All about nematodes -- the bad ones

Listen to this radio story (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Jim Crawford, county Extension agent, University of Georgia

Every now and then I'll have a vegetable plant that looks sickly. Despite good care, it could be suffering underground. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that live in the soil. They make their presence known by eating your garden veggies. They start their buffet line with their favorites -- tomatoes and okra. They'll also dine on beans, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, and melons. Nematodes will leave asparagus, onions and garlic alone. I guess the flavor's a bit too strong for them!

You'll know they're raising a ruckus with signs above the ground first. The plant will start to wilt and appear like it has a nutrient deficiency, but dig up the roots. They'll be pruned off, or you'll see small knots on them.

Jim Crawford is a county Extension agent with the University of Georgia and says homeowners don't have chemical control options, so good cultural practices are the only way to manage nematodes.

"Don't allow weeds and your old tomato plants and your old garden plants to stay in the ground because you're providing food for nematodes to overwinter on," Crawford says. "If you plow up your garden in the fall so they don't have anything to eat, their population will decline then it will start up gradually, starting in the spring when they have a food source."