Subject: Re: Beneficial Nematodes and Wireworms in Turnips

From: [email-masked] (Steve Diver)
Date: 17 Jan 1995 18:55:47 -0000

> Tory,
> 
> Nematode-suppressing green manures and cover crops 
> may be your best "90s technology" alternative.  
> Brassicas like rapeseed and Rhaphanus like oil radish, as well 
> as sorghum-sudangrass all look promising in this regard. 

Whoops!  I see where I jumped from controlling wireworms to 
nematode-suppressing green manures.  

For wireworms, crop rotation is one of the prime
considerations.  Wireworms tend to be a problem in root
crops that follow cereal crops and in fields taken out of 
pastures, hay fields, and sods.  Thus, don't plant a root
crop in such a field until it has grown one or two sequences
of a less-susceptible broadleaf crop, or a broadleaf cover crop 
like buckwheat.  

For a neat illustration on distribution of wireworm species
in North America, and a summary of life cycles, etc., see
"Potato Health Management" published by APS Press.  

In your area of Missouri, it looks like a cross-roads
between three species:  Northern Plains (wheat wireworm,
dusky wireworm; Eastern Corn Belt and Northeast (Eastern
field wireworm; the South (Corn wireworm, conodrus 
wireworm)

Steve Diver
[email-masked]

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