By BJ Jarvis
Summer is here and the garden is resting. Underground, though, many pests are proliferating, just waiting for a tasty plant meal.
Well-intended gardeners plant their tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes and eggplants each fall only to witness poor performance or death. Often the culprit isn’t a chomping rabbit, an insect or a devastating disease, but microscopic nematodes that favor our typically sandy soil, high humidity and warm temperatures.
Microscopic nematodes are one of those pests that go unseen, but their effects are certainly evident. Some turf is susceptible to their feeding effects, but nearly every vegetable in the garden can be impacted.
Unfortunately, chemical controls have been limited during the last few decades, restricted to just a few that must be managed by commercial operators. So what is a home gardener to do?
Summer is the best time to take nonchemical action to prepare the garden bed for fall planting. Use these simple and inexpensive ways to help suppress nematodes.
Gardeners with a large property can simply rotate the garden bed to different parts of the landscape, although not so practical for many residents. For those just growing a few plants, container gardening with sterile potting mixes will work. Others though must find a way to deal with the little pests.
Soils with lots of organic matter witness lower populations of nematodes because organic matter favors higher populations of beneficial organisms. Add organic amendments of manures or compost at planting time or top-dressing plants already in the ground. Basically, if gardeners have a source of organic matter, use it!
Soil solarization is the process of covering planting areas, free of plant material, with clear plastic for four to six weeks raising the temperatures to 130 degree or higher. During this time, the barren garden provides little for the pests to eat and prolonged exposure to high temperatures under the plastic reduces nematode populations.
Additional benefits of chemical-free soil solarizing are that weed seeds, many fungi and other damaging insect populations are reduced as well.
Since there are few vegetables immune to the ill-effects of nematode injury, try harnessing the power of the sun to battle the effects of pests in the soil. Employ some of these activities now so planting beds are ready for fall vegetable planting around Labor Day.
For more information on how to solarize garden soil, go to this University of Florida website, http://bit.ly/SoilSolarizing.
–BJ Jarvis is the Pasco Cooperative Extension Director and Horticulture Agent. Extension is a partnership between the University of Florida, Pasco County government and the USDA. Readers can contact BJ at .
