The first time I ran across the root knot nematode I had no idea what it was. All I knew was that it destroyed my crop of green beans within three weeks. The root knot nematode is a small microscopic worm that lives in the soil. The female can lay up to 500 eggs on the roots of your plants. The eggs, feed on your roots and cause a large knot on the larger roots of the plant. The active worms feed on the smaller roots of the plants. This results in your plants dying rather quickly.
Once I had identified the pest that had killed all my green beans I needed to find a way to control them or eliminate them from my garden. However, this wasn't an easy task. I refuse to use any pesticides in my garden. I know that many people here in Tahiti swear by the BIO pesticides they sell in our markets. Unfortunately, these BIO products still contain chemicals that I feel are dangerous to our health.
Digging deeper into this problem I found a working solution that worked for me. I didn't have to use any form of pesticide to get rid of the root knot nematode in my organic garden. I abandoned the large piece of land for 3 months. Here are the steps I took to rid my garden of this pest.
After four months I was able to plant again in this area.
Steps: