How to control Nematodes in Gourds

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It is very difficult to control Nematodes in fruit crops, vegetables, and Cereals. We know that Gourds are healthy vegetables in the human diet. Gourds are also known as Cucurbits. Vegetables such as Bittergourd, Ridge gourd, Snake gourd, etc comes under Cucurbits. Also, Pumpkin and Watermelon fruits come under the gourd family. Nematodes are small microscopic worms that cause root damage in all the gourds or cucurbits. Those plant-parasitic nematodes take shelter in the soil and feed on the plants in favorable conditions. Gourds are prone to Nematodes such as  Meloidogyne spp.  viz., Southern (M. incognita), and Javanese (M. javanica) root-knot nematodes. However, cucurbits are poor hosts to the northern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne hapla). Nematodes attack the Cucurbits at good soil moisture ranging from 70-90 RH and temperatures between 160C to 210C.

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            In this post, we will let you know about the symptoms of Nematodes damage in gourds, organic control of Root Knot Nematodes, and chemical control of Root Knot Nematodes.

Symptoms of Root Knot nematodes in Gourds

  • Stunted growth of the plant.
  • Leaves turn to yellow resembling Nitrogen deficiency symptoms.
  • Round to spindle shape galls is seen on the plant roots.
  • Wilting of Nematode infested plants.
  • The sudden death of the plants.
How to control Nematodes in Soil

Organic control of Root Knot Nematodes in Cucurbits

  • Incorporate Green Manure crop plants like sesame, rapeseed, white mustard, or perennial ryegrass the season before a gourd crop is planted.  
  • Drenching the soil with biocontrol fungi like Trichoderma and Metarrhizium @ 5-10 ml/lt water.
  • Grow Marigold in between every six rows of the Cucurbit plants.
  • Avoid flood irrigation.

Chemical control of Root Knot Nematodes in Gourds

  • Drenching the soil with Nematicides like Fluensulfone 2% GR (Nimitz) @ 1gm/lt water.

This is all about how to do organic and chemical control of Plant-parasitic Nematodes in Gourds. Furthermore, if you have any queries, comment below.

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