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Old January 23, 2013   #14
checkerkitty
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Antonio, TX
Posts: 239
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stvrob View Post
There is a variety of RKN resistant red clover from university of Florida you can plant in October for winter cover. It is called Southern Belle and is specifically bred for the deep south.
Thanks for the info. I'll look into this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Worth1 View Post
I say dig up the infested soil and haul it off.

Then spend the $40 a yard on good soil.
To me this is a no brainier.

Worth
Exactly my thinking. I hope it's also a long term solution.


Quote:
Originally Posted by nativeplanter View Post
Since your infected soil is in a raised bed, not a container, wouldn't the nematodes just re-populate the bed from the soil underneath?
This is a concern for me. However, the native "soil" underneath is really very thin. I'll try to take as much of that with me as I can. I'm going to try and go all the way to the caliche which shouldn't take much digging at all. Also, my thinking is that by replacing the infested soil, I'll be taking away their preferred habitat which is sandy soil. I'll replace the old soil with something that the nematodes will hate, a nice rich unsandy soil! That's why I'm also planning on lining the bottom of the bed with extra organic material in the form of leaves and dried molasses. I'll probably put a few other goodies in there before I add the new soil. It's not really a barrier since the nematodes are so small, but I'm hoping that I'll encourage more of the good guys to grow and colonize my micro-habitat aka new tomato bed. If at some point in the future I'm over-run by nematodes, I'll find another way around them. Right now though, I'm hoping this is a good bet and it certainly is the cheapest option. I'm hoping I stop them here or at least really knock them back, enough that I can have my garden and actually grow in it, too. I'm also going to be mulching the heck out of the areas around my garden, raised bed and containers. I'm hoping that adding organic matter everywhere in my yard will help improve the overall ecology of the soil.
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