Mustard and Marigold for RKN Control

bushdoctor82

bushdoctor82

Well-known member
I’ve had several crops fall victim to RKN this summer, most notably cucumbers, beans and tomatoes. I planted mustard seed 3-weeks ago in the vegetable garden (first picture) and also planted mustard seed 2-weeks ago where my RKN infested potted fig used to be (second picture).

At first flowering (30-40 days after sowing), the crop will be chopped up and tilled into the soil. Mustard has high levels of glucosinolates, which get broken down to isothiocyanates upon tissue damage and incorporated into wet soil. Isothiocyanates can/may poison soil borne pests and inhibit pests from laying eggs and reproducing, including RKN. I’ll be reseeding mustard again in these locations late Winter, followed by planting marigolds in Spring/Summer.

Both mustard and marigolds appear to be an inexpensive way to potentially control RKN, germinate quick and easy and at minimum you’ll be adding organic matter to soil and attract pollinators to your garden.

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figginawesome said:
I guess I'll try anything at this point.
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That’s my mindset as well.

The best options to control RKN I’ve read so far are to cover crop with certain plants or fallow an entire season. That isn’t feasible for us with one singular bed / home vegetable garden. Planting mustard in late Winter and tilling it under in Spring for biofumigation still allows time to plant Summer vegetables and marigolds. Planting mustard again in Fall can also be beneficial.

This is my first go around, so all speculation on my end besides anecdotal information I’ve read online.
 
@bushdoctor82 A bit OT but just to say I love your garden. Great looking tomatoes. I'm hoping to post some more of my own once I get this site stabilized. Thanks for posting.
 
TorontoJoe said:
@bushdoctor82 A bit OT but just to say I love your garden. Great looking tomatoes. I'm hoping to post some more of my own once I get this site stabilized. Thanks for posting.
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Thanks -  the vegetables were an overall disappointment this season besides peppers. Blackberries and figs were in abundance though.

I’ve come to realize that I have been spreading RKN all over my yard through the years by constantly transplanting flowers and shrubs each fall and unknowingly dumping bad soil and potting mix in the compost pile then spreading that in vegetable garden. Definitely a lesson learned.

I look forward to seeing your and other folks garden to try to steal a few ideas.
 
I've used Merrigold for RKN and tested the soil this year with a bell pepper. Zero sign of RKN.
  Now I used French Dwarf Merrigold, this is the type of Merrigold that the organic gardening group who's videos I watched used because they had the highest content of the substance produced by the roots /or at least released by the roots into the soil while still alive. It's been several years so I don't remember who they were, and I have zero data on Types of Merrigold. I am glad however that I used what they suggested, it seems to have worked very well so far. They had lab testing and allot of people all working together to find natural ways to handle issues. I did or do also add several pounds of Neem seed Meal to the soil when prepping for fig trees to go in ground if I have it in hand. And I did till the whole Merrigold plants into the ground. I even planted some in potted figs at the time, I went on a RKN killing spree after learning what those knots in those fig roots were.
  Now I'm super cautious about trees from anyone. I prefer cuttings by a far sight.
 
Southeast Figs said:
I've used Merrigold for RKN and tested the soil this year with a bell pepper. Zero sign of RKN.
  Now I used French Dwarf Merrigold, this is the type of Merrigold that the organic gardening group who's videos I watched used because they had the highest content of the substance produced by the roots /or at least released by the roots into the soil while still alive. It's been several years so I don't remember who they were, and I have zero data on Types of Merrigold. I am glad however that I used what they suggested, it seems to have worked very well so far. They had lab testing and allot of people all working together to find natural ways to handle issues. I did or do also add several pounds of Neem seed Meal to the soil when prepping for fig trees to go in ground if I have it in hand. And I did till the whole Merrigold plants into the ground. I even planted some in potted figs at the time, I went on a RKN killing spree after learning what those knots in those fig roots were.
  Now I'm super cautious about trees from anyone. I prefer cuttings by a far sight.


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100% agree on cuttings vs purchased fig trees and seeds vs purchased vegetable transplants.

7 out of my 10 inground fig trees have large RKN galls, but only AJH has shown decline so far after three years. That one is not being protected this winter and if it dies, so be it - maybe the winter can also kill the RKN that I’ve been protecting under the wrapping.
 
@"bushdoctor82"#14 . I loved your post, and I five starred it. But I didn't really know that rkn was active in the state of New Jersey.? Do you think you might have imported it into your garden or was it there naturally?? I have often read your posted text on fig cultivation this last year, and have been very impressed. I know I'm a total newbie with online gardening forums on fig cultivation, and other gardening issues. I'm hoping since we're both active here on figfanatic.com that I can have the chance to learn from you.
 
Figless said:
@"bushdoctor82"#14 . I loved your post, and I five starred it. But I didn't really know that rkn was active in the state of New Jersey.? Do you think you might have imported it into your garden or was it there naturally?? I have often read your posted text on fig cultivation this last year, and have been very impressed. I know I'm a total newbie with online gardening forums on fig cultivation, and other gardening issues. I'm hoping since we're both active here on figfanatic.com that I can have the chance to learn from you.
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They are not as active as down in the Southeast, but are definitely active throughout the mid-Atlantic states as well. I can only speculate on how they arrived in my yard. Could have always been here. Could have been imported during soil deliveries. Could have been imported with nursery transplants or from transplants from family members homes. Who knows? I do know that I have been unknowingly spreading them around the yard for years during yard work, dirty tools, moving plants and soil around yard, using infected compost, etc. 

