As I opened this message, McAfee virus scan blocked the attachment Mike
included, saying it is unsafe. Thought everyone might want to know
this.
Dear Elaine etc,
I searched the net re reproduction times for Nematodes, I found the
following.
Plant parasitic nematodes have a fairly simple
life cycle which has six stages: the egg, four juvenile stages, and adult.
Inside the egg, the embryo develops into the first stage juvenile. The first
stage juvenile molts inside the eggshell to become a second-stage juvenile,
which hatches from the egg, and in most species, must feed before continuing
to develop. The nematode molts three more times to become a fully developed
adult.
The length of the life cycle varies considerably with each species, its
host plant, and the temperature of its habitat. Rates of activity, growth,
and reproduction increase as soil temperature rises, from about 50°F (10°C)
to about 90°F (32°C). Minimum generation time is about 4 weeks for
many nematodes under optimum conditions (about 81°F or 27°C for many
nematodes).
The number of eggs deposited by a female varies among species and is
affected by the habitat. Most species produce between 50 and 500 eggs, but a
few sometimes produce several thousand eggs per female. Eggs of some species
can survive without hatching for years but hatch quickly when a host plant
grows near them.
(This is another site with info on nematodes if anyone is interested. http://www.marchbiological.com/L/beneficial_nematodes.html)
My question is what is the reproduction
time for the beneficial nematodes and will they multiply in the
CT?
In light of the above info it seems
unlikely that reproduction time would be under 24 hours (the usual CT
cycle). Thus it is unlikely that beneficial Nematodes will reproduce in
CT?? Thus if you are using large brewers (3000litre-600gal, as I am) it
would seem unlikely that you would get sufficient numbers of Beneficial
Nematodes extracted from the compost if you only use say 50
pounds of compost (containing B Nematodes).
This will depend on numbers of nematodes in
the compost of course and how good your extraction is.
This is of particular interest to me
since I have been told that wheat fields where we will be
using the CT have root feeding Nematodes I would like to be able to
inoculate the field with Predatory Nematodes (as well as Fungi Bacteria
etc).
It would seem to me that we will need to make sure
we use enough compost in the CT to get the high numbers of Beneficial
Nematodes since they will not reproduce in the CT (unlike Fungi which will
multiply in the CT)?? With the particular system I use it
is not a problem to deal with 150kg (say 300pounds) of
compost per batch.
Thoughts on the matter would be of great
help.
Thanks for your response on the issue of Strike
Rust I have contacted Bruce Elliot and am waiting for a
reply.
Regards Mike
Harvey.
New Life Soils, West Aus.