Monday, August 4, 2008

Root knot nematodes

This is an infestation of root knot nematodes in my garden tomatoes. I will pull the area out of production and sterilize the soil using solar radiation and clear plastic for 4-6 weeks. Then I'll add more organic matter and directly plant my fall crops.

Nematodes can be a deadly but common problem here in the south, although there are beneficial nematodes too. They are small worm-like parasites that feed on roots.

The galls on these tomato roots are indicative of root knot nematodes.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

5 comments:

Paddy said...

Looks pretty awful. Lucky you can take counter-action on the parasites.

Why do I think of the film 'The Day of the Triffids'?

Emma said...

No, not our tomatoes!!!

The Dirt Dude said...

Only some of them, Days, only some of them...

Deirdre said...

That is amazing Mike, you talking about nematodes. I was reading just yesterday about nematodes in an article in the Guardian newspaper. Apparently if I water in Vine Weevil Killer now into my pots and containers, thousands of microscopic nematodes will kill off the Vine weevil grubs. Obviously these are the good ones.
I'm not sure if I have vine weevils but I'm sure it won't do any harm.

Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!