harveyc

Okay, this may not be popular to think about, but it's been "bugging" me for a while and I want to get some thoughts from others on it.

I'm in California and most of my bananas have come as tissue culture plants and a few from other California growers and I think those are okay. However, a few have been from other sources in states that have a history of problems with nematodes and, as such, aren't really supposed to be shipping to California as far as I know. Some people know this as ship anyways and others might not know. That's not what I want to discuss here.

I have no signs of any nematodes, though I don't know what that would look like without digging up the plant, etc. and even then I might not see them. I have some plants in pots and one in the ground and I'm wondering if I should treat them to help safeguard against introducing a harmful pest here. I'm just a hobbyist when it comes to bananas but I do live on a farm and have other crops from which I make my living. I sure don't want to risk that. I could get a restricted pesticide (I have an applicator's permit), but I'd have to explain what I'm using it for to get it added onto my permit and that could cause some troubles for me and others. Are there over-the-counter products or other solutions?

Thanks in advance!

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shopgirl2

Farmers here in southeast N.C. use a teaspoonful of sugar when planting tomato plants to kill nematodes; I wonder if it would work as well for banana plants.... any input?

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Orinoco by the sunlight.

sunfish

I found this. That means they actually slice open the rhizome of the banana until they see no further lesions. A second way of doing that is to actually treat it with hot water for a few seconds and in that way they will kill the eggs or the nematodes that are already inside of the plant.

bencelest

If I am not mistaken AZ41 will kill them. At least that's what instill in my mind when I bought the product.

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Banana Nut

sunfish

Found this.There are currently no chemical controls for nematodes in garden soils, so gardeners need to learn how to control these pests using a variety of cultural practices.

harveyc

Thanks for bringing up this old thread of mine, Carmensol. Is there some personal experience you've had recently that motivated you to bring this thread back to life?

Tony, I remember seeing that type of treatment you've brought up in the recent video produced in Hawaii. Until then, I never realized corms cut be trimmed back so much.

Benny, Joe has mentioned that AZ41 has helped grapes combat infestations of nematodes and I believe the nematodes causing the problem in these vineyards are the common root knot nematode which exist throughout California already. The reniform nematode is another type which is not present (or not in very big numbers to get reported) which can be very destructive. I have no idea whether AZ41 would help with it or not. While AZ41 might help, I would not rely on it as a absolute cure if I received a plant that had the remiform nematodes. I would probably destroy it or cut it back and treat it with hot water as shown in the video.

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sunfish

Hot-water treatmentA hot-water dip has been successfully used to control burrowing nematodes in anthurium and root-knot nema-todes in ginger. Although treatment recommendations by researchers from different parts of the world vary from 5 minutes at 50°C to 25 minutes at 55°C, CTAHR researchers recommend disinfesting banana suckers by soaking them for 10 minutes at 50°C. Our experi-ment with keiki collected from a farm heavily infested with spiral nematodes with low numbers of burrowing nematode showed that hot water treatment at 50°C for 10 minutes was sufficient to kill all nematodes in roots, regardless of the size of the corm (which ranged from 2 to 6 inches in diameter). All of the heat-treated keiki grew well when planted in the field. One drawback of this method is that it requires the use of a hot water tank with temperature-control capability (--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Iunepeace

There's also the highly effective boiling water method that is much more feasible than the hot water method, as the temperature does not have to be controlled and the plants are only immersed for less than a minute.

Boiling Water Treatment of Banana and Plantain | Practical Answers| Practical Action

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Weather

oakshadows

For the serious few about this subject.
ENY-058/NG047: Nematode Management in Organic Agriculture
Plenty of reading and info but to my thinking t/c's are the way to go if your want to avoid the problem.

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"What this country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds."

bananimal

The pros I talked to when I started growing bananas said to use copious amounts of composted cow manure. Other manure sources too.

So I mixed in 50/50 cow with soil from hole and topdressed all new plantings with 3 to 4 inches deep of cow at a 3 ft diameter. Followed up with 1 inch topdressings twice a year. After seven years have not found root knots on any pups I've dug up or seen pstem decline from nematodes. And the new suckers that I leave in grow like crazy after the cow goes down.

Poop is the scoop!

mamtoug

this method is good for home garden:
-dig the planting hole, make it larger than usual and keep it exposed to the sun for few days
- prepare few buckets of hot water at 170F + temp and fill the hole with hot water, nematodes and eggs will be killed in 5 min if exposed to 130F temp
- treat soil /compost /manure you will use to fill the hole with hot water
- let everything cool to ambient temperature then plant the tree
- avoid moving soil near banana tree and control the weeds