Root knot nematodes!
 

I planted my tomato seedlings out in mid to late march. I planted six KBX plants in a single row. All six grew well into late April except one plant started showing signs of distress in late April by not growing as fast as the other plants. In a couple of days, I noticed the single plant had wilted in a few hours since I had last checked it. I pulled the plant and found the original root ball was infected with root knot nematodes.

About four inches above the original root ball, the plant was producing new roots from the stem at the soil surface. The new roots and the infected roots were separated by about four inches of bare stem. I was curious if any common chemicals would deter the nematodes or kill the plant. I cut the stem just below the new roots and replanted the new roots into the same zone the infected roots were in. I also put a shade cloth around the plant to protect it from the hot sun.

In two quarts of water, I mixed 1/2 table spoon of Miracle Grow fertilizer, one table spoon of Epson salt; and 1/2 cup of vinegar. I mixed them well and saturated the base of the plant with the mixture. I repeated the procedure three days later. I did it two more times three days apart without the MG.

I noticed this evening after a very hot day, the plant is putting out new growth from the stem and some of the wilted leaves are no longer wilted. I don't know if the nematodes are gone or if they are already infecting the new roots, but I will continue saturating the plant one time per week until it either dies or starts blooming again. If it survives, I will check the root ball at the end of the summer season to see if it has any nematode nodules on the roots.

Hmm, sounds interesting and yes, please do post after you look at the roots again.

Don, I'm sorry that RKN is your garden. They don't move fast - maybe a couple of feet in a year. I have it showing signs in my in-ground garden too. I sure wish I could share a cure with you, but I just don't have one.

[url]https://www.arbico-organics.com/category/nematode-control[/url]

[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;699555]Don, I'm sorry that RKN is your garden. They don't move fast - maybe a couple of feet in a year. I have it showing signs in my in-ground garden too. I sure wish I could share a cure with you, but I just don't have one.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Salt! It's not the first incidence of nematodes I've had. This is the first time I've tried to fight back. I can afford to lose a few plants, but it does irritate me. I suppose my intent is to find a method to fight back by pre-treating my planting holes when I plant my tomatoes.

Don, I know what you're saying. I finally let the 45' x 45' garden that is so heavily infected by RKN and Fusarium wilt race 3 go back to nature. Weeds grow there just fine. That means there has to be an answer somewhere in the mix. I don't know if there are manmade chems that could work or grafting or what? Could you imagine if a tomato plant could be grafted onto Johnson Grass root stock...tomato plants that are invasive and you can't get rid of. It would work for me.

Another victim
 

I get them every year. I just hope I get some tomatoes before the plants succumb to RKN, fungus, bird beaks, and stink bugs.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast, zone 9

[QUOTE=SpookyShoe;699707]I get them every year. I just hope I get some tomatoes before the plants succumb to RKN, fungus, bird beaks, and stink bugs.

Donna, Texas Gulf Coast, zone 9[/QUOTE]

Almost all gardens have RKN and they infect almost all garden vegetables, farm vegetables, weeds and grass. The problem is the fact that some tomato varieties are more suseptable to root damage caused by RKN than other varieties when they can not transport enough nutrients to the plant. Most other vegetables are infected to some degree but have enough root vigor to sustain the plant and produce fruit. Many tomato varieties are resistant in the sense that their roots are vigorous enough to withstand RKN attack and continue to support the plant. That is one reason I like Big Beef hybrid. They are supposedly resistant and I've never lost one. Many websites have lists of tomato varieties resistant to RKN.

I've never understood the reasoning behind crop rotation to prevent or stop RKN. Since most garden soils contain RKN, when conditions are optimum they usually show up. In my garden, optimum moisture conditions seem to exist at about six inches of soil depth.

The best commercial product (available to non licensed users) based on field tests on pumpkins in controlled plots in East Texas is Actinovate. Actinovate is actually a biological fungicide but seems to also control RKN infection in plants. The least expensive I've found is two ounces for $35.00. Recommended usage is six ounces per acre, so two ounces will take care of most gardens.

Everything about nematicides is expensive. On Amazon, a paper back book is for sale entitled "[B][FONT=&quot]The 2019-2024 World Outlook for Nematicides[/FONT][/B] [B][FONT=&quot]"[/FONT][/B]. The price for the book is $955.00.

Probably some professors book he requires his students to buy at rip off prices.
My house is or was full of crap like this.

Worth

Duck, some of my tomato plants have no evidence of nematode infestation when I pull them up at the end of the season, while others have evidence of severe infestation.

Donna

[QUOTE=Worth1;699745]Probably some professors book he requires his students to buy at rip off prices.
My house is or was full of crap like this.

Worth[/QUOTE]

I once had to purchase the standard hard back book in a college English class plus a mimeograph copy of a paper written by the professor. The mimeograph copy cost more than the book. We never looked at her paper the entire semester. It's probably why I don't have good command of the English language.

The best way to beat nematodes and still grow heirlooms with success is to graft onto a good nematode resistant root stock. The second best way is to plant hybrids that are resistant but then you have to deal with the frequently lousy taste and texture of the tomatoes. The third best option is a long slow one that requires a lot of work and constant maintenance and that is building up the soil with lots and lots of organic matter. Nematodes love sandy soil. For some reason fresh horse manure tilled into the soil in the fall seems to greatly reduce the nematode population.

I went with the third option for years and was quite successful at growing heirlooms despite soil that had originally been full of RKN. It took some years of work but I had a more insidious problem with the persistent fusarium problems and they only got worse as the years went on until I finally ended up with all three races of fusarium in my soil and few plants lasted more than three months before dying from it.

I finally took the advice from this site from someone who told me to start grafting and I finally did and it has been wonderful. I can now grow any variety that I can successfully graft onto my FFF resistant root stock and it is also resistant to RKN and Bacterial Wilt. So, now three problems solved with just one action. The downside is you have to start earlier than normal and you have to learn to graft. Both can be problems as I certainly ran into many trying to learn to graft successfully. Now that I am halfway decent at grafting I just wish I had started many years sooner.

Bill

Best way to beat RKN is to grow in pots with a barrier between their drain holes, and the native soil.The bags the potting mix came in will work as a barrier, just put them under your 7 gallon or more pot, so that they surround the bottom, so it can't touch the native soil. That's the reason I grow in Earthboxes too, the bottom is solid.

See previous. This photo shows the barrier under the pots to the right.

I have ten, twenty five gallon pots with Carbon variety tomato plants in each. The pots are sitting on concrete slabs with drain holes 3" up the sides of the pots. Of the ten plants, one looks very healthy, but only about 1/2 the size of the other nine. All growing conditions in the pots including drip irrigation on a timer are the same. I plan on examining the roots of the smaller plant at the end of the growing season or earlier if the plants production is much lower than the larger plants. Each pot is also growing cucumbers, onions, and some herbs. Everything is performing well except the single tomato plant.

I had two plants die early, side by side last year. They were in one of my raised beds. I didn't think much about it and I didn't look at the roots when I pulled them. I know they were open pollinated, but I don't remember the variety. After thinking about it during the winter, I decided to plant an OP Mortgage Lifter in one of the spots and a hybrid Big Beef in the other spot to see if either or both had any problems growing in the same spots. So far, both plants are growing very well and have small tomatoes on them.