"jc" wrote in message ...
"Mark" wrote in message
om...
I pulled up a bolted spinach plant today (just clearing out that patch
for the next thing) and noticed that there were several VERY small
wormlike critters in the dirt clinging to the root. By small, I mean
they were only maybe 3 mm long and less than half a mm in diameter.
They were white and they wiggled initially but stopped within a second
of being exposed to the air. When I touched them, they moved again.

There was no evidence of rot on the root of the plant, no indication
that they had been eating at the root, and no evidence of a diseased
state in any other part of the plant for that matter.

Are these nematodes? Are they the good guys or the bad guys?

Nematodes are usually microscopic. Probably a juvenile grub. Probably
a baddie. -Olin


Any suggestions on less-toxic ways to get rid of them?

Mark