How to Limit Root Knot Nematodes in Your Garden?

by Tom Hardy Tom Hardy

Root-knot nematodes act as a menace for most plants or flowers. It is tricky to detect in any of the plants since more than 100 species of the Meloidogyne genus are found worldwide.

Their symptoms are stunted growth, wilting, and signs of yellowing of the leaves. They are causes of a general decline in plant health.

Some farmers utilize chemical compounds like fumigants. But these elements work as biocides, killing all life forms, including essential nematodes, soil microbes, and earthworms.

As a Nema Pro Nematicide, you have the option of curing. However, it would only produce good results once you took proper training, licensing, and equipment.

Many viable and safe options exist to fend off the attack of root-knot nematodes. We investigate all of these methods, nematodes, and their causes.

About Nematodes

Nematodes are just like other kinds of bacteria and microorganisms. They are microscopic microorganisms and long worms. Preferring living states are in the soil, water, or tissues of plants and animals that parasitize.

You are on the wrong track if you convince yourself that nematodes are bad to live in and that their dead states are beneficial. More than half a million nematodes exist nowadays, but only 10% can parasitize plants. Only a small percentage of them are harmful to plants.

Scientists consider nematodes helpful in the killing of fungi and bacteria. That results in releasing nutrients from these organisms, which finally enriches the soil. This concept is good for the biological control of the soil.

Root-knot nematodes flourish in a warm climate, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Nematodes have attacked the southern parts of the United States because they reproduce in 10 cycles and multiply rapidly.

During summer, these organisms are active, and even below the temperature of 64 Fahrenheit, they face major declines in their stimulation.

Root-knot nematodes do not densely harm the roots of plants, but they penetrate entry points for harmful fungi and bacteria. Secondary infections from fungi and bacteria would cause widespread destruction of plant roots.

Symptoms of Root Knot Nematode Infestation

Detecting the presence of root-knot nematodes is a clever way to solve this problem as it begins its journey by sticking at the root side and feeding there over the long term.

That organism lays 500 eggs at a time, which attach to its body to form an apple-shaped structure. When this hatchling turns into juvenile stages, they start eating the infested root tissues.

Continuous feeding of root tissues is the cause of many major troubles in plants or flowers. You may see wilting in the roots, chlorosis, yellowing, stunted growth, and even death of them.

The condition that happens to these microorganisms makes plants incapacitated. For this reason, they cannot absorb nutrients and water to meet their daily requirements.

However, it is not convenient, as you understand, because sometimes you believe the plant needs water and fertilizers. You will not see any consequences after releasing these beneficial compounds, but you will be able to see that this is an RKN infestation.

It is a very time-consuming procedure. Once RKN has started, it is impossible to halt, so early prevention must be your priority. We go over how to prevent symptoms and root-knot nematode factors for early prevention.

Preventive and Protective Steps for Root Knot Nematode Infestation

As we have said in the above points, root-knot nematodes are lazy in their attitudes. They are sedentary in their functioning, which deteriorates root tissues. It is why it is difficult for us to detect their symptoms.

These microorganisms spread around infected plant material, soil, gardening tools, and even muddy footwear. If you catch these factors in your research, you take the necessary steps to spread them in other garden areas. Some of the steps are:

Implement Good Farming Practices

Weed is almost always the root cause of a plant's problems. It helps extend root-knot nematodes from one plant to another, working as a carrier. Prune it in between the flowers to maintain its dense growth.

Include as much healthy soil and organic matter as possible. It results in the encouragement of beneficial nematodes, bacteria, and fungi to reduce infestations.

Plant Resistant Varieties

Using resistive plant species is an appropriate tool to keep nematodes at bay. They not only stop them from thriving but also halt their reproduction.

You detect these varieties by reading a seedling labeling that mentions their resistance against VFN. VFN stands for verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, and nematode resistant.

On the contrary, these common gardening crops are only successful at some times. They do not offer immunity when the temperature is higher than 82 Fahrenheit. In this way, you should be careful while using these plant-resistant varieties.

Follow Parts of an Infested Garden

Set aside a large portion of farmland for acting as a wasteland. It is one of the best tricks to deal with the issue of root-knot nematodes.

This trick enables RKNs to purge in a state of hunger and lack of food, as there is nothing for their feeding in the farmland.

Eventually, they will die. But this case will be successful when you apply tillage since it removes weeds and enables RKNs to dehydrate.

Organic Nematicide

The spring and summer seasons provide an adaptable environment for the flourishing of root-knot nematodes.

Applying formulated Pencillium Biliaiae as an Organic Nematicide would prove effective because it can kill harmful nematodes. It keeps limiting the development of young pests and microorganisms.

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Created on Jan 10th 2023 06:14. Viewed 249 times.

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