{"id":13590,"date":"2024-04-09T20:17:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T20:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/gardening\/hacks\/how-to-control-squash-nematodes-using-cereal-rye-grass.html"},"modified":"2024-04-09T20:17:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T20:17:11","slug":"how-to-control-squash-nematodes-using-cereal-rye-grass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/gardening\/hacks\/how-to-control-squash-nematodes-using-cereal-rye-grass.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Control Squash Nematodes Using Cereal Rye Grass"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">There are over a million species of nematodes, making them the most abundant animal living on the planet. These worms, some of them 1\/100th of an inch in length, are soil dwellers but also live on the highest mountain tops and under the sea. In agriculture, many of them perform a helpful nutrient cycling function. But there are exceptions; a few pathogenic outliers like to cause trouble. Generally, nematode species feed off plants and sometimes other animals, but the plant-killing beasts we&#8217;re concerned about are called root-knot nematodes. And, the cover crop that eliminates the nematode problem  &#8211;  fast-growing cereal rye.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Cereal rye (distinct from annual rye) is your go-to crop if root-knot nematodes are feasting on and infecting your plants&#8217; root systems. An additional benefit of planting cereal rye in the fall is that it will enrich your soil in time for spring garden planting. There is also a clever sugar hack that can keep garden worms away from your plants, which is an easy first step before you overhaul your garden with a cover crop.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\">More about cereal rye and nematodes<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"gallery-image lazyload \" src=\"https:\/\/www.housedigest.com\/img\/gallery\/nematodes-stand-no-chance-against-this-fast-growing-grass\/more-about-cereal-rye-and-nematodes-1694528065.jpg\" data-slide-url=\"https:\/\/www.housedigest.com\/1391647\/squash-nematodes-cereal-rye-grass\/slide\/more-about-cereal-rye-and-nematodes\/\" data-post-id=\"1391647\" data-slide-num=\"1\" data-slide-title=\"Nematodes Stand No Chance Against This Fast-Growing Grass: More about cereal rye and nematodes\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" alt=\"rye growing in a field\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Cereal rye is used as a cover crop in commercial agriculture, but it&#8217;s just as useful at functioning the same way, including preventing soil erosion, in your personal garden. The purpose of a cover crop is to provide a type of &#8216;green manure&#8217; and help maintain a nutritional balance in your soil. We strongly\u00a0recommend it.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Root-knot nematodes literally go after the root systems of plants as a food source, killing or deforming them in the process. The great advantage of planting cereal rye, even in your little ole patch of garden, is that any root-knot nematodes will make a beeline for the rye&#8217;s root system, get trapped inside, and expire. Problem solved. Meanwhile, the rye is doing its job of scavenging for the nitrogen that&#8217;s so vital for plants&#8217; chlorophyll production. It also keeps the soil intact and in place throughout the winter months. As you&#8217;re weighing the incredible benefits of planting cereal rye in your garden, consider also\u00a0adding ornamental grasses to your landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are over a million species of nematodes, making them the most abundant animal living on the planet. These worms, some of them 1\/100th of an inch in length, are soil dwellers but also live on the highest mountain tops and under the sea. In agriculture, many of them perform a helpful nutrient cycling function. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hacks"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalideas.org.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}