Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post - My technique for eliminating Root Knot Nematodes

BVGardener · August 5, 2008

I did run into a bit of a setback in that the county where I live is under a burn ban and while I'm not actually going to be igniting anything, my wife was concerned that due to the heat generated from the heat gun that grass could potentially catch fire and perhaps when we were not in the garden....we did have a couple of grass fires about a mile or two from where we live. And yes, the heat gun will set things on fire if the gun is held too long in one area. As it is, the grass crunches under your shoes when walking out in the yard. Our yard currently gives the appearance of being in the middle of winter will all of the brown grass.

I think the rain issue for our area is about to be resolved with the arrival of the tropical storm. It's headed right over our area and bad weather will be here within the hour.

When you hear people talk about the heat and humidity of South Texas, it's really hard to describe just how hot it gets to those who do not live down here. I walked outside yesterday about 3:00 and it was like walking into a blast furnace. But as brutal as the climate can be over here, there are ways to use that to your advantage. Especially when dealing with RKN.

My technique is inspired by the Soil Solarization Method (SSM) which I've already mentioned and can be applied a couple of ways. The typical soil solarization method utilizes plastic. Because of the climate that I have, I am able to achieve without plastic what most soil solarization methods try to achieve with plastic.

For instance, I took a soil temperature reading at a 1" depth last Sunday and it was 140 degrees (F). Three inches down it was 125 degrees and at a depth of six inches it was over 100. I'll get some numbers posted with plastic from out in my garden soon.

Now here is the problem with the typical soil solarization technique - the temperatures required to kill RKN are not going to be realized at significant depths and so the technique will only be effective for either a short period of time and/or will only be useful for shallow rooted crops.....and probably only for a single season.

Need to sign off for a sec, be back in a while.

Jay

August 5, 2008	#15
BVGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 542	I did run into a bit of a setback in that the county where I live is under a burn ban and while I'm not actually going to be igniting anything, my wife was concerned that due to the heat generated from the heat gun that grass could potentially catch fire and perhaps when we were not in the garden....we did have a couple of grass fires about a mile or two from where we live. And yes, the heat gun will set things on fire if the gun is held too long in one area. As it is, the grass crunches under your shoes when walking out in the yard. Our yard currently gives the appearance of being in the middle of winter will all of the brown grass. I think the rain issue for our area is about to be resolved with the arrival of the tropical storm. It's headed right over our area and bad weather will be here within the hour. When you hear people talk about the heat and humidity of South Texas, it's really hard to describe just how hot it gets to those who do not live down here. I walked outside yesterday about 3:00 and it was like walking into a blast furnace. But as brutal as the climate can be over here, there are ways to use that to your advantage. Especially when dealing with RKN. My technique is inspired by the Soil Solarization Method (SSM) which I've already mentioned and can be applied a couple of ways. The typical soil solarization method utilizes plastic. Because of the climate that I have, I am able to achieve without plastic what most soil solarization methods try to achieve with plastic. For instance, I took a soil temperature reading at a 1" depth last Sunday and it was 140 degrees (F). Three inches down it was 125 degrees and at a depth of six inches it was over 100. I'll get some numbers posted with plastic from out in my garden soon. Now here is the problem with the typical soil solarization technique - the temperatures required to kill RKN are not going to be realized at significant depths and so the technique will only be effective for either a short period of time and/or will only be useful for shallow rooted crops.....and probably only for a single season. Need to sign off for a sec, be back in a while. Jay Last edited by BVGardener; December 1, 2008 at 05:33 PM.