When to Pull Them

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by Worth1

With Marsha's comments on her container being contaminated with them.
How on earth would someone keep them out of a raised bed?
All it would take is a heavy rain splashing the bad nematode soil into the bed and it is over.

Worth

Its not really as bad as all that. The yard guys kept doing this weed whacker throw dirt on top thing all season, I kept hosing it off, probably right into the holes, and with all of that it was only 1 out of 43 Earthboxes that it happened to, and this is the first year that it happened, out of 5 since I got Earthboxes.
Before this happened, I wouldn't have believed it was even posdible to get nematodes in EBs.

Now my 7 gallon pots- different story. All got a layer of landscape fabric beneath them, but several had roots grow out of the pots and into the ground, so they also got nematodes. Next season I am putting cardboard beneath them.
All are being solarized now.

[My Foot Smells]

**edited, due to knot be funny and inappropriate placement**

Seems like there is much hope with a little effort, very educational thread. Best of success, I will be implementing some measures myself this fall.

[AlittleSalt]

I just talked with our son who grows in our garden too. He likes the idea of using good nematodes, adding organic materials, and growing a winter cover crop - as well as building raised beds as we can afford to. I need to talk to my wife about these ideas a lot more.

I also called the local Johnson county extension office. I'll pick up a soil kit there tomorrow and mail off the sample to Texas A&M. A local master gardener is supposed to call me later today to talk about RKN.

[BigVanVader]

You may also want to look into this http://www.adama.com/us/en/crop-prot...es/nimitz.html
A quick read through and it seems legit, id research it some more though. May be able to get your garden back more quickly.

[AlittleSalt]

Nimitz videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9gSmJTkaQ

http://southeastfarmpress.com/vegeta...egetables-2014

And then I found this (not a video) https://www.solutionsstores.com/nimitz-nematicide

[Worth1]

Did you know people can get nematodes?

Worth

[AlittleSalt]

I just got off the phone with the master gardener. To sum up what he told me is "Too much rain". We talked for a bit. I think he expected me to be someone in town with a few plants. Not someone with over 100 tomato plants

He also reminded me of a feed store that carries all sorts of stuff you won't find at Walmart or Home Depot. I'll check it out tomorrow. They do have some odd things there.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Did you know people can get nematodes?

Worth

adashofpepper was reading that to me this morning. People, pets, bugs.

[Worth1]

I once told a guy I saw a meniscus in his water bottle he tossed the whole thing.

Worth
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...24272578,d.amc

[dmforcier]

Would 4 mil poly be thick enough? Going with 6 mil jumps the price up a lot.

4 mil won't last in the sun. (Assuming that we ever get sun. Weren't we supposed to have some today? Didn't happen.) Some 6 mil won't either, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell the difference between what will and what won't.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by dmforcier

4 mil won't last in the sun. (Assuming that we ever get sun. Weren't we supposed to have some today? Didn't happen.) Some 6 mil won't either, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell the difference between what will and what won't.

Will it last at least 2 months? That would be more than enough time to solarize. One month in summer is enough.

[AlittleSalt]

I just got off the phone with a guy who worked in fumigation for DOW. His advice is to rotate the crop and plant N hybrids. He said that once they are there - it's too late. He now works at that business that the master gardener reminded me of. So, he would have tried to sell me something if there was anything that would at least halfway work. (No stars)

He also agreed with Marsha that solarizing only lasts up to 3 months.

[dmforcier]

Marsha, given the price difference I'd go with the 4 mil for 2 months and invest the difference in good liquor.




"C'est la vie" is a lot easier to say with a cocktail in hand...

[dmforcier]

Originally Posted by My Foot Smells

.........and then there is stuff like this that is the #1 nematode control.. ***guaranteed***

If their definition of "control" is making them all swim in the same direction, then you have no valid claim.

[b54red]

I have had nematodes in my soil since I started gardening in this spot over 35 years ago. I quickly went to RKN resistant hybrids and didn't have much trouble with them agian until I started seriously growing heirlooms again because I tired of the same old same old round, red, only moderately tasty tomato from the hybrids. The one exception was Big Beef which I found had good flavor and great resistance.

Once I was seriously growing heirlooms I had to figure out a way to slow down the destruction caused by the RKN. The absolutely most effective thing I found after reading an article that gave me the idea was to put in fresh horse manure and till it in immediately. I did this several times over a few months to a couple of my beds that were the most infected and the next spring season planted tomatoes in those beds. I had almost no nematode damage for several years in those beds but then had to repeat the process. It is a job mucking out stalls in the heat of summer and spreading the stinky fresh manure and tilling it in several times but it was well worth the effort.

None of the efforts I made to combat RKN would reverse the problems I was having with fusarium wilt which only grew worse when my beds ended up infected with all three races of fusarium wilt. I couldn't even count on Big Beef anymore.

After a few years of constantly replacing dying plants I gave up and started grafting and since I started grafting using a rootstock that is both resistant to all three races of fusarium wilt and RKN I have not had problems with either. I agree that you should definitely build up your organic matter as much as you can to lessen the sandiness of your soil which will help some but not enough to really cure the problem. If you have a cheap source of fresh horse manure and most stables will gladly let you muck out the stalls when the horses are out in the pastures then I think you should go ahead an try using it and see if it makes a big difference next year. However I think the best thing you can do is learn to graft your own plants and you can start practicing during the summer so you become proficient by winter when you will need to graft a good number of plants.

As for the French Marigolds I tried them for several years and they did make a slight difference but you need a lot of them for them to do any good at all. You basically need your tomatoes growing in a dense growth of them and they will take away a lot of nutrients from your tomatoes. I found them much more effective at slowing down nematodes in cucumbers. I also found that spider mites liked them and that caused more spider mites on the tomatoes above them.

I found solarizing a waste of time and money. Maybe if the nematodes weren't so prevalent as they are here it might be worth the effort. Go to a garden center and set out some Big Beef plants and see if they do okay during the rest of the summer and fall. They won't be as big or produce as large a tomato as earlier in the season but if you can keep the foliage diseases and the spider mites at bay you should be able to grow some decent tomatoes; but if you really want to grow heirlooms with the problems you have then try grafting tomatoes and building up your soil for the best results.

Bill