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ruthj98

Nematodes---what would you do?

So I've done some research on nematodes and see there are several methods to try to get rid of them. But as we are fast approaching our average frost date of mid October, I am wondering what would be the best thing to do. Another possiblility is just to throw it---pot, soil and plant---in the trash. What would you choose to do?

Here is the hosta---Rainforest Sunrise, purchased spring 2012---in a pot. Picture taken today.

Comments (22)

  • Steve Massachusetts
    10 years ago

    If it's in a pot I usually toss it. You could try the hot water method in Spring, but it's easier to buy a new one. It's not like Rainforest Sunrise is rare. As a HOTY it should be widely available.

    Steve

  • paul_in_mn
    10 years ago

    Not sure I see any foliar nematodes in your pic.....nevertheless I assume most of us have infected plants in our garden or will in the future. If you are growing only for your garden and don't plan to sell or give to others....who cares. You'll see some streaks late in the season as the plants are getting ready to go dormant. If selling or sharing, then you should be alerting recipient. I'm not aware of any cure currently available for foliar nematodes....seems like every method is anecdotal at best. American Hosta Society is researching methods to control foliar nematodes.

    Paul

  • josephines167 z5 ON Canada
    10 years ago

    Sometimes the best action is inaction.

    I've thought about it....and if it were mine, I would leave it alone as it is in a pot anyway (pull off any infected leaves and trash them). In spring I would be on the alert...would use bleach solution as a bath as pips emerge and throughout the season....as a normal deterrent for slugs, snails, etc. If it displays nematodes later in the season next year, then trash it and buy a new one.

    I basically side with the fellas. It'll go dormant..ostracize it for the winter.
    P.s. Nice plant, no wonder you were growing fond of it! :-)

    Jo

  • coll_123
    10 years ago

    I'm with Paul- who cares? And I don't see any nemes in that pic either. I have done the hot water treatments. The following year those plants looked cured ( and stunted from the treatment). Then, the following year, they all showed nematodes again. I won't be treating anymore, or throwing any out- they (nemes) are just too difficult to avoid getting, IMO. I'll never have the Garden in the Plastic Bubble- so be it.

  • bkay2000
    10 years ago

    I keep thinking about those kitchen steam cleaners. How could you adapt that technology to "steaming" a garden area?

    bk

  • newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks everyone. It is really good to hear your suggestions and comments. I guess there is no right or wrong answer here. It's an individual choice. Part of me thinks I should keep it and try a treatment in the spring. (I generally don't throw out ANYTHING without careful consideration! LOL) Another part of me says it may be best to get rid of the hosta and reduce the chance of spreading nematodes. My hosta fever began in 2011 and at present, I think I have nematode free hosta plants. And if I do, the way it sounds, that just may not be for long.

    Sorry Paul and Coll 123, I should have posted a picture of a leaf from my Rainforest Sunrise suspected with nematodes. (There is more than one leaf, but they are tucked in behind other leaves.) So I have attached it below. All this came to light after Melati's thread (Stupid question----LOL) and Steve's (Know your nems - a quiz & Know your nems - answer thread). I heard talk of nematodes, but never could really understand it. I didn't know what I should look for until those threads were posted. I think you will understand that a part of me wishes I didn't know what I know now about nematodes, but without the information, I would not be able to protect my current hosta plants. Now I will be on the alert. Boy am I learning a lot from this hosta forum. Thanks to all!

    P.S. Just looked back at some pictures of my RS taken in June. I can't believe it, but there they were! Very clear it was. Only I just didn't know what to look for. Later on in the season, the infected leaves were buried. I had to lift and look. Now I wonder---was it there evidence of nematodes in 2011? I'll never know. I lost most of those photos from a defective memory card. Unfortunately, I had not backed up my photos.

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    What would you choose to do?

    ===>>> really????????????????????????????????????

    ignore them..

    unless you plan on going into retail and selling them ...WHO CARES????

    really now.. they show .. hours before dormancy.... who cares...??????

    are you really going to have visitors who are going to mock you about such???? . ... perhaps .... you take pix earlier in the season...?????? .. and then hide in shame.. lol ...

    there IS Some a line in time ..... . where it simply isnt really an issue ... unless you are completely anal retentive...

    think about it.. who cares this late in the season ???

    WHAT.. YOUR ONLY CONCERN IS WHAT OTHER THINK?????

    i say.. screw them ..... life is too short ... and i aint throwing away what i paid good money for.. [but i wont give it away .....i wont sell it of further it on .... ]

    ken

    ps: i take a risk here.. but... see above who is retentive ... lol ...

