Effects of Film Mulch and Soil Pesticides on Nematodes,Weeds, and Yields of Vegetable Crops

Field plots in Tifton loamy sand were treated with various soil pesticides in 1973 and 1974 and either left exposed or covered with biodegradable flint mulch. Test crops were cantaloup, slicing and pickling cucumber, squash, and sweet corn. Overhead sprinkler irrigation was used in 1973, and trickle irrigation under the film mulch was used on sweet corn in 1974. Soil was assayed for nematodes, and roots of plants were evaluated for damage by root-knot nematodes. Nematode populations were reduced by soil treatment with an organic phosphate or carbamate nematicide-herbicide-fungicide combination (NHF), DD-MENCS, methyl bromide-chloropicrin (MBR-CP), ethoprop, carbofuran, and sodium azide + ethoprop or carbofuran. Sodium azide, sodium azide + ethoprop or carbofuran, ethoprop, and carbofuran were less effective than DD-MENCS, MBR-CP, attd the NHF combination. The NHF combination controlled grasses and broadteaf weeds as effectively as the herbicide alone. Growth and yield were greatest when nematodes and weeds were controlled. Yields of marketable vegetables were highest from plants in plots treated with DD-MENCS with a film mulch.