Across the corn belt depending on time of year | Biocontrol nematodes survive the "no rootworm present" time intervals in a couple of different ways.
1) There are other insect hosts in the soil such as wireworms and white grubs. In soybeans there are larvae of bean leaf beetle to reproduce in
2) Biocontrol nematodes provided by Persistent Biocontrol retain the wild genes to persist in the soil environment for long periods without host present and reproduction. This is called "Phased infectivity". All other commercially available biocontrol nematodes sold on the internet for homeowners and gardeners have lost these persistent genes and only persist in the soil for 7-30 days. Those persistent genes are easily lost in the mass production of biocontrol nematodes for commercial sale. Mass rearing at Persistent Biocontrol is radically modified to carefully preserve these persistent genes.
An example of these persistent genes: Persistent Biocontrol has soil samples inoculated with nematodes, on the shelf, stored at room temperature that are more than 3 years old. When you toss insects in these soil samples, the insects still die from nematode attack. In these soil samples, the nematodes have never been allowed to reproduce and are the original nematodes inoculated into the soil. |
Biocontrol nematodes - Rootworm - Persistent Biocontrol
