Quote:
Originally Posted by SpookyShoe
I get them every year. I just hope I get some tomatoes before the plants succumb to RKN, fungus, bird beaks, and stink bugs.
Donna, Texas Gulf Coast, zone 9
|
Almost all gardens have RKN and they infect almost all garden vegetables, farm vegetables, weeds and grass. The problem is the fact that some tomato varieties are more suseptable to root damage caused by RKN than other varieties when they can not transport enough nutrients to the plant. Most other vegetables are infected to some degree but have enough root vigor to sustain the plant and produce fruit. Many tomato varieties are resistant in the sense that their roots are vigorous enough to withstand RKN attack and continue to support the plant. That is one reason I like Big Beef hybrid. They are supposedly resistant and I've never lost one. Many websites have lists of tomato varieties resistant to RKN.
I've never understood the reasoning behind crop rotation to prevent or stop RKN. Since most garden soils contain RKN, when conditions are optimum they usually show up. In my garden, optimum moisture conditions seem to exist at about six inches of soil depth.
The best commercial product (available to non licensed users) based on field tests on pumpkins in controlled plots in East Texas is Actinovate. Actinovate is actually a biological fungicide but seems to also control RKN infection in plants. The least expensive I've found is two ounces for $35.00. Recommended usage is six ounces per acre, so two ounces will take care of most gardens.
Everything about nematicides is expensive. On Amazon, a paper back book is for sale entitled "
The 2019-2024 World Outlook for Nematicides ". The price for the book is $955.00.