Nothing repels them. Home remedies don't work.

Dealing with nematodes means that you need to plant what tolerates them.

Another choice is to plant in large containers.

Foliar nematodes or in the soil? Not that either is easy to handle. Hit the link for options.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Nematodes

Just curious....what plants have exhibited nematode problems?

Which nematodes do you have and do you really need to repel them? Some nematodes are destructive but most are either predators of other nematodes and insects or fairly innocuous.
There are numerous studies that indicate planting non hybrid marigolds can help repel nematodes, if necessary.

Here is a link that might be useful: nematodes

it was probably exaggeration for understanding..

but i think i was once told.. that a tablespoon of soil .. contained millions of nems ... the good.. the bad.. and the ugly ones.. lol

anyone able to give me a more reasonable estimate on that ...

ken

The mention of marigolds to 'repel ' plant parasitic nematodes is very misleading without mentioning the process required. Marigolds don't really repel them at all but SUPPRESS populations when certain species are heavily seeded in a bed, where they need to be grown for an entire season, wall to wall.

Nema populations may be reduced enough after that treatment to allow for the planting of susceptible plants for the next season....after which the parasites will have moved in again and increased their numbers to a potentially damaging level. Of course, this treatment does not work on perennials or woody plantings.
Planting these marigolds here and there or as a border does not work....because they don't have repellant qualities.

At present, our best strategy is to foster a healthy soil system teeming with biological activity. It's been proven that mycorrhizal relationships as well as populations of other soil inhabiting fungi, bacteria, and beneficial nemas assist plants in surviving parasitic nematode attacks.

But Jean's advice about plant selection is probably the most important. If you live in an area where these organisms are common, you had better find out which species are prevalent so that you can choose your plants accordingly.

Hey Ken....I didn't see your question! A healthy soil will have more like hundreds of nematodes per teaspoon....probably less than 500. Soil is too crowded with all the other stuff...like millions upon millions upon millions of bacteria! Lots of other good things, too.

Populations of these microorganisms vary enormously, of course.

i thought it was an exaggeration ... maybe a bucket of soil.. lol.. how about per acre.. there you go.. ought to be safe there ...

but i also pointed out.. there are good and bad ones.. is that correct??? .. or are they all bad and ugly ...

and by good.. i guess that would mean.. beneficial ..

ken

You are correct, Ken. Some are beneficial by attacking insect pests.

tj

There are nematode species that attack the parasitic ones! They are a very important presence in a healthy soil.

Here's something you'll enjoy, Ken.... many years ago, some friends of mine ordered some nematodes that are parasitic to fleas. (They had dog kennels.) At the time, I was in teaching soils classes and had a lab full of some good microscopes.

I asked my friends to bring in their empty nematode container so that I could sort of test the water when I rinsed it with distilled water. Ken, to the naked eye, there was nothing but the tiniest bit of peat dust in the canister! I put a little of the water in the canister, then prepared a simple slide with a drop of that water.

Though the slide looked perfectly clear to the naked eye, that little drop of water was absolutely packed full of flea parasites. Packed!

A slide prepared with garden soil always had a nematode or more, but this was pretty awesome. Neat, huh?

makes you want to believe in things you cant see .. go figure

ken

My tomatoes have them. I read that sawdust with neem cake actually destroys the population and keeps them repopulating. ...but who knows. Molasses kills them but also your earthworms.

Keep in mind that most all of the poisons that will kill off some soil insects will also kill off most of the others. There are those that appear to believe that poisons are more selective about what they kill then thye really are. There are some diseases that are very selective but none of the poisons.
Since many vermicomposters suggest using molasses in the worm bins, to aid digestion of the waste, it probably is not true that molasses kills earthworms.

Laccanvas, neem cake is hard to find in countries other than those which process cold-pressed neem oil. I THINK! It has great properties as a soil amendment, fertilizer, and quality animal feed. I've read about neem cake's effect on parasitic nematodes, but haven't seen any scientific studies, yet.
There are some who are ill informed and might be frightened by things that they don't understand. Knowledge can be empowering. I'll see if I can make contact with one or more of these producers of neem cake to learn more.

Parasitic nematodes can be devasting in some locations. Agriculture resorts to extremely toxic substances to control them in this country just in order to be able to stay in production. It would be very nice if we homeowners and organic growers could easily find a product that repelled the nematodes without sterilizing the soil.

Let's see if we can shed some light on the subject, shall we?

I had root knot nematodes when I lived in Southern California.

Two ways to grow tomatoes in such instances:
1. Grow whatever named tomato you want, but only in containers filled with commercial potting mix

2. Use tomato transplants with a capital letter N after its name -- the N indicates tolerance to nemas.
And before you set the plants into the ground, mix in at least two inches of compost as food for the various beneficial fungi & nemas.

Understand that #2 has a certain degree of limitations but you will be able to harvest tomatoes:
a. The plants will likely run out of steam earlier in the season than will tomatoes in uninfested ground.
b. At the end of the season, dig & remove each rootball because they will have some nodules even though the nemas weren't able to multiply unhindered.