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Old January 29, 2013   #19
awsumth
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: South Florida
Posts: 40
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I have tried nematodes and adding lots of organic matter. Throughout the year I have incorportated old potting mix from my plants into my native soil. My yard now holds a lot of moisture and my grass and plants have never looked greener!

Marigolds do get rid of some of the nematodes, but with my experience they really don't do much for my soil. Rather than inoculating the soil, save some sweat and either graft your tomatoes onto a stronger rootstock (I'm going to try Maxifort rootstock next season) or grow in containers. You can grow a lot of things in the ground with nematodes in your soil, but tomato plants are just so sensitive... I even had a grow bag rip on the bottom and the nematodes knotted my tomatoes in the soilless mix I had them planted in.

As for whiteflies, try something that ladybugs like. I planted milkweed one year and the milkweed was covered in aphids one day, and the next day it looked like a swarm of ladybugs moved into my yard. Even though I attracted one pest, I attracted enough ladybugs to eat every aphid and whitefly in my yard!
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