Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

If you're coming here for advice, the first thing is going to be: identify the pest. If you're having trouble with that take pictures of what they're doing/leaving behind and someone can probably lead you in the right direction.

Let's talk pest control.
I'm going to stay away from ag-type controls and talk about home/yard/garden type controls.

I'm coming at this as someone who was a landscaper (a real long time ag) and through that a certified commercial applicator. I'm now a certified private applicator ("farmers license"). I rarely need my license because things have come a long way from every solution involving buying a 5 gallon pail of restricted use deathicide and for better or worse, a lot fewer things are restricted use these days. If they're restricted they're things that are scary toxic enough (to humans or the environment) that I'll usually be able to find another way at anything smaller than agricultural scale.

IPM - "Integrated pest management" is the new term for the enlightened methodology of doing things. It's not just spraying poison around, but includes physical methods, cultural controls, pest/herbicides designed to kill, and pest/herbicides designed to interrupt lifecycles. This required actually understanding both the pest you are targeting - behavior and lifecycle as well as the methodology any chemicals you are using acts on this pet and potentially others. That ends up requiring a lot more detective work and looking up a lot more information. Your local county ag extension is typically going to be a great resource for local information, because they know what's causing problems in your area right now, this time of year.

While the thread is absolutely intended to get into your specific problems, there's a few things that we should cover generally to start:

1.) Labeling and safety for you, your pets and the surrounding wildlife

The label is the law. Read that again. The label on a pesticide container is legally binding law. It was approved by the EPA before the material was allowed to be marketed. When it says something, there are good scientifically tested reasons behind it. You should actually read the label, not only looking for how and how much to apply, but also for the precautionary statements and environmental statements.

Very common pesticides can be quite harmful and even deadly to pets in even the smallest amounts. Some animals simply don't have the ability to metabolize what's found in some of these pesticides and will become very sick or die. One of the big ones that gets used a lot Is Talstar P. It's a general use outdoor spray application for everything from mosquitoes to ticks. It's not really great for you, so I wouldn't suggest drinking it or anything, but it's on the safer side for you. And your dogs. But cats and fish can't break down this class of pesticide AT ALL and will die with exposure to even small amounts. So you need to keep cats out of the yard until this stuff is completely dry. The label will tell you this, or at least indicate something that will tell you there is a risk factor that you should be looking up before application.

By the way, this class of pesticides - pyrethrin/pyrethroid - is commonly used for canine flea/tick collars and medication. So yeah, don't use your dog's flea and tick stuff on your cat. It's very much not "close enough" in a lot of cases. And since fish don't take well……don't let your recently treated dog jump in your koi pond either.

2.) Personal protective equipment

All the gear, all the time. Read the label. It will tell you what is required. Don't be dumb - if you're spraying outdoors don't do it with the wind in your face, even if you are wearing a P100, glasses and long sleeves.

When you're done, clean everything, and wash your drat hands. I think we're all used to this by now.

3.) Application procedures

This still ends up being in the safety category, but it's a distinct thing. I'm going to finish this one up later, but it's a lot of how to properly and safely measure and mix out liquid sprays and how to clean your equipment afterwards.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Boring, where's the good stuff?

Okay, you know how I said most of what you need isn't restricted use?

https://www.domyown.com/ and Amazon.

Go nuts. But understand what you're buying. Let's say you need roundup. You can go to the big box store and spend $30 on a gallon container with a lovely sprayer attached that's mixed at under 2% active ingredient or figure out that active ingredient is glyphosate and you can buy a gallon of it at 41% for $42. Or a pint for $14, which is still 6x more active ingredient than that ready to spray gallon. Yeah, you'll need to buy a sprayer but they're not all that expensive, and work a LOT better than the disposable ones on those ready to mix containers.

How to figure out what you want to use? I already suggested your county ag extension. It's probably run by one of your state ag schools. They're awesome. As well as other ag schools. The kinds of research, papers and materials they publish for free is mind blowing. Here's mine:

https://extension.psu.edu/insects-pests-and-diseases/pest-management-and-education/public-homeowners

Motronic fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Oct 22, 2020

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Basic indoor supplies for the northeast:
(tbd)

Basic yard supplies for the northeast:
(tbd)

Basic vegetable garden supplies for the northeast:
(tbd)

Gear:
(tbd)

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Because of COVID my car is now also a restaurant booth and is messier than it's normal rolling trashwagon state. I have been seeing tiny black ants crawling around in it and I wish they weren't there. Aside from not being so slovenly, is there some kind of trap or bait I can put out for them?

