Root Knot Nematodes

If you’ve ever found a wilted plant in the garden and you know it’s getting enough water, go ahead and hit that subscribe button.
Today we’re talking about Root Knot Nematodes.
What they do to crush a grower’s dreams, and what you can do, if you find them crushing yours.
We’ve all been there. You go out to do your daily garden inspection only to find your favorite pepper plant completely wilted. Loaded with fruit but looks completely dead. Sometimes seeming to have happened over night.
On our farm, the two main causes are generally attributed to root rot fungi or root knot nematodes. On occasion we will even find termites to be the culprit.
Root Knot Nematodes are a root zone parasite belonging to the genus Meloidogyne, that target agricultural crops.
These Nematodes bore through and deposit their eggs into the roots via rectal excretions of a gelatinous matrix. This gelatinous rectal matrix then forms scarring and protective knots around the eggs that will prevent the roots from up taking water and nutrients.
Aside from taking cuttings, little can be done to save a plant that has been affected.
The main methods of treatment for affected soils are chemical nematicides, cover crop green mulching and the use of beneficial predators and organisms. We opt for the later with our use of our FPJ in hopes that the biodiversity of fungi and other microbes will drive them out or eat them.
If you want to know more about KNF and how we make our FPJ, make sure to check out our previous video titled, “Dank Tank - No Rules FPJ”
After cleaning the soil of any infected root debris, we like to hit them hard with full strength FPJ and allow them to “cook” for a week or two before replacing with a transplant.
This approach works well for us and we hope it sheds some light on sudden wilt in your garden and what you can do about it.

[@ericriehle2513]

LOVE the T-shirt, Rich!

[@PepperGuru]

eric riehle I owe you one!

[@chili.Hawaii]

Excellent video imo. Good information to start with.

[@PepperGuru]

hope it helps!

[@chili.Hawaii]

@@PepperGuru I’m sure it’ll help someone ❤️

[@kalieburton4561]

My favorite video yet! Loved the voice-over!

[@PepperGuru]

Kalie Burton felt so weird/self conscious doing it, but for a first attempt I guess it turned out ok! Thank you! :)

[@kalieburton4561]

Pepper Guru - At the beginning I was like “oh shiiiit” does this dude love David Attenborough? Bc he’s one of my faves and you totally bring your unique style to the best kind of information voice-over. Well done sir. 👏🏼

[@PepperGuru]

@@kalieburton4561 haha yes! I think I even channeled a little Les Stroud in there too haha

[@Zenthanol]

Meloidogyne genus nematodes like M. incognita the Southern Root Knot Nematode are especially arduous. As an Integrated Pest Management Specialist myself, I appreciated the video production in this video as well as its content. Great points. It might be interesting to collaborate if you wanted to do more pest-related videos (and I do love me some peppers!).

[@PepperGuru]

Zenthanol absolutely! Anytime. Thank you for watching and feel free to contact me if you ever want to collaborate!

[@Zenthanol]

@@PepperGuru Sure thing, I will be contacting you soon. Maybe a video about common pepper pests and biocontrol agents you encounter could be interesting!

[@KnivesMonroe]

this was incredibly well made! more of this! (subscribed!)

[@PepperGuru]

Knives Monroe than you dude! Means a lot coming from you!

[@ericknight69]

love this my friend. Thanks for sharing!

[@PepperGuru]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@jaytibby]

Nice topic.. And nicely edited.

[@PepperGuru]

JayrseyshoreGardner thanks dude!!

[@robingoffe3731]

Nice job!!

[@PepperGuru]

Thanks for watching Robin!

[@bcl3341]

Good content!

[@PepperGuru]

Thanks for watching!

[@djandre9242]

Love your vids! 🙏 Started growing hot peppers this year, after watching your vids and seeing your plants at PLC I quickly switched to organic fertilizing and started learning more about knf. ❤🙇‍♂ #Feedthesoil

[@PepperGuru]

Word! Glad you are getting into it! That's what its all about! Thanks for watching!

[@djandre9242]

@@PepperGuru Hope to grow monster peppers like yours in the future! ❤🙇‍♂

[@PepperGuru]

@@djandre9242 You will. You already do, but just don't know it yet.

[@togarashi8086]

Dam didn't even know they existed.. Nice video.

[@PepperGuru]

they do, and they can be a pain! thanks for checking it out!

[@PepperWolverine]

high quality video in both subject content and editing. Thanks for the knowledge share. and put some shoes on you darn hippee... haha..JK.

[@PepperGuru]

hahaha! you mean you want me to operate camera, lights, get stank all over me, dirt, sweat etc AND remember to put shoes on!? haha

[@PepperWolverine]

@@PepperGuru I mean at least maybe some jesus joggers...

[@PepperGuru]

@@PepperWolverine ill try to remember them for next time! hahah

[@Chris-bx4vk]

Did any of this work? Ive tried this, chitin, mustard greens, marigolds, etc. Everything other than super expensive nemacides without any luck

[@PepperGuru]

The back up plants that were placed into the container and that planting hole never seemed to have been infected with the nematodes. So, there's that.

[@vimondireksri8820]

Do you dilute the fermented plant juice for soil drench? Thanks

[@PepperGuru]

not in this use case

[@Crozbyguy-rg1iu]

Yep, I have this problem, but the fermented plant juice is pretty dang gross. Better have a strong stomach because it's like being inside a cows rectum. Not joking! It can gag a maggot. Whew!

[@PepperGuru]

@@Crozbyguy-rg1iu if it ain’t stank, it ain’t dank! 🤣😂

[@nityarao672]

I found something like this on my pot grown passiflora. Can I wash the roots with peroxide or something?

[@PepperGuru]

you can attempt an uproot, wash, denude, and new soil transplanting, but often times the plant is done for

[@nityarao672]

@@PepperGuru Ouch. Let's try.

[@antonthompson8010]

Soil treated by neem oil- can this also work?

[@PepperGuru]

no, i dont recommend neem at all. Not only is it ineffective when compared to other pesticides, it also has a toxicity buildup over time.

[@mattstalford4032]

Need that shirt

[@PepperGuru]

its a good one!