Nematodes are slender, worm-like animals that live in soil, water, and plant tissues.
Too small to be seen with the naked eye, they are spread in infested soil on cultivation equipment, in soil moved by water, and on roots of transplants. Bacteria and fungi enter the roots through nematode wounds and cause severe rotting of plant roots. Symptoms include a general stunting, yellowing, loss of vigor, general decline and death. Another indicator is the presence of galls on plant roots which indicate the presence of root-knot nematodes. The best time to identify a nematode problem is in the summer and early fall.