Nematodes and Healthy Roots

[angelique]

Hi All,

Does anyone have picture of what healthy tomato roots should look like? I have only been able to find pictures of "sick" looking roots.

I think that I have nematodes but I am not certain. One tomato plant is extremely dwarf (the nearest one in soil is about 20' away and looks very healthy), and it's leaves are yellowing and dropping quite quickly. This is the same exact location where I had other tomato plants do horribly last year. Ironically, this year, my squash is doing very well (about 5' in from the sick tomato plant). My basil has also "dwarfed". Last year my peppers were also super dwarfed. This year they are in pots.

I pulled up some of the roots of the sickly plant. Some of them are hair thin. The others are as thick as a very thick yarn and bumpy (like a very thick shoe lace but not quite as thick as a pencil). Is this normal?

If I do have nematodes, am I better off doing solarization or anti-nematodic cover crop this summer (mustard?)?

I read online that there are nematodes resistant varieties of tomatoes. Does anyone know which varieties have this characteristic?

Thank you for your help.

Angelique