A Bucket Microplot Technique for Studying Phytonematodes. J. N. Pinkerton, Former Research Associate, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350. G. S. Santo, and J. H. Wilson. Professor, and Agricultural Research Technician II, Department of Plant Pathology, Washington State University, Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center, Prosser 99350. Plant Dis. 73:63-65. Accepted for publication 2 September 1988. Copyright 1989 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-73-0063.

Inexpensive microplots were constructed from modified 19-L plastic buckets. Bucket microplots permitted experiments to be established with plants at field-planting density. Weekly whole-plant sampling was achieved with minimal disturbance to the adjacent plots. The entire soil profile in the rooting zone and the intact root system in each microplot was collected for nematode population density and distribution studies. Nematode densities increased 1,100-fold after 134 days. Eggs in the soil, eggs in egg masses on roots, and second-stage juveniles in the soil accounted for 49, 41, and 10%, respectively, of the final nematode population.