BIG lose!! Help!

[Suwich]

Pijaya, I use normal soil with some erode leaves mixed which is the same soil that I use for mango tree. I never use Furadan, I heard that it contains a very harmful chemical that can leave residue in the soil for many years.

[pijaya]

Geoff and John, Benlate is available here I think, but not sure if it will be effective against Phytopthora type rot.

Suwich, That is exactly the soil I use for my mix too. It contains a lot of pathogen but most other plants can tolerate. Furadan (Carbofuran) is one of the most toxic pesticide available so I must use carefully, although I have been using it more frequently after knowing that nematodes exist in the soil.

[Geoff Lovell]

Have you considered sterilising your compost to avoid pathogens etc.

[Julie]

What kills nematodes? Would microwaving or a pressure cooker work? I think some of these little critters can survive extreme environments, but there must be more species of them than types of dog and cat.

[pijaya]

Geoff and Julie
I only sterilize (using microwave) soil I use for seed sowing as it is quite intense labor. It is not possible to sterilize all soil however as I use very large quantity of soil, especially for larger pots like for this gigas. Is there a more efficient sterilization method for sterilize large amount of soil? Some people suggest spread them out in the sun and let natural UV and heat do the job but havn't try that yet.

[Francisco]

Hello, I lost 2 pachypodiums last year by the same way, I could only save one by cutting almost all the stem, but that plant survived and has many branches now, I discarded all the soil I used with those plants and threw out the pots. It is important to say that the soil I used that time wasn't sterilized in microwave as I usually do with all the soil in my plants. Since then I never use non-sterilized soil he he, greetings from Mexico

[Suwich]

I am used to bake soil in microwave once before I was lifetime banned from using kitchen microwave

it is important to buy one dedicated for soil sterilizing.

[IanW]

pijaya Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Geoff and Julie
> I only sterilize (using microwave) soil I use for
> seed sowing as it is quite intense labor. It is
> not possible to sterilize all soil however as I
> use very large quantity of soil, especially for
> larger pots like for this gigas. Is there a more
> efficient sterilization method for sterilize large
> amount of soil? Some people suggest spread them
> out in the sun and let natural UV and heat do the
> job but havn't try that yet.

Would boiling water be good enough to sterilise? If so you could always get a big metal container with your mix and water in and put it over a fire or something maybe?

[rpw53]

Soil that has been sterilized will not be sterile for long when used outdoors....
A better approach is to identify the pathogens involved and apply treatments that target those pathogens...
Changes in culture may help also - for example if the Dorstenia specimens are being grown outdoors, and if the problems are exacerbated by too much water/rainfall, then growing these plants under cover may help to control the problem...
Peyton

[Ali Baba]

Some nematodes can be killed by hot water treatment, the time and temperature needed depends on the plant and the type of nematode. I think you need to get your pest properly identified first. You also need to have very precise temperature control of your water bath to avoid killing the plant as well. Have a look at this link for instance.
Of course that wont help the plants that have started to rot. The advice to sterilize soil given above is of course essential if nematodes are common in the soils you use for potting.
Generally there are chemical treatments available for commercial growers for controlling nematodes but many of these are very toxic to people probably not a good idea for the amateur grower even if you could get hold of them!
Ali