Potato nematodes

We plant Red LaSoda and Yukon Gold potatoes in sandy soil with good drainage. Last year we noticed a small problem with nematodes on about 10% of the Yukons.

Can anyone tell me what to use and when to eliminate the nematode problem? We plant in mid-March and have good success with potatoes. This nematode problem just showed up last year, so we hope we can get control of it, eliminate it, and continue to enjoy our home-grown potatoes!

 

I bought beneficial nematodes for my garden from biologic. The bigger you garden the more you need. I didn't buy them because I had nematodes though. We have cucumber beetles and squash bugs galore. I did it to see if it helps get rid of them in the larvae stage. But they should help with bad nematodes too.

 

I have a real problem with nematodes that cause my carrots to form multiple legs and some have so many roots they look like they have hair! So far we haven't found anything that gets rid of them. The only thing we do that helps is rotate them in the garden. We try to plant the next years seed as far away as we can from the last years site. It helps some.

 

2ofus, we have changed the location of the potatoes. The problem is that we have only about three areas to plant, so every third year the potatoes are back to where they were planted previously. We haven't had a problem with carrots nor with turnips, so with fingers crossed, we hope that the potato problem is localized and not spreading.

 

If you plant marigolds near your carrots, they may confuse the worm's sense of smell due to the substances that their roots give off.

 

oh... that reminds me... yes, but it needs to be mexican marigolds. they are supposed to help eradicate nematodes. I have never done it so I can't say from actual experience. Organic matter helps enormously also. the sandier the soil the worse they are.. We have a lot of clay so no real problem with them for me.

 

Hiya Jane--you already have some good suggestions here. The only other thing that I could suggest is planting Tagetes minuta plants interspersed in your rows. As you can see from the Latin name it is in the Marigold family. I can suggest this because I have used it myself with good success.I am not sure if this is the same plant as Carolyn's "Mexican Marigold" or not.
One other thing---are you 100% sure that your problem was with nematodes? I had a rash of a problem once and thought at first that it was nematodes, but it was a certain type of little grey-brown slug. You may want to investigate this.
Good luck and keep us posted we may be able to benefit from your experience.

 

Sjoerd and Carolyn, I really like the marigold idea. I looked minuta up and yes, it is the Mexican marigold. The marigold roots emit something that repels nematodes. I'm all for repelling.
I am sure it is nematodes--I took a potato in a plastic bag to our county agent, and he confirmed my diagnosis. He suggested some chemical concoction that covers acres, not a home garden (it may be sprayed from an airplane for all I know!)
Although Texas has two of every kind of pest known, by some miracle we don't have slugs here. Please do not send me any.
I'll plant marigolds with my turnips and potatoes and let you know how it goes.

 

Jane the other non chemical control would perhaps be using clear plastic on an area for several months to heat sterilize the soil in those areas. you dig a trench around the area the size of your plastic -6 inches or so the whole way around. make sure the area is well watered then cover the area with the plastic burying the edges so the heat cannot escape via the edges anywhere.

 

Carolyn, if the marigolds don't work, I'll try the solarization sterilization over the winter. We get enough sun, and the temperatures don't go down so low that the plastic cover wouldn't work.
I'm so grateful for the ideas and suggestions!

 

Try some BT granules in the rows . Does not cost much at Wal Mart .

 

I always plant tagetus erecta, that we call Mexican marigolds. I now wonder if they have the same effect as tagetus minuta.

 

Has anyone ever tried steralizing the planting medium with boiling water to get rid of the nematodes?
I have raised beds and which I'm re-doing right now and have noticed the deformed roots in one bed.
I've bleached my tools so hopefully I will limit the spread. I would replace all
the "soil" but it gets costly and besides growing marigolds along side the vegatables I need to be practical.

 

If you sterilize the soil, you will need to introduce beneficial microorganisms afterwards.

 

I hope the homemade compost I would add would replace the microorganisms I kill off
with the boiling water. And I would fish through it beforehand and get any earthworms I find,
would hate to kill those off. I just wondered if anyone has tried this method or are nematodes
just one of those pests that are everywhere and something we have to just learn to live with.