Yes, super easy, very much non-toxic to pretty much anything other than ants. Terro. It's borax and sugar water.

They make very handy traps in a few configurations:

https://www.terro.com/terro-liquid-ant-baits-2-pack

You should be able to find these at any hardware store and most grocery stores.

Note, this is not a neurotoxin-style pesticide. They don't die as the touch it/as you spray it on them. I'm gonna go all IPM on this: borax interferes with the digestion of ants. Worker ants, the ones you can see, pick it up out of your bait traps and will eventually die, but so slowly that they have plenty of time to get back to the hive and spread it to the rest of the ants.

So this is a "yeah it takes 2 weeks, but it actually solves the real problem" rather than spraying Talstar and killing the workers basically immediately and a few days later more ants come out of the hive and you're right back where you started.

This stuff is literally so safe you and your dogs and cats could drink it daily and suffer no ill effects. To me, that's the perfect targeted pesticide. There are only a few others that are quite that good that I'm aware of.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Bioshuffle posted:

Are there any additional benefits to hiring out pest control to a professional rather than DIYing it?

I was under the impression of "they have access to stuff you don't",

Yes. They still have access to stuff you don't. Knowledge, techniques and rote experience.

DIY isn't for everyone.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

FCKGW posted:

I bought some Bifen I/T a number of years ago but it hasn't been doing as well this year as it was in years past at controlling my ant population. Does this stuff (pest control products in general) have a shelf life?

They absolutely do. Have you been storing it climate controlled or outside and freezing?

Also, Bifen is a special case - that's an IGR. It needs to get put down at the right time in the lifecycle of the pests to do it's job as an "insect growth regulator" i.e. "sterilization agent".

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

FCKGW posted:

It's been outside in my shed that doesn't freeze but it gets hot as poo poo.

I don't know much about when to apply Bifen, I usually just apply it when it starts to get hot in the summer and the ants start looking for water sources in the house. Generally I leave them be outside.

Either your storage or you application can explain this. Let's start with this: what are you trying to control with bifen? Secondly, what is you USDA zone? https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

FCKGW posted:

I'm in zone 10a.

I have regular black ants outside in my yard that mind themselves most of the year but then when it starts to heat up in the summer they start to come inside the house. I would usually spray some Bifen around the house perimeter and they would stay outside for the rest of the summer. That didn't really happen this year so I'm looking to see why that was and what I should do.

Oh so you're WAY south of what I'm used to. First idea would be that you can use Talstar P outside if that's a problem, but talking about inside I'd be all over Maxforce (https://www.domyown.com/maxforce-complete-granular-bait-p-1603.html) Temprid (https://www.domyown.com/temprid-ready-to-spray-p-2657.html) and Advion (https://www.domyown.com/advion-ant-bait-gel-p-932.html?sub_id=23226). Because as I understand this these aren't bugs that are trying to live inside......they just go wherever the gently caress the want. It's different than trying to control pests that will seek to live in warmth in the northeast.

So big caveat: this isn't my specialty. I hope we get some people who can answer that may have lived close to that zone sooner than the 20 years ago I did.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Yikes, this can be real bad. Basically there's no fixing this if there are untreated areas inside of your building. You can cut down on the number you see, but they'll always be there unless everyone gets rid of them.

So let's start this way: call the condo board back. Tell them your exterminator says these are stragglers coming from another unit. This is the kind of thing they should be getting involved with. Do you know which unit it is? I mean, it's likely to be obvious. One of them is a trash golem and the exterior will probably be a give-away.

If the condo board won't, you can ratchet this up to your county department of health. They may or may not be able to assist.

Now down to control measures: you have to live like you have a permanent roach infestation. No food anywhere accessible. All sealed in containers. All counters and food prep surfaces must be wiped down immediately bother before and after use. You can try.....TRY to physically block them by making sure all baseboard trim it caulked. You can even caulk your outlet covers on, but there are air sealing type things that will be less messy. You should be able to find them at any big box store. Not much of this is likely to be successful, because if the can't get through at the closest wall they're just gonna keep on moving through walls. I wish I had better news on this front, but frankly I don't. This sounds like the kind of infestation that needs multiple treatments of all units if it's going to be handled in a timely fashion. And behavioral changes on the part of the trash golem for the treatments to work.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

IGRs are expensive. And likely unnecessary and ineffective in this application.

I'd be using Bifenthryn, A.K.A. Talstar P at 1 oz per gallon. Is there a reason you chose Permethrin SFR? It's typically used for termites. Talstar is going to take care of both ticks and mosquitoes.

