Reducing Meloidogyne incognita injury to cucumber in a tomato-cucumber double-cropping system

The effects of a root-knot nematode-resistant tomato cultivar and applicati on of the nematicide ethoprop on root-knot nematode injury to cucumber were compared in a tomato-cucumber double-cropping system. A root-knot nematode -resistant tomato cultivar, Celebrity, and a susceptible cultivar, Heatwave , were grown in rotation with cucumber in 1995 and 1996. Celebrity suppress ed populations of Meloidogyne incognita in the soil and resulted in a low r oot-gall rating on the subsequent cucumber crop. Nematode population densit ies were significantly lower at the termination of the cucumber crop in plo ts following Celebrity than in plots following Heatwave. Premium and market able yields of cucumbers were higher in plots following Celebrity than in p lots following Heatwave. Application of ethoprop through drip irrigation at 4.6 kg a.i./ha reduced root galling on the cucumber crop but had no effect on the nematode population density in the soil at crop termination. Ethopr op did not affect cucumber yield. These results indicate that planting a re sistant tomato cultivar in a tomato-cucumber double-cropping system is more effective than applying ethoprop for managing M. incognita.