not sure what kind of bulb this was, but it has nematoeds all over it looks like sweetpotatoes growing on it. does any one have a idear how to get rid of them,i have tryed everything on the market but still haven,t got rid of them so afraid rest of bulbs in grown will be the same.planting in tubs now.
maybe this site will help you on how to rid nematodes. They say some are benaficial. But I couldn't tell you. http://nematode.unl.edu/wormepns.htm
Good luck
Norma
Could this possibly be sweet potatoes? My Blackie and Marguerite looked like that. And they didn't have nematodes....It's just part of the root structure. You can check this way: Rootknot nematode nodules are an integral part of the root. You can't snap them off, like nitrogen fixing nodules (which are red inside). The nematode nodule is white inside.
NJBGardener
thanks far url will read up on them some more
ceejaytown
don,t think its sweet pototoes,i have never grew any of them.,couple of years ago i had some large hibiscus growing there ,these had a stem sticking up about 10 inches but was dead,so i dug it up and thats what i found,you can,t break of any of the roots all they do is bend.halven,t check far color inside of roots but i will.
starfly - You don't break off the roots; you break off the nodule on the root.
Probably Mycorrhizae.
That is, a fungus that helps the plant absorb nutrients (and the plant feeds the fungus) It often shows by nifty little nobs on healthy roots. I have seen hibiscus benefiting from it.
Nematodes are almost always too small to be seen mithout a microscope and are almost always beneficial. For the most part, the bad ones are hype generated for commercial purposes. (Places are selling mycorrhizae, too, which is rarely necessary unless you don't have dirt!)
K. James
ceejaytown
thats what i cut into the things that was growing on it
JamesCO
what ever it is the plant was dead,last year i had green beans and they started looking like something has drain the life out of them,pull them up and on the roots there was things hanging on tnem that look like little sweetpototoes.lost most of my garden .i have nothing but sand
Beans, a legume, are well-known for having a strong marriage with mycorrhizae. I would bet that the plants' death is unrelated to the nodules, but rather something else. Have a soil test done; sand is very poor at holding nutrients. -I imagine that you use liberal compost, which will help greatly.
K. James
starfly your plants look like what we call kidney beans or runner beans, those that climb. They do only grow for one year, having said that winter 2004/05 here was mild and when I dug out my old bean roots they were all starting to grow. I buried some of them and they grew and produced. Normally we grow new ones every year.
The nodules on your plants if they are beans are nitrogenous, i.e. beans are a legume and they make nitrogen fixing nodules which are beneficial to the soil.
This message was edited Apr 11, 2006 11:52 PM
I agree that nematodes are too small to be seen without a microscope but you can see their damage, and in the case of root knot nematodes, the nodules that form when the female lays eggs. They can be very bad in the south - I don't know if they are bad up north. They will wipe out whole bunches of plants if they are numerous in the soil. But first you have to distinguish between them and the nitrogen fixing nodules. Again, can you pop them off? And are they pink inside? These would be nitrogen fixing nodules. Leguminous plants have these, and so do some others. Beans are legumes. These are good. If you can't pop them off (they are part of the root) and when you cut them open they are white inside, and if root knot nematodes are in your area, you will have to either plant those things which are resistant and/or try to reduce the population. But let's not get into that until we know what the problem is - IF there is a problem. And if your "soil" is pure sand, you really do need to add some organic matter to it - to hold nutrients and to hold water.
I would suggest calling your County Extension Office.
ceejaytown
this was where i had hibiscus planted.i took it to the extension service here in citrus county.and he said it was nematodes,bad case of them. can,t remember the name he called it, i had my soil tested and there in the soil.he toled me to plow it up real deep and add a lot of cow murnew and leaves and other organic matter, them plow it under real good and let it set far awhile.so far now no garden,just stuff in buckets
oh yes ,he said i could take plactis and lay one piece down and lay something like a pipe in middle them lay another piece of plactic on top of that and leave it far awhile, thank s far help
Nematodes! Relatively rare but a royal pain, I hear. Good job; tell us how the (Solarization?) goes.
JamesCO
ok will let you know how it works take a couple of months
