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habitat_gardener · November 23, 2022

@Dak

I had lots of nematode problems this year, so I didn’t get great productivity.
My neighbors at the community garden grew lots of Early Girl F1 and Juliet F1, and they may have complained about too many tomatoes. They invited me to pick when they were on vacation, and it was nice to have tomatoes — better than anything you could buy, but not heirloom flavor.

I harvested almost nothing from the dwarf bed ( hardest hit by nematodes) but got a few Polaris and a good number of Purple Boy F1 and Benevento F1, and several others. I planted late, though.

My strategy for next year is cover crops and brassicas now in the worst beds. Then Kodiak mustard or Nemagon mustard as a very early spring nematocidal cover crop. Some beds will have nematode-resistant varieties only — tomatoes, peppers, black-eyed peas. Maybe a bed with plants that are not affected by nematodes — zinnias, corn. A bed with nematocidal marigolds.

As for tomatoes in inferno summers, I think the best strategies are to plant as early as possible (get good roots growing before nematodes wake up at 65F soil temperature); focus on early to mid season varieties; plant mostly small and medium size fruits.

November 23, 2022	#35
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,540	@Dak I had lots of nematode problems this year, so I didn’t get great productivity. My neighbors at the community garden grew lots of Early Girl F1 and Juliet F1, and they may have complained about too many tomatoes. They invited me to pick when they were on vacation, and it was nice to have tomatoes — better than anything you could buy, but not heirloom flavor. I harvested almost nothing from the dwarf bed ( hardest hit by nematodes) but got a few Polaris and a good number of Purple Boy F1 and Benevento F1, and several others. I planted late, though. My strategy for next year is cover crops and brassicas now in the worst beds. Then Kodiak mustard or Nemagon mustard as a very early spring nematocidal cover crop. Some beds will have nematode-resistant varieties only — tomatoes, peppers, black-eyed peas. Maybe a bed with plants that are not affected by nematodes — zinnias, corn. A bed with nematocidal marigolds. As for tomatoes in inferno summers, I think the best strategies are to plant as early as possible (get good roots growing before nematodes wake up at 65F soil temperature); focus on early to mid season varieties; plant mostly small and medium size fruits.