Now It's Nematodes

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GoDawgs
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Now It's Nematodes

#1

Post: # 72995Unread post GoDawgs
Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:16 pm

There's an okra problem. I put three Jing Orange in the middle of the bed with Cajun Jewel on each end.

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They popped up May 9 and just aren't thriving, especially the puny looking one (second from the bottom). They should all be about waist high and flowering. It's not just the deer munch.

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I suspected nematodes so dug up the puny one. Yep, the roots are swollen up.

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They're all probably infected to varying degrees. There was a small trace of them in that bed in Fall '19 but no problems since then. The first flower was open on the largest plant this morning but no buds on the others yet. I'm thinking there will be little okra in the freezer this year as it's about too late to plant but I think I'll try in a different bed. It can't hurt to try.

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pepperhead212
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#2

Post: # 73028Unread post pepperhead212
Mon Jul 04, 2022 7:53 am

I don't know what it is, but there's something in my soil that prevents me from growing okra. Supposedly nematodes aren't a major problem up here, like down south, and other plants never seem to have a problem, but every variety I would grow would eventually wither away and die, some before any okra appeared. I finally gave up, but years later I tried some in Earthboxes, and haven't had a problem since! I grow 6/EB, not the 8, they recommend, which works great. And it must be something in the soil, not an airborne disease, as I haven't had a problem since they've been growing in the EBs.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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GoDawgs
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#3

Post: # 73029Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:31 am

@pepperhead212 , that's strange about your okra. Did the roots on failed plants ever look swollen and knotty? Okra is very susceptible to nematodes. If not 'todes, I have no idea what could be causing your okra to fail outside EBs unless it's the usual pH, sun exposure, etc stuff. But I'm glad you found a way to overcome!

I started Jing Orange seed soaking yesterday for a two day soak and will plant five hills tomorrow. They're going into a bed where I pulled out bush beans last month and those plants had great roots with no 'tode sign at all. Onward and upward. And a pox on all 'tode houses!

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pepperhead212
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#4

Post: # 73087Unread post pepperhead212
Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:50 pm

Good luck with your newer plants, @GoDawgs.

That whatever it was that used to kill my in ground okra was like some sort of blight - they would grow well, then suddenly, like bacterial blight on cucumbers, they would die almost overnight, yet no other plants had a problem! And some might produce a few okra, but most were gone before flowering. And nothing I could find about it - even after the internet came around (that's how long ago this was happening!). And if something like the blights carried by insects, they would get it now, so it is in the soil.
Woodbury, NJ zone 7a/7b

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GoDawgs
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Re: Now It's Nematodes... a treatment?

#5

Post: # 76320Unread post GoDawgs
Mon Aug 15, 2022 8:47 pm

I did another anti-rootknot nematode experiment two days ago. In the relentless search to find new possible remedies for these microscopic harbingers of plant death, a while ago I had found some articles about using a molasses drench to combat nematodes but had never really tried it.

I did two days ago when one of my young squash plants exhibited all the characteristics of nematodes working on it. Leaves slowly yellowing, one leaf a day wilting (but no SVBs), no new blossoms. I mixed 1 TBS of black strap unsulphured molasses in 1 gallon of water(a rate found in several other articles) and drenched both the affected squash plant and another slightly older one that looked like it might be affected. They both actually look better today!

One of several sources that explains how molasses works on plants and pests:
https://fifthseasongardening.com/molass ... e-to-pests

I really hope this works. We'll see.

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MissS
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#6

Post: # 76347Unread post MissS
Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:19 pm

@GoDawgs this is great news for those down south who have problems with nematodes. It may make gardening in the ground possible again for some people in the south. Please keep us posted on how it is working out for you! So many people could benefit from this if it works.
~ Patti ~

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karstopography
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#7

Post: # 76350Unread post karstopography
Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:21 pm

I’m also interested in the molasses to mitigate nematodes. Let us know what you think on how effective molasses is to combat the nematodes.

Nematodes are definitely a factor here, but not so much that I cannot garden. Lots of compost and organic matter worked into the soil prior to planting helps lower the nematode activity to where they really don’t have any significant effect on yield, even with non-resistant tomatoes, peppers, beans, okra, etc. Planting or rotating in some crops that nematodes avoid or are traps helps. Solarization helps. Nematode Resistant cultivars helps.

I haven’t had anything particularly suffer or die back this Spring and Summer from nematode activity. Some root knots seen on some tomato roots after getting rid of plants infested with mites , but a manageable amount on the nematodes, not so much the spider mites on the worst of the tomato plants.

Once the soil cools off later in the fall, the nematodes mostly shut down.
Zone 9b, located in the Columbia bottomlands, annual rainfall 46”

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GoDawgs
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Re: Now It's Nematodes... a treatment?

#8

Post: # 76366Unread post GoDawgs
Tue Aug 16, 2022 7:49 pm

Tonight the one squash that's hardest hit is still holding its own but I don;t know if it will produce anything. The main stem broke right below the apex, leaving a few flower buds which opened today. Both were males and I don't know if it will grow any more buds. It will be interesting to see if squash have apical dominance and start a new leader. I don't think so but who knows? The color on the other larger squash has improved. Microbial activity at work kicking up fertilizer uptake?

I do rotate plant families on a three year rotation and use nematode resistant varieties where possible but there aren't a whole lot of them in the OP world. I have a "to scale" map of the garden and mark the location of any nematode damage found in any raised bed. Solarizing is real temporary. It kills neemies in the top 6" of soil but when I dig a good hole to add amendments and loosen things up that brings them back from down under to the top. I do sanitize all garden tools with 10% bleach spray and let them dry before using the tools in any bed and then spray any soil off afterwards. All leaf mulch gets turned under after every season to help build the soil. That's a slow process.

One thing I have found is that the crucifers seem to exude something from their root systems that deters 'todes. There are just a few articles about this out there right now. When I read one several years ago I started planting more susceptible things behind the spring and fall broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, kale, collards, etc. Out come the spring crucifers and in go the squash, peas, beans. etc.

And I try to get spring stuff in as early as possible in beds that had crucifers in them that previous fall. The theory on that is to grow the fall crucifers and the soil temp falls below 60 at which point nematodes go inactive. Plant the follow on crop in that bed as early as possible before the 'todes wake up when the soil warms to 60. It almost seems like if you can get a head start of root growth and they get strong quick, that helps delay or mitigate 'tode damage especially when there might be crucifer root exudate still i the soil. Just a wild bit of wondering I can't prove.

I grow enough stuff that maybe only one of 18 beds can go fallow for a half year or year, covered well with mulch to keep weeds out and starve the 'todes. De-pop 'em with famine!

Now that I've done some molasses drenching and it hasn't killed the plants I think I'll do it on a broader scale come spring. Stay tuned.....

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Whwoz
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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#9

Post: # 76367Unread post Whwoz
Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:15 pm

@GoDawgs , would it be worth trying to grow some brassicas in amongst your main crop simply as a nematode control measure over summer. Thinking something along the lines of nematrol leaf mustard, not necessarily something to eat.

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Re: Now It's Nematodes

#10

Post: # 76396Unread post GoDawgs
Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:09 am

@Whwoz , that's a good thought and thank you. I'll add it to my "things to try" list for spring. I'm just wondering how it will fare in the summer heat but that's the reason we experiment, eh? :)

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