I agree - I hope we can all learn from eachother.
 
Mustard is starting to flower - I hope it’ll hold off going to seed until the weekend when I have time to weed whack and till it under. If not, I’ll have to take care of it one evening during the week. I pulled the remaining tomatoes and as expected roots were swollen with RKN galls - I sowed more mustard seed in that location.

A big ol’ groundhog showed up again this morning. As soon as he leaves from underneath the deck, I’ll have to board up and seal his entrance.

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The time has come to tie up loose ends on this thread. I pulled my cucumbers this evening to check the roots for RKN.

As mentioned above, I planted and tilled in mustard last Fall and again this Spring in an attempt to eradicate or at a minimum control RKN. As can be seen in the pictures, RKN is still present in the vegetable garden, but anecdotally, to a much lesser extent (frankly, I’m shocked my cucumbers were as productive as they were after looking at the roots). My herbs, tomatoes and peppers are still healthy and productive, so I won’t know the extent until they’re pulled as well.

The photos show the cucumber with the greatest amount of galls, a cucumber that was potted in RKN soil treated by using an ASD approach (https://figfanatic.com/threads/soil-pest-management.1279/) and an overview of all cucumber plants. The difference is night and day.

One caveat - I can’t confirm that the potting soil used had the same amount of RKN present as the soil in vegetable garden and I won’t know if RKN is found in the other pots using same soil until I pull the peppers and tomatoes from them (they are also growing very well and productive).

The other plot where I’m growing herbs, marigolds and a newly planted fig tree is also producing and is healthy. I’ll check the roots of each at seasons end.

A few thoughts. My cucumbers took a turn for the worse in the last few weeks. I attributed this downturn due to disease, which was present, but this timeframe was also when my average soil temperature peaked for the year and when RKN multiply and thrive. Even though RKN is still present in my vegetable garden, I am still going to sow mustard and till in next Spring. Growing and tilling it in only delays my plantings a few weeks and I believe it has helped to some degree. Marigolds are useless as a deterrence or for control when planted in same season. I’ll plant them again for no other reason than I have the seeds and they’re easy to grow. I’ll be mulching heavy with leaves and leaf mold again to bump up the organic matter and continue using JMS and JLF. I’ll also be adding castor seed meal to my attack once I collect and process enough seeds.

Overall, this season has been a success so far even though I didn’t eradicate RKN. I’m open to trying new ideas for control if anyone has them outside of chemical products.

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This is very encouraging. I'm glad it's at least keeping things under control. I know how challenging this has been...

I'm curious.... Are you far from any farms or orchards? I just wonder how commercial growers manage this problem. Being in the soil I can imagine it's particularly difficult to manage on a large scale
 
Wonder if you tried the neem meal and if it worked or helped?
Also have you tried (not sure if legal where you are located) Having a bonfire in an area of the yard.
And testing that area for them.
My understanding is the nematodes are shallow. Heat the upper layers, kill the nematodes?
Just thoughts. Have not had to deal with them yet.
 
TorontoJoe said:
This is very encouraging. I'm glad it's at least keeping things under control. I know how challenging this has been...

I'm curious.... Are you far from any farms or orchards? I just wonder how commercial growers manage this problem. Being in the soil I can imagine it's particularly difficult to manage on a large scale
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I’m within 5-10 miles of plenty of farms, farm markets and orchards - we are the Garden State after all.

I would assume some of the farmers have to deal with RKN - just not sure to what extent and if/how they treat the soil.
 
GoodFriendMike said:
Wonder if you tried the neem meal and if it worked or helped?
Also have you tried (not sure if legal where you are located) Having a bonfire in an area of the yard.
And testing that area for them.
My understanding is the nematodes are shallow. Heat the upper layers, kill the nematodes?
Just thoughts. Have not had to deal with them yet.
Click to expand...
Neem meal and crab meal are on the list. I read a few studies out of India or Pakistan awhile back that showed some positive results using neem meal and growing tomatoes.

A bonfire won’t work in my location. My vegetable garden is backed up against my neighbors fence. Soil solarization is a method that some home gardeners employ to cook the upper 4-6” of soil, but you lose the garden for the Summer and I’ve read reports that RKN can move to lower in the soil profile during solarization to survive.
 
bushdoctor82 said:
I’ve had several crops fall victim to RKN this summer, most notably cucumbers, beans and tomatoes. I planted mustard seed 3-weeks ago in the vegetable garden (first picture) and also planted mustard seed 2-weeks ago where my RKN infested potted fig used to be (second picture).

At first flowering (30-40 days after sowing), the crop will be chopped up and tilled into the soil. Mustard has high levels of glucosinolates, which get broken down to isothiocyanates upon tissue damage and incorporated into wet soil. Isothiocyanates can/may poison soil borne pests and inhibit pests from laying eggs and reproducing, including RKN. I’ll be reseeding mustard again in these locations late Winter, followed by planting marigolds in Spring/Summer.

Both mustard and marigolds appear to be an inexpensive way to potentially control RKN, germinate quick and easy and at minimum you’ll be adding organic matter to soil and attract pollinators to your garden.

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Am I correct in remembering marigolds when going to seed they will sprout on their own come spring? If this is correct once you till it into the soil you should see them regrow.
 
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