MANY VEGETABLE PRODUCERS IN THE U.S.A. USE A PRODUCTION SYSTEM KNOWN AS PLASTICULTURE WHERE A THIN SHEET OF PLASTIC IS STRETCHED OVER THE SOIL WHICH CROPS ARE PLANTED THROUGH. THIS SYSTEM PROVIDES MANY BENEFITS TO CROP PRODUCTION BUT ALSO ADDS COST. IT IS OFTEN USED IN COMBINATION WITH SOIL FUMIGATION TO CONTROL PESTS WHICH RESIDE IN THE SOIL. IT IS UNCLEAR IF THE BED SIZE THAT IS CURRENTLY USED IS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE SUCCESSFUL CROP PRODUCTION. IF BED SIZE COULD BE REDUCED WITHOUT COMPROMISING CROP YIELD,IT WOULD REDUCE INPUT COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH PLASTIC SHEETING AND SOIL FUMIGANTS. ONE OF THE SOIL PESTS OF PRIMARY CONCERN ARE NEMATODES, MICROSCOPIC ROUND WORMS THAT FEED ON PLANT ROOTS. NEMATODES REQUIRE MANAGEMENT WITH PESTICIDES IN MANY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. THIS OFTEN OCCURS WHEN LIQUID NEMATICIDES ARE APPLIED TO THE SOIL ON SELECTED INTERVALS, WHICH MAY OR NOT COINCIDE WITH THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE MOBILE STAGES OF NEMATODE GROWTH. SOIL TEMPERATURE WILL BE USED TO PRESCRIPTIVELY APPLY NEMATICIDES TO HOPEFULLY IMPROVE THE EFFICACY OF THESE TOOLS. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS WILL BE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE IF EITHER OF THESE PRACTICES REDUCE PRODUCTION INPUT COSTS. STANDARD SCIENTIFIC METHODS WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE BOTH STRATEGIES AND FINDINGS FROM THESE EXPERIMENTS WILL BE PUBLISHED AND PROVIDED TO STAKEHOLDERS. THE GOAL IS THE IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF YIELD LIMITING CROP PESTS WITH ONE OR BOTH STRATEGIES AND TO REDUCE THE COST OF DOMESTIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION.