kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Okay. First, I have to say that I typically just get full loads of wood chips from tree companies. Despite all the worry everyone else has over it, I rarely have problems.
Having said that, about a year and a half ago I was out of wood chips and needed to mulch some areas. Lowe's and Home Depot were having summer sales with cheap mulch so I grabbed a bunch. When I asked, yes they were guaranteed no termites and wouldn't attract them. (With wood chips I can typically find out what type of tree they were working on, so I know the wood.) Anyways, before I get to use the bags, I get another load of wood chip. So I stacked the bags on two of my fallow garden beds to keep them out of the way and to block most weeds from the beds. Fast forward to now. I'm leaving all the garden beds unplanted this year so I can handle some hardscaping projects. But I'm also weeding the beds and mulching them heavily so that they will be ready to go in the spring. So I get to the first bed that has the bag mulch stacked on it. After I move the top two bags, I start seeing termites. You can imagine the cussing that went on. It was creative.
Anyways, off to Lowe's to get stakes, bait traps and spray.
When I got home the already moved mulch bags were put in black lawn and leaf bags. I'm going to see if a friend will help me haul them to the dump. I may spray the heck out of the insides tomorrow as an extra level of precaution. I cleared the garden areas between that garden bed and the house of all weeds. The plan is to start with bait traps 2 ft from the house and do a 2 to 3 foot grid between the house and the infested garden bed. After taking some time to look, it appears that the termites have been so happy with the purchased mulch that they haven't even touched the wood that frames the garden bed itself. Just the mulch.
Anyways, now that you know the background. Do I leave the remaining mulch bags in place for a few more weeks, to discourage them from trying to move on? In that scenario, the bait traps will kill off the colonies. And I will also apply spray, daily if need be, that will kill on contact and is supposed to continue killing. But again, it is a contact poison.
Or, do I yank all the bags and put them in black bags, spray the heck out of the bed while stirring it up and hope I kill as many as possible, letting the bait traps handle the wanderers?
Either way bait traps and spray are going down. Both will be checked frequently to keep them working.
Having said that, about a year and a half ago I was out of wood chips and needed to mulch some areas. Lowe's and Home Depot were having summer sales with cheap mulch so I grabbed a bunch. When I asked, yes they were guaranteed no termites and wouldn't attract them. (With wood chips I can typically find out what type of tree they were working on, so I know the wood.) Anyways, before I get to use the bags, I get another load of wood chip. So I stacked the bags on two of my fallow garden beds to keep them out of the way and to block most weeds from the beds. Fast forward to now. I'm leaving all the garden beds unplanted this year so I can handle some hardscaping projects. But I'm also weeding the beds and mulching them heavily so that they will be ready to go in the spring. So I get to the first bed that has the bag mulch stacked on it. After I move the top two bags, I start seeing termites. You can imagine the cussing that went on. It was creative.
Anyways, off to Lowe's to get stakes, bait traps and spray.
When I got home the already moved mulch bags were put in black lawn and leaf bags. I'm going to see if a friend will help me haul them to the dump. I may spray the heck out of the insides tomorrow as an extra level of precaution. I cleared the garden areas between that garden bed and the house of all weeds. The plan is to start with bait traps 2 ft from the house and do a 2 to 3 foot grid between the house and the infested garden bed. After taking some time to look, it appears that the termites have been so happy with the purchased mulch that they haven't even touched the wood that frames the garden bed itself. Just the mulch.
Anyways, now that you know the background. Do I leave the remaining mulch bags in place for a few more weeks, to discourage them from trying to move on? In that scenario, the bait traps will kill off the colonies. And I will also apply spray, daily if need be, that will kill on contact and is supposed to continue killing. But again, it is a contact poison.
Or, do I yank all the bags and put them in black bags, spray the heck out of the bed while stirring it up and hope I kill as many as possible, letting the bait traps handle the wanderers?
Either way bait traps and spray are going down. Both will be checked frequently to keep them working.