Jen, excellent video. Your approach to control RKNs is sound and aligns with the research I've been doing. It is refreshing to see a gardening video where the channel actually addresses a failure and doesn't boast about their incredible yields that normal mortals can't get. Very nice. Looking forward to hearing about your journey to a viable RKN management program and its success. Good job!
Jen - More "grist for your mill" - I wanted my basil to go to seed because it was such a great producer this summer but it was just sitting there stunted with seed heads but not blossoming like it should. I pulled it and sure enough RKNs galore! You can add sweet basil to the list of susceptible plants. I took pix but I guess they can't be posted here.
This is an amazing video. It is so information dense and has a VERY low BS factor (if you know what I mean). It's obvious you have excellent training as a scientist and engineer. You're also easy to follow. I think you are going to do well with this backyard horticulture project you have set for yourself. To the content: The marigolds may actually HAVE helped your sweet potatoes avoid WORSE damage. Without a null or control sample we can't know. Maybe a marigold oil or tincture can amp up the effect? I have successfully grown purple sweet potatoes without obvious nematode damage. I think they were of some Asian variety but I got the slip-mother at Publix so can't tell you what it was. The skin was thicker than a Beauregard. The flesh was deep purple. It was not as sweet as we normally think of a SP being. It had a less creamy texture after baking than my Mom's SP. It was pretty damn good though. Kind of like eating a piece of Italian cake. I have a picture of one the size of a football that I dug. I forgot about them for about 8 months. It was like apiece of wood! Suggestion for future episodes: I'm over in Osprey (10a). I crave to grow cucurbits but have struggled with pickle bugs (Diaphania nitidalis). There seem to be two varieties or subspecies. One rolls the leaves (BT gets those pretty well) - the other lays a single egg on the bud or fruit which immediately burrows in and eats. BT does not stop these, not enough exposure. I now grow these plants in screened enclosures. Needless to say, I have to open them every morning for the pollinators and close them every evening before dark to exclude the moths. That's an obvious pain but it is what it is. Everybody down here in 10A has this issue.
I'm glad you liked it! You are right, the marigolds may have helped to prevent the problem from being any worse. Wow that is crazy about the purple sweet potato! I will have to try that variety. I have similar issues wth my cucurbits. I believe I had pickle worms all over my butternut squash this summer, but some of them made it to harvest without any damage on the squash (even though the plant started to look really awful). The plants probably also had powdery mildew and potentially spider mites. I struggle with curcurbits too. I have some cucumbers growing that I started this month, so I'll document the kinds of pests I experience with them this year and how I (at least attempt) to manage them PS I'm sorry I was so slow to respond this time!
@@SpaceCoastHarvest I've learned, from experience, that there are two kinds of pickle bugs and the moths look very similar. One kind rolls the leaves and doesn't touch the fruit. They will make a mess of the plants and hurt production. The other kind pretty much leaves the foliage alone but it puts a single egg on the fruit or the bud. Those are the ones that I really get crazy over. The cuke (or squash, pumpkin) will look beautiful but when you cut it, it's all mush and full of frass. I'm building screen houses (just like a greenhouse but with screen instead of glass) but I have to open them every morning and close them up at twilight. And trust me, those moths will find a gap if I leave one. I won't say I hate a natural creature but they are not my favorite.
Great job and approach! This is a very rational methodology to utilize and attack the problem you discovered last month. Really great to get the testing done bc if you dont measure something, you cannot manage it! I agree with your assessment that the population very likely crashed after you pulled the crops out and the RKNs food source was removed. I also agree that given what your test result said and what you plan to plant in those beds this the fall it doesn’t necessitate a mustard cover crop now. The only caveat to that I would suggest for considering would be if you are going to group nightshades together in the future like a spring planting. If so I would target that one bed for a spicy mustard variety as a cover crop about 2 months before planting so u have time to create some biomass and then shred them up and instantly cover for the bio fumigation. Still plenty of time to plant and harvest before that’s necessary, but with the shorter daylight hours of winter the growth will be slower. Just something to consider as for me the struggle at times has been balancing the future planning out of the crop rotation against when the previous crop will be done and what naturally does well following a specific crop or group of crops. Hoss has a great chart on this in their resources section of their website but my timing isn’t always amenable. Great seeing another passionate Gardner in the area, keep up the great work!!!
I think cover cropping before spring season is a good idea too. That chart by Hoss sounds great, I'd love to take a look at it, but I'm not sure which one you're describing. Would you mind sending a link to it?
@@SpaceCoastHarvest Not sure what's going on, but replied twice yet did not post. I'll try one more time w/o any actual links....Go to Hoss's resource section and visit the Garden Resource Center. Scroll down (tons of free resources there) until you get the crop rotation chart. Great for best practices though not always practical depending on what's available for space. My primary focus is the no same family for two years, three is better. Best of Luck!
Very educational video, your timing is impeccable . I was going to tell you to blame the RKN on the egg plant; but I have okra in two raised beds one is doing great, the other however is not, very little yield and poor looking plants. I pulled a couple of plants up and sure enough they are covered with RKN. The strange thing is I have the entire bed planted in marigolds also. I planted the okra and marigold seed at the same time, after reading the UF text on marigolds I should have planted the marigolds two months prior. I am going to cover the entire raised bed with crab shell and till it in. I am also going to use the Monterey RKN when I plant. Thank you for a great video, I know that the research and planning had to be exhausting. I did notice that your beautiful blue eyes looked a little red, I don't know if it is from the research or maybe too much time in the pool, Either way please take of your eyes. Thanks again.
I'm sad you are experiencing RKNs too! We will just have to figure out how to manage them. Keep me posted on how the Monterey Nematode control is working! I think my eyes were red because I worked too hard on this video, lol. I was so tired by the end of filming it!
My whole yard has rkn. My neighbor's yard is about 1/2 and 1/2. In the rkn free part of her yard her papaya trees are super vigorous and healthy -- the leaves are deep green and only fall off after months and months. In the rkn part of her yard the trees are stunted and the leaves yellow up and fall off soon after leafing out. Meanwhile, over my yard I planted papayas in heavyily amended soil and I am getting low root infection of galls but now I am getting anthracnose yellowing up the leaves -- always something.
Yes it works, 2 years ago I had nematodes in my potatoes, then I planted beans, then ginger. Planted potatoes again April 2024 and recently harvested my best potatoes ever. No nematode damage at all. Composting between each crop. I use blood and bone a little bit of 10.10.10 if needed and fish emotion. I add rock dust once a year or so.
Thanks for your hard work. Ben from Qld Australia
5:56
HUGE INFO! THANKS!
Jen, excellent video. Your approach to control RKNs is sound and aligns with the research I've been doing. It is refreshing to see a gardening video where the channel actually addresses a failure and doesn't boast about their incredible yields that normal mortals can't get. Very nice. Looking forward to hearing about your journey to a viable RKN management program and its success. Good job!
Thanks for the kind words, and I'm glad you enjoyed the video :-)
Jen - More "grist for your mill" - I wanted my basil to go to seed because it was such a great producer this summer but it was just sitting there stunted with seed heads but not blossoming like it should. I pulled it and sure enough RKNs galore! You can add sweet basil to the list of susceptible plants. I took pix but I guess they can't be posted here.
@@tombauer7330 Aww, that is sad about basil... I love basil!! Send the pics to my email! jenn@spacecoastharvest.com
Dang! That is how you do research and execute a data driven plan of attack! You sound like an expert
Thank you! 😉
Good video, Jenn. Good luck with the battle!
Thanks!! Looking forward to hearing about your watermelon radishes.. have you harvested yet??
@@SpaceCoastHarvest Not yet. Probably another 2 weeks or so.
This is an amazing video. It is so information dense and has a VERY low BS factor (if you know what I mean). It's obvious you have excellent training as a scientist and engineer. You're also easy to follow. I think you are going to do well with this backyard horticulture project you have set for yourself.
To the content:
The marigolds may actually HAVE helped your sweet potatoes avoid WORSE damage. Without a null or control sample we can't know. Maybe a marigold oil or tincture can amp up the effect?
I have successfully grown purple sweet potatoes without obvious nematode damage. I think they were of some Asian variety but I got the slip-mother at Publix so can't tell you what it was. The skin was thicker than a Beauregard. The flesh was deep purple. It was not as sweet as we normally think of a SP being. It had a less creamy texture after baking than my Mom's SP. It was pretty damn good though. Kind of like eating a piece of Italian cake. I have a picture of one the size of a football that I dug. I forgot about them for about 8 months. It was like apiece of wood!
Suggestion for future episodes: I'm over in Osprey (10a). I crave to grow cucurbits but have struggled with pickle bugs (Diaphania nitidalis). There seem to be two varieties or subspecies. One rolls the leaves (BT gets those pretty well) - the other lays a single egg on the bud or fruit which immediately burrows in and eats. BT does not stop these, not enough exposure. I now grow these plants in screened enclosures. Needless to say, I have to open them every morning for the pollinators and close them every evening before dark to exclude the moths. That's an obvious pain but it is what it is. Everybody down here in 10A has this issue.
I'm glad you liked it! You are right, the marigolds may have helped to prevent the problem from being any worse. Wow that is crazy about the purple sweet potato! I will have to try that variety.
I have similar issues wth my cucurbits. I believe I had pickle worms all over my butternut squash this summer, but some of them made it to harvest without any damage on the squash (even though the plant started to look really awful). The plants probably also had powdery mildew and potentially spider mites. I struggle with curcurbits too. I have some cucumbers growing that I started this month, so I'll document the kinds of pests I experience with them this year and how I (at least attempt) to manage them
PS I'm sorry I was so slow to respond this time!
@@SpaceCoastHarvest I've learned, from experience, that there are two kinds of pickle bugs and the moths look very similar. One kind rolls the leaves and doesn't touch the fruit. They will make a mess of the plants and hurt production. The other kind pretty much leaves the foliage alone but it puts a single egg on the fruit or the bud. Those are the ones that I really get crazy over. The cuke (or squash, pumpkin) will look beautiful but when you cut it, it's all mush and full of frass. I'm building screen houses (just like a greenhouse but with screen instead of glass) but I have to open them every morning and close them up at twilight. And trust me, those moths will find a gap if I leave one. I won't say I hate a natural creature but they are not my favorite.
Great video. Thanks for doing these
Glad you like them!
Wow great vid and info I'm good ng to send to UF thanks!! BTW I like your gauntlets. All u need is a cape and boom new superhero Spacecoast Woman😅😅😅😂
it took me way too long to figure out what gauntlets you were talking about, lol, but I finally realized it was my huge gloves!
Great job and approach!
This is a very rational methodology to utilize and attack the problem you discovered last month. Really great to get the testing done bc if you dont measure something, you cannot manage it!
I agree with your assessment that the population very likely crashed after you pulled the crops out and the RKNs food source was removed. I also agree that given what your test result said and what you plan to plant in those beds this the fall it doesn’t necessitate a mustard cover crop now.
The only caveat to that I would suggest for considering would be if you are going to group nightshades together in the future like a spring planting. If so I would target that one bed for a spicy mustard variety as a cover crop about 2 months before planting so u have time to create some biomass and then shred them up and instantly cover for the bio fumigation. Still plenty of time to plant and harvest before that’s necessary, but with the shorter daylight hours of winter the growth will be slower.
Just something to consider as for me the struggle at times has been balancing the future planning out of the crop rotation against when the previous crop will be done and what naturally does well following a specific crop or group of crops. Hoss has a great chart on this in their resources section of their website but my timing isn’t always amenable.
Great seeing another passionate Gardner in the area, keep up the great work!!!
I think cover cropping before spring season is a good idea too. That chart by Hoss sounds great, I'd love to take a look at it, but I'm not sure which one you're describing. Would you mind sending a link to it?
@@SpaceCoastHarvest Not sure what's going on, but replied twice yet did not post. I'll try one more time w/o any actual links....Go to Hoss's resource section and visit the Garden Resource Center. Scroll down (tons of free resources there) until you get the crop rotation chart. Great for best practices though not always practical depending on what's available for space. My primary focus is the no same family for two years, three is better. Best of Luck!
@@kevinmenard6395 oh yes I saw that one! I agree, it’s a good chart!
Very educational video, your timing is impeccable . I was going to tell you to blame the RKN on the egg plant; but I have okra in two raised beds one is doing great, the other however
is not, very little yield and poor looking plants. I pulled a couple of plants up and sure enough they are covered with RKN. The strange thing is I have the entire bed planted in marigolds
also. I planted the okra and marigold seed at the same time, after reading the UF text on marigolds I should have planted the marigolds two months prior. I am going to cover the
entire raised bed with crab shell and till it in. I am also going to use the Monterey RKN when I plant. Thank you for a great video, I know that the research and planning had to be exhausting.
I did notice that your beautiful blue eyes looked a little red, I don't know if it is from the research or maybe too much time in the pool, Either way please take of your eyes. Thanks again.
I'm sad you are experiencing RKNs too! We will just have to figure out how to manage them. Keep me posted on how the Monterey Nematode control is working!
I think my eyes were red because I worked too hard on this video, lol. I was so tired by the end of filming it!
Great info and presented so clearly! Will be monitoring the results. I don’t have RKN but it’s one of my fears for my garden 🤣
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I hope you never have an issue with them, but if you do, you know what to do!
Spicy mustard will diminish the root knot nematodes significantly and it grows really well through winter in Florida.
Thank you! I am thinking about doing a spicy mustard cover crop before the spring season
My whole yard has rkn. My neighbor's yard is about 1/2 and 1/2. In the rkn free part of her yard her papaya trees are super vigorous and healthy -- the leaves are deep green and only fall off after months and months. In the rkn part of her yard the trees are stunted and the leaves yellow up and fall off soon after leafing out. Meanwhile, over my yard I planted papayas in heavyily amended soil and I am getting low root infection of galls but now I am getting anthracnose yellowing up the leaves -- always something.
Aww that is good on the one side with heavily amended soil helping rkn, but I’d be upset about the anthracnose too! 😩
I have problems with nematodes. Rotation, fallow with well done compost..
Is that working well? I finished amending the soil in my gardens today.. tons of organic compost, crab meal and worm castings
Yes it works, 2 years ago I had nematodes in my potatoes, then I planted beans, then ginger. Planted potatoes again April 2024 and recently harvested my best potatoes ever. No nematode damage at all. Composting between each crop. I use blood and bone a little bit of 10.10.10 if needed and fish emotion. I add rock dust once a year or so.
@@SpaceCoastHarvest 0h and lots of different manures.
, is the craft meal made out of crabs?
It’s the crushed shells of crabs and some also include lobster and shrimp shells