On May 6, Brandon Gominho and Shawn Steffan delivered a nematode ranching workshop, hosted at Pergande Cranberry. The methods developed in the Steffan lab have improved greatly since 2020, both in efficiency, and in reduced odor! For those who are curious about the process, we wanted to share the propagation protocol used. We “ranch” in two stages after receiving a new culture: first small scale in petri dishes, then increasing production to large scale in paint trays.

General information

1. The nematodes are soil dwelling organisms so they don’t like light or sitting in water for too long.
2. We found they prefer temperatures around the 70s. They will survive at temperatures as low as high 40s, but their numbers will be low and they’ll be moving slowly.
3. We use mealworms for propagation, but they can be propagated on numerous host types. They generally like beetle and butterfly/moth larvae.
4. Since they don’t like sitting in water, we recommend using them the day you collect them. Whether for application or plate/tray creation, they will preform better if you use them day of. They can survive in water kept at room temp or in the fridge for a day, but their numbers will fall pretty quickly after.
5. If you have the 2 species we provide, Oscheious onirici (Oo) and Heterorhabditis georgiana (Hg), then keep them separated and do not cross contaminate. They can be applied together, but they do not grow well together. They both follow the same procedure and timeline outlined below.

Nematode Small-Scale Propagation Protocol (Petri Dish)

Nematode Large-Scale Propagation Protocol (Paint Tray)

This article was posted in Cranberry and tagged Brandon Gominho, Cranberries, cranberry, nematode, nematode ranching, Nematodes, Shawn Steffan.