Normal or Nematode??

sceleste54 10/6/2012, 8:33 pm

Today I pulled up my beans to get ready for fall. I had Chinese Long beans and Rattlesnake beans planted in together. I got these planted late so neither variety did very well, but the long beans produced way better than the rattlesnakes. When I pulled them up, the rattlesnake beans had "normal" roots. The long beans had what you see in the photos below. Every one of the long beans had these knobby nodular growths on the roots. I know some legumes are good for fixing nitrogen in nodules on the roots. I'm wondering if anyone knows if these are good or bad??

Normal or Nematode?? 10061811

**camprn** 10/6/2012, 9:04 pm

All the normal nodes I have seen on my bean plant roots have been smaller.
Google bean plant roots
This is what Nematode Damage looks like.

sceleste54 10/6/2012, 9:23 pm

Thanks for the link Camprn, looking at all those pics makes me think this is indeed root knot nematode damage. My beds are 18 inches deep, strictly Mel's Mix. I would have thought that would have prevented this heavy an infestation. Oh well... looks like I'll be planting Marigolds next spring and see if that helps..

**camprn** 10/6/2012, 9:50 pm

Take a sample to your Coop extension Ag agent and ask for a diagnosis. You can probably send it to a lab to find out for sure.

FamilyGardening 10/7/2012, 2:45 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root-knot_nematode

*Root-knot nematode larvae infect plant roots, causing the development of root-knot galls that drain the plant's photosynthate and nutrients. Infection of young plants may be lethal, while infection of mature plants causes decreased yield.*

found this info on Gulls........

the website has a great pick of the Gulls too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall

hope this helps
hugs
rose

sceleste54 10/7/2012, 1:47 pm

Thanks all for the replies.. Smile

Interestingly enough the plants with the ugliest roots were actually the ones that produced the best. None of the plants produced outstandingly, I got enough beans off a 6 foot row to feed just me all summer, hubby wouldn't eat them cause they were not from a can... Wink

but at least I got some!

**camprn** 10/7/2012, 2:51 pm

LOL, Sceleste, you just have to plant more next year and can them so the hubby will eat them! Wink

**Turan** 10/7/2012, 3:35 pm

sceleste54 wrote:Thanks all for the replies.. Interestingly enough the plants with the ugliest roots were actually the ones that produced the best.

Here is a pic of beans with nitrogen fixing nodules.

Normal or Nematode?? 2008_09_n_nodule2

That with your saying those are the plants that did best leads me to conclude that you managed to get at least some of the beans having a symbiotic nitrogen fixing relationship.

Here is where I got the picture, it has some useful info about this. Nitrogen Fixing Root Nodules

littlejo 10/7/2012, 5:55 pm

I had Nematodes last yr. To tell if it is nematodes or nitrogen, take the roots and see if you can rub the nodules off. If you can, it's just nitrogen. If it is inside the roots, and cannot be rubbed off, then it's nematodes.

If you are in a warm enough climate, get those marigolds planted now. I only had 1 bed that had them last yr, and have none this yr.
Plant the marigolds thickly, then before planting, chop up the marigold plants and turn them under, then plant your veggies. I have marigolds all over the place this yr. I don't think the marigolds help with anything else but the garden is pretty.

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