Doing some DIY soil solarization to combat root knot nematodes. Not sure how we ended up with parasitic nematodes in the soil but I’m not throwing it out. They are super common in FL (not usually in containers but eh, it happens).
Luckily the process is pretty easy. Put down tarp, put soil on tarp, wet soil, put clear plastic over it, make sure the edges are tapered down, leave for a couple of weeks and let the sun do the work of heating up the soil. I used a dollar store light weight shower curtain and stuff I already had lying around. I’ll be adding in some Neem Seed Meal and organic matter afterwards to really make sure we keep the plants healthy.
Unfortunately, by the time I realized what was happening to the soil, I had already planted some russet potatoes in 6″ of soil from the same container. I planted some marigolds in there and will use the same Neem Seed Meal in the soil.
The russet potatoes seem to be developing roots just fine though. Lets see what happens!
Edit: My tomato plants told me I had root knot nematodes in my garden. [https://freeimage.host/i/Ha7C0l4](https://freeimage.host/i/Ha7C0l4) They still managed to produce but, dang, the tomatoes were taking their sweet time.
1 Comment
Doing some DIY soil solarization to combat root knot nematodes. Not sure how we ended up with parasitic nematodes in the soil but I’m not throwing it out. They are super common in FL (not usually in containers but eh, it happens).
Luckily the process is pretty easy. Put down tarp, put soil on tarp, wet soil, put clear plastic over it, make sure the edges are tapered down, leave for a couple of weeks and let the sun do the work of heating up the soil. I used a dollar store light weight shower curtain and stuff I already had lying around. I’ll be adding in some Neem Seed Meal and organic matter afterwards to really make sure we keep the plants healthy.
Unfortunately, by the time I realized what was happening to the soil, I had already planted some russet potatoes in 6″ of soil from the same container. I planted some marigolds in there and will use the same Neem Seed Meal in the soil.
The russet potatoes seem to be developing roots just fine though. Lets see what happens!
Edit: My tomato plants told me I had root knot nematodes in my garden. [https://freeimage.host/i/Ha7C0l4](https://freeimage.host/i/Ha7C0l4) They still managed to produce but, dang, the tomatoes were taking their sweet time.