  • User
    10 years ago

    Avoid spraying that plant. Don't have others near it because rain splashes too. I tossed one this year because I was too tired to deal with it....not a special plant for me. Do not want to replace it in kind. Last year I obsessed over the two plantagineas with the nems, did the bleach treatment, whole nine yards. They were smaller this year but show no nems at all. It is a chore to remember to keep tools clean but very important. Those little suckers cut me no slack.

    However, if it comes to my precious fragrant hosta, they are worth it.

  • ctopher_mi
    10 years ago

    That isn't nematodes, so don't worry about it.

  • newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Not nematodes, you say, ctopher mi? Well that's a shocker! Would you please elaborate? I would like to learn, and I am sure others would too.

    If nematodes appear late in the season, then why do I have what appears to be nematodes in this picture taken June 8th? I shouldn't be seeing anything until maybe August? (Zone 6, Southern Ontario)

  • gardens1
    10 years ago

    Okay, everyone, time to bite the bullet and ask the stupid question. Is the big problem with nematodes that they damage the foliage, or will it eventually harm the plant itself? If it is foliage only, then I can understand that those with longer growing seasons, who see damage much earlier than we would here in Ontario, over the years much damage could eventually wear down the plant from loss of foliage able to produce chlorophyll to feed the plant. Other than that however, if it is only a few leaves late in the season that don't look perfect, is it truly a big deal? While we strive to keep our gardens looking their best, perhaps we need to remember the only perfect garden ever was Eden? As a newbie to the forum, I would appreciate any feedback/ thought on this. Thanks.

  • in ny zone5
    10 years ago

    That plant is doing wonderfully this late in the season, I would be proud of it. Most of mine here in zone 5 right now have lost many leaves for other reasons and look awful.
    I threw out one plant which was shredded by nematodes in August and poured 10 % bleach into the hole, then sprayed others with a Bayer insecticide (with Merit in it). I also remove leaves with signs of nematodes. Often those sprayed are fine next year(s), others will show it and get sprayed then. In respect to appearance, slugs, insects and too much sun (without a lot of water) are much worse than nematodes. Bernd

    This post was edited by berndnyz5 on Tue, Oct 15, 13 at 16:36

  • ctopher_mi
    10 years ago

    "If nematodes appear late in the season, then why do I have what appears to be nematodes in this picture taken June 8th? I shouldn't be seeing anything until maybe August? (Zone 6, Southern Ontario)"

    Because it isn't nematodes. LOL Sorry I didn't elaborate earlier, but what you are seeing on Rainforest Sunrise is spring desiccation burn (from its Frances Williams genes). Nematodes looks different, with the brown streak extending all the way across from one vein to another. This damage isn't going all the way between the veins.

  • hostafreak
    10 years ago

    I'm with Ken. I don't ever see nematodes in my hostas,and even if I did,so what? I don't sell hostas,and even if someone came to look a my hosta gardens,they wouldn't notice. To date,I have never seen nematodes in my garden,and I don't go looking for them,either. Hostas get all kinds of problems with their leaves,but my most dangerous thing is falling tree branches,which no one can control! Just my two cents worth. Phil

  • User
    10 years ago

    I'm so glad to see that Chris has posted, and maybe I can show some of my nematode leaves for you to further clarify the difference. I must admit, I was puzzled by your first picture, which looked perfectly beautiful to my eyes. Then I saw in your second picture some leaf damage....which still did not have the telltale signs of nematodes, as I understood it would always appear. Of course, I don't know WHAT iit looks like the first day and so I did not speak up.

    Last year 2012, I encountered my first instance of nematodes, and I was having "the vapors" over it. Now I realize that here, in such a hot and humid climate with a LOT of rain, nems show up early and can produce an ugly plant. But as far as I know, it is cosmetic and not fatal. However, when I see the signs of it, I pull those leaves off and then isolate the hosta. Because sooner or later, I'll forget which one it was, the rain will splash it to another plant, and there you go! Since nems are not specific to hosta, other plants I own might be the source.

    And here is the plantaginea which had them last year.

    That wall-to-wall look, THAT's nematode damage. Reminds me of liquid going up a straw. From one vein to the next. If it doesn't have that characteristic, it is something else, not nematodes.

