Subject: Beneficial Nematodes and Wireworms in Turnips

From: [email-masked]
Date: 14 Jan 1995 19:52:55 -0000

Does anyone have any experience/info on the use of
          beneficial nematodes for control of wireworms.  This is for
          16 acres of organic turnips.

          So far the tentative info I've come up with is:
          1. nematodes are very expensive ($700/acre?)
          2. they are unreliable as a control mechanism
          3. a better solution might be soil sterilization using
          "solarizing", but that means the purchase of a lot of
          plastic and laying out those acres during the main part of
          the summer
          4. it's not practical to consider raising nematodes (are
          they gathered to sell vs being raised?)

          The grower involved would consider doing a 4 - 4 acre plot
          division and experimenting with different alternatives.

          Does anyone have any suggestions/comments from their own
          experience?  Thanks.

Tory Shade, Farm Management Specialist
  & Small Farm Family Program Supervisor
Southeast Region, University Extension-Missouri
Courthouse Basement, PO Box 218
Greenville, MO 63944  USA
(314) 224-3221 ext 31 
[314] 224-3225
INTERNET: [email-masked]