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Effects of Container Bases on the Spread of Meloidogyne incognita in a Hawaiian Ornamental Nursery

The influence of container bases on nematode spread from infested pots or ground in an ornamental foliage nursery was investigated with Meloidogyne incognita as the test nematode and cowpea as the indicator plant. The container bases examined were black cloth, concrete masonry blocks, gravel, crushed cinders, and bare ground. Masonry blocks raised 46 cm above ground (raised bench) served as the control treatment. Under the standard nursery practice of irrigation by rainfall and supplemental overhead sprinkler, nematodes spread from contaminated pots or ground to adjacent nematode-free pots on all tested container bases. Incidence of spread, measured as the percentage of nematode-free pots that became contaminated, increased over time and occurred more extensively from ground to pot than from pot to pot. Ground to pot spread increased rapidly following heavy rains, indicating rain was an important contributing factor. On the M. incognita-infested nursery ground, the nematode was found more frequently associated with weeds than with bare soil, suggesting that weeds were important reservoirs of nematode inoculum for rain-splash dispersal. Placement of containers on a raised bench was more effective than on any of the unraised container bases in preventing the ground to pot spread.