Marigolds
 

Are all varieties of marigold going to produce the chemical that repels nematodes and other pests? I was looking into some different types.

Cheers,

Ann

They have to be French types if I understand it properly.
A cover drop of mustard or radish is supposed to work better, you just do the cover crop in cooler weather and let it rot in the soil after cutting back. Till the tops into the ground.

[QUOTE=kilroyscarnival;757018]Are all varieties of marigold going to produce the chemical that repels nematodes and other pests? I was looking into some different types.

Cheers,

Ann[/QUOTE]

From my reading, French Marigolds (Tagetes patula) have shown some promise in helping ward off nematodes....

[QUOTE=Tracydr;757028]They have to be French types if I understand it properly.
A cover drop of mustard or radish is supposed to work better, you just do the cover crop in cooler weather and let it rot in the soil after cutting back. Till the tops into the ground.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, good to know! I'm interested more in companion planting, and I did plant some French marigolds last year, but then again I grew food crop mostly in containers. Nematodes seem to have hit some of the folks in my area rather hard. I've always heard marigolds, then was seeing some different varieties, dwarfs, different color patterns, etc.

I’ve always had spider mites when I plant marigolds but that was in AZ when mites were a a big problem. I may have to slip some old marigold seeds around in some spots and see what happens here in NC.
For pests,I like planting basil,especially Thai or lemon, all around the garden. I’m also experimenting with some sunflowers this year and they seem to have attracted a few assassin bugs.
I wish I could find something g to repel or trap the stink bugs and leaf footed bugs. Plus,the Japanese and June bugs. That would make my life so much easier!
If anyone has suggestions, I’m open to trying either a trap crop or repellent.
I heard somewhere that amaranth is good as a trap, I may give that a try.
I suspect I may have a few nematodes in a couple of spots so I may need to work on that this winter.

I grow French Marigold all season here in south FL and then save the Marigold plants and put them in the bottom of my containers when I plant my tomatoes out. Also, alfalfa meal or pellets will deter RKN as well as Lemongrass.

Also growing Sudangrass Sorghum and then letting it decompose will exude a nematocidal acid which reduces nematode and symphylan populations.

Five years or so ago, root knot nematodes made a major appearance in my carrot patch. I used the French marigolds the next year with chicken litter and crushed crab shell. Not sure why chicken litter is supposed to work, but the crab shell is composed of mostly chitin. Root knot nematode eggs have chitin in their shell so anything that encourages chitin eating organisms is bad for their eggs. That bed is fine now.

Yes, I save all my fish scales as well and use in my growing containers for all my veggies.