  • User
    10 years ago

    NHL, if you look at my picture above, it was taken in May 2012. Signs of nematodes here occur much earlier than elsewhere. And, if YOURS is nematodes, I'm thinking you must have that plant in a microclimate that is without much air circulation, and it gets warmer than the others in your garden. I could not tell from the oblique angle of the damaged leaf just what the nature of the discoloration might be.

    I think, but am not sure, that if the leaf is left alone, the nematodes will continue climbing up that area between two veins. But it will always be "wall to wall" between those veins.
    Does that help? ?

  • michael1846
    10 years ago

    worm castings/tea?

  • coll_123
    10 years ago

    I have one hosta, Little Sunspot, that I've had since 2006 and noticed nematodes in it two years ago....perhaps they were always there and I wasn't as informed, I don't know. In any case, that particular hosta seems to have a heavy load of the little worms and goes down for count earlier than the others in my garden, because of the excessive browning of the leaves. However, it comes back in the Spring, fuller and lusher than the year before. I suppose keeping it around may increase the chances the nemes will spread to other hostas....but how do I know the ferns or Brunnera or heuchera won't spread their likely nematodes to my beloved hostas in the meantime. In the end, I have bigger things to worry about in life, I have decided. I'd love a non toxic, magic bullet that will wipe them out. But until that is available, I choose to just accept them.

  • newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    First of all, I apologize for not replying sooner---I very much wanted to---but it was Thanksgiving Day here in Canada on Monday and I had guests coming for dinner.

    It seems the general consensus is that if you have nematodes, ignore them and be appreciative of the fact that I am in a more northern climate (where nematodes are seen later on in the growing season.)

    I think for someone who first learns about nematodes, it is natural to want to try to eliminate them or at least try to have control over them. But it seems like a losing battle---like trying to slow down the aging process.

    Thanks Chris for coming back and explaining what you see. My backyard has a southwest exposure and so I get a lot of sun in the spring until my very mature maples leaf out. I like the idea of the discoloration being sun desiccation rather than nematodes!

    Thanks Moccasinlanding for taking time to photograph your plantaginea with nematodes. You definitely have made things clearer for me. I had read that the nematode damage is a brown color and wondered why mine looked more orange. Yours is definitely brown!

    Coll 123, looks like you have a good attitude in regards to the nematode issue. I hope I can have the same one day.

  • User
    10 years ago

    NHL, as an additional comment here, I know some gardeners are perfectionists and they deplore any type of disfiguration of their lovely plants, hosta and so on.

    However, after my first shock of learning about the nematodes and agonizing over treating them, I settled down a bit to a more realistic approach. I read that the chitin found in shell fish, like crab shells, and probably shrimp hulls too (but oh my those smell too bad) are the stuff which the GOOD organisms eat and those organisms also eat the bad nematodes. So I promptly ordered several bags of crab shells from a place in Glouster MA, called Neptune's Harvest. I use it as an additive in my potting mix, and even share it with my DH for his raised veggie beds. When I ordered two 50-lb bags of the crab shells (crushed, of course), I got early morning delivery from UPS. Why? Because they could not stand the bags to remain in their hot truck all day, and I got "preferential delivery" before the day got very hot. I thought that was worth noting, I guess my sense of humor is a bit off center....hehehehe. Kept outdoors, I haven't noticed any strong odors but I keep a lid on it. Once it is added to the beds or the containers, any lingering smell soon dissipates.

    Too soon to tell if it is effective, but when I see the nems waving little white flags I'll know they've given up and I will do my little victory dance.

    Oh yeah. While I thought those crab shells were helping the economy of the fishing village of Glouster MA, I discovered on the bag of crab shells printed plain as day, PRODUCT OF CANADA.....so somehow I'm contributing to the international economy....indirectly....

    I provide a link to the "manufacturer" who offers free shipping to customers in the continental US. I first ran across the crabshells on Amazon though, And I ended up getting some kelp meal as well, since that was what my DH's family in Ireland used to fertilize their farm years ago, and it was a nostalgic purchase as much as anything.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Crushed crab shell..NeptunesHarvest

  • newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well Mocc, you sure have a wealth of information! Aren't we all lucky to have someone like you that is willing to share her knowledge and help others! Thanks a lot!

    It looks like I can get some of those crab shells at a nursery not too far away from me. Worth a try.

    I would love to know what your findings are in regards to the crab shells and nemotodes. Perhaps next year you can give us an update?

  • don_in_colorado
    10 years ago

    Well, at least those bags of crabshells weren't from China, Mocc!! LOL

    Mr. Bright-Side