Well, maybe mosquitoes. It sure will kill them, but out inf the woods the might just come right on back from outside of the area while you're there. You'd be wise to spray with a concentrated garlic extract (like this: https://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Barrier-Liquid-Spray-Gallon/dp/B0013JMS5M/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=mosquito+garlic&qid=1611872394&sr=8-3) when you arrive each time.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

horse_ebookmarklet posted:

The Permethrin I only chose as "a buddy" uses this on his hunting cloths and it repels ticks.

Yeah, that's a completely different usage and isn't going to work the same for spraying.

horse_ebookmarklet posted:

What makes the IGR ineffective in my application?

I have always assumed that the mosquitos would just move in once they local population is dead, the Talstar will linger?

Because of exactly this. The population is going to keep moving around. If you're in what sounds like a wet area mosquito habitat and all you're treating is one acre in the middle you're not going to be overwhelmingly successful with an IGR. They'll just come in from elsewhere.

Also, you're not likely to be overwhelmingly successful with any one method which is why:

horse_ebookmarklet posted:

The garlic is interesting... would it be effective to using the Talstar maybe twice (or 3) times a season, but garlic each time?

Yeah. The garlic makes them go away in like....hours. It lasts for a month or so, depending on the amount of rain. Talstar hangs around as well, and seems to be even more rain safe. But again, I think the talstar will take care of your ticks pretty well, and maybe put a dent in the mosquito population, but you're going to need immediate acting stuff to be really comfortable, which is why I suggested the garlic spray.

FYI, IGRs and the propane attractors you mentioned kinda work the same way: their real usage is to be around all season and break the breeding cycle. I don't think that's going to be successful based on the location. I could be wrong, I'm just basing this on typical cabin type properties I'm familiar with.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Blowjob Overtime posted:

Would a hudson sprayer work for a smaller area with the garlic concentrate? Or even just a handheld spray bottle?

We live in the woods, and it would be great to have something that's actually effective to just keep them away from the deck or back yard for summer evenings.

Absolutely. It's all about application speed and how much you need to cover. I spray with a backpack sprayer to cover around 3/4 acre. As long as you can atomize the stuff and get it on the grass and shrubs it's gonna work*.

* Some other goon in another thread said their mosquitos weren't bothered by this stuff so to be clear, i'm in the northeast. So I can tell you for suer it works on whatever kind we get in Eastern PA and the Catskills in NY.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

SpartanIvy posted:

A bought a "Mosquito Sniper System" that attaches to my EGO leaf blower and use that with Talstar P to hose down my bushes and trees and it obliterated the mosquitoes in my backyard (North Texas).

Afterwards one of the trash trees along the fence line died suddenly and I'm not sure if that was related or not, so maybe be careful and test it on a few branches first if you go that route.

Bifenthryn is completely inert to plants. Its method of action is a neurotoxin that messes with sodium channel gating.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

I consider backpack sprayers to be hand sprayers. It's easier to put things down heavier, so sometimes you'll see different recommendations but in general the real distinction is hand/backpack vs. a powered spray cart/device where you're getting into testing nozzles for flow and GPS tracking the spped you intend to spray at (there are super cool ag school apps to help with this).

I think you may have un-applied a bit, but just like big sprayer cart stuff you've now found that with the nozzle you use full coverage takes you 9 gallons. So mix it at the label rate for the square footage based on 9 gallons covering it IF and only if this application doesn't do what you need it to. I'd give it a week and see how things go. You can do a make-up 9 gallon batch mix to bring it up to the recommended concentration per sq. ft.

But less is fine, providing it gives you the results you want. Exceeding the label instructions is bad. And illegal.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Yeup. Exactly that. You've got it.

Hand sprayer instructions are dumbed down to the point of almost no math because people don't pay attention. You are, so you're understanding how this is supposed to work.

I would need to check the label but I believe you have 2 full strength applications per year for that. Could be 3. I deal with a lot of stuff and am not double checking labels right now, but make sure you know what you can do and this year you can start figuring out a schedule that works for you.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

The bad thing is ALL the labels are like that (because they are legal documents that require EPA approval), the good thing is that they all have the same type of format so now that you've slogged through one you know what you're looking for on others.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

ProperGanderPusher posted:

Found a family of wrens in my attic. Google says it’s a major disaster waiting to happen and I need to remove them ASAP, other homeowning friends think it’s not a big deal as long as they aren’t making a mess or damaging my attic. What do you guys think? I plan to plug up the hole they got in through once they leave, obviously.

I wouldn't call it a complete disaster waiting to happen, but I'd make sure you get it sealed up after they leave. And maybe encourage an easier place for them to nest. Put up some nesting boxes, especially near bushes/a tree line if you've got them. They like that kind of thing and it just might be more attractive than trying to break into your attic.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Platystemon posted:

This is from months ago, but it’s still on the page and it’s the lead‐in to something I want to ask.

What pesticide/plant combinations are you aware of that don’t get along? I was reading about piperonyl butoxide (not a pesticide itself but a synergist in the fogger I was using). It’s said to cause “certain ornamental plants” to drop their leaves, but I couldn’t find anything more specific.

I used it and the plants are fine, but I do wonder if there’s anything I should watch out for in the future.

I'm sure there are a bunch, but nothing that I commonly use for pests and plants around my area. I do use a few systemic pesticides, most notably Boxer, which you inject into the base of the tree you're treating. Those are probably the oddest class to me, and really have the tightest compatibility requirements for obvious reasons.

I know that's not terribly helpful, but as always is comes down to reading the label.

And sorry to those asking vertebrate questions. It's really not my thing. I was hoping someone who does that would start lurking/answering.

Motronic fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Jun 8, 2021

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Manager Hoyden posted:

I called a pest control place and they guy who ce out basically said that the only option was nuking the outside walls and ground around the house about ten feet out. Im not ready to go that far quite yet though.

I mean, this is what you should be doing in general in my opinion. Just as preventative. Something like a Talstar. It's a really, really standard pest control contract thing.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

SpartanIvy posted:

And yes I follow the labels, I'm not being a jackass with them. I also have been sealing up every crack, hole, and gap as I find them for 3 years now and it pays off.

Right, this is the current trend in pest management, called IPM/Integrated Pest Management. It's considered best practice if you actually want results. Depending on the target species it may also include things like managing landscape/mulch around the house, insuring there are no low spots/standing water, etc.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

SpartanIvy posted:

It's a constant battle and I think most people expect a one-and-done solution for pests which just isn't realistic if you live in a home that's either old or near any sort of nature.

I think I should probably just put this in the OP, which I haven't looked at for a while. Because, yes. I think a lot of people have no idea what this takes and think there are magic solutions to keeping a house from falling down around you and being infested with the bugs that are going to eat it/your food. Even a quality new build home doesn't buy you much time on a lot of this. And zero time on a decent amount of it.........you're alway maintaining gutters and shrubs, not just for pest control reasons, and you should probably always be doing perimeter treatments either yourself or have a pest control contract.

Even though I can easily do it myself, I keep a pet control contract. That way I have documentation of it being done for future purposes (insurance claims, home sale, etc). They deal with the house treatments, I deal with the rest of the property.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Price sounds right for a 6 month guarantee with mitigation measures out of the gate.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

the yeti posted:

Had a crew in to prune trees the house’s previous owners had let go for probably decades and found a relatively large maple is a hollow fuckin carpenter ant colony.

It’ll come down later this year as it’s now a safety hazard but for now I put about a 2 foot barrier of lambda-cyhalothrin spray around the trunk of it and the other trees in the yard—does that sound reasonable as a mitigation method?

It seems like carpenter ants don’t have huge colonies compared to other species so I’m hoping this will thin them out.

The house had no sign of wood destroying pests when we bought it but we’ll hafta budget to get a pro to do a barrier treatment just in case as there is a lot of old dry wood in there—I could probably manage but as you mentioned, for the sake of documentation and all.

I would have used permethrin just because that's what I'm familiar with, but a quick browse of the fact sheet for lambda-cyhalothrin seems to indicate it works as well for them. The typical label instructions are to treat the colony, so the closer you can get to where they are in the middle of that tree the better. If it's already dead I wouldn't feel bad about drilling into it with a 3/4" spade bit as far up as I could get and jamming a sprayer nozzle in there for a good drench.

And yes yes yes, especially with WDI, get that documentation on a home inspection/treatment for them.

Edit: make sure you are following the label instrcutions on whatever formulation you got of this stuff. The big stand out I saw was that it's not really all that water soluble so home gamer formulations are probably colloidal, meaning you probably need to shake before application and regularly during application. Farmers would mix probably something like that with "light oil" (i.e. diesel).

Motronic fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Jun 10, 2021

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Oh now that's just a drat shame.

Yeah, see if you can do up any ingress holes and re-apply as often as possible per the label to the trunk areas where you can see them. You and your neighbors will be blissfully unaware of the bullet you dodged by identifying and treating this before they ran out of wood in that tree and/or splintered the colony from growth.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

fawning deference posted:

I recently moved into a house in Connecticut that is surrounded by woods.

What kind of natural remedy can I spray inside and outside to generally kill/keep away bugs? I'm working on sealing all the cracks and holes among other things, but I hear things like cayenne pepper/citrus/lavender are like kryptonite to most common bugs, so I was thinking of throwing those things in a spray bottle with warm water. Is that stupid?

EDIT: I also have apple cider vinegar.

If any of that actually worked with any significant effect or duration we wouldn't be using pesticides. Sorry.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

fawning deference posted:

That's the answer I expected. It's overwhelming to try to figure out a general pesticide - I don't have any bug problems but want to keep out the typical pests and take precautions.

There are no "general pesticides". You have to treat for what is problematic in your particular area. At the right times, at the right concentration. And you need to do more than pesticides in a lot of cases. I've brought it up before, but "integrated pest management" is a thing, and it's a good thing. But that's a lot more than just spraying neurotoxins around.

Your county ag extension would be a great place to start with this for information specific to what you should be doing.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

It's really hard to tell from that. Can you take a picture from the side?

On first glance that looks like a wasp, not a bee. You should also include at least what state you live in, and potentially what part of that state if it's big/biodiverse.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

mcgreenvegtables posted:

Luckily I did a whole photoshoot. I am in Boston, MA area.





They are definitely fuzzy, and as best I can see their faces are all black, no yellow.

Okay, definitely a Western/European honey bee. Call your county ag extension. They'll know how to handle this for your area.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

mcgreenvegtables posted:

I just got off the phone with a local bee removal expert. He said based on what I saw 99% chance a swarm (possibly several thousand) entered my house today! So apparently it's a good thing I caught it early.

Homeownership sucks.

But hey, you caught it fast. This is homeownership 101.

Can he come get them/did you get more resources to resolve this?

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

mcgreenvegtables posted:

He said I have a few weeks before it gets out of hand, and he will come by next week to check it out and give me an estimate. I emailed a few other people on a list of beekeepers I found, but most seem like amateurs only interested in easy access swarms, not cutouts.

Very nice. And yeah, he's probably not gonna fix what has has to do to get them out, but even if you just neurotoxined the poo poo out of that swarm......you'd have to open up the same things he will have to do to make it right again.

Sorry. But also thank you for doing the right thing. This is not only the best outcome for you but also good for <waves arms around> everyone.

I may be maintaining a pesticide thread, but I'm very much all about not using them when there are other viable options and better outcomes. Pollinators are a thing that I will accept WORSE outcomes to protect (and you aren't even doing that here....it's already too far gone).

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

mcgreenvegtables posted:

Honey bee follow-up in case anyone is interested. I have seen zero bee activity in the last two days--inside or out. I called the guy who was supposed to check it out today and he said based on that info the bees either moved out or never actually moved in, and no need for him to come over. But I might want to try to figure out what attracted them in the first place--possibly existing honeycomb from a previous colony, and definitely need to have the area better sealed up to prevent others from trying in the future.

Well that's good news. Agreed that you now know you have a sealing problem to address. I'd find it hard to believe there was an old comb in there considering they left, but I'm no beekeeper.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

C-Euro posted:

Was coming here to post about seeing black ants coming into my kitchen from my back patio door, and then I saw this good post-

So I guess I'll be going out to buy some of these tomorrow. Could I place them just outside my back door if I want to keep the ants out, or will that attract other types of bugs?

You'll want to place them along the existing ant trails. I don't think I've ever seen an issue with them attracting other bugs but I've never actually tried putting them outside. I typically perimeter spray so that wouldn't be effective/necessary.

Blue Moonlight posted:

We’re having ant…difficulties…right now, and we’ve put these out. The ants seem to love them, but it seems like a lot of them are dying around the traps. I don’t know if they’re giving up the ghost after dragging a bunch of it back to the colony, or if they’re just not making it back? Should we be cleaning up the dead ants, or would that disrupt the living ants from taking the bait back?

You're probably seeing ants that have made multiple trips. No problem to sweep them up, but don't use any cleaners quite yet - you want to leave that ant trail in tact until you don't see any more coming for the bait.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Ghost Cactus posted:

Ants are beginning to come inside here (southwest US) too - little black ants and tiiiny red ants.

Motronic, do you prefer the Terro to this stuff? It’s active ingredient is Fipronil. I have curious pets I want to keep safe too.

Fipronil is a typical neurotoxin broad-spectrum insecticide. Would you rather use a neurotoxin or a substance that