaves today. Some hills were still frozen. It made for wild times!