Eelworm control: Part 3

When I put up tunnels for my tomatoes, the soil was in a bad state, with little organic content and poor structure. As it was virgin soil, I thought that I was at least safe from eelworms. I was wrong; the pest attacked the crop, which died at the flowering stage.

- BILL KERR

I then planted Tagetes patula, or French marigold (the Tangerine variety). When the plants were in full flower, just before seed maturity, I went in with a lawnmower. By pushing down on the handle to lift the front wheels, I managed to chop up the crop very effectively. The following crop, tomatoes, was eelworm-free.

TYPES OF EELWORM

Root-knot eelworm is the predominant genus of this pest, and the main species are Meloidogyne javanica, M. hapla, M. arenaria, and M. incognita.

The next most prominent genus is Hetorodera spp or cyst nematodes, with beet cyst nematode the main problem in South Africa.

The third-most significant genus is lesion nematodes, Pratylenchus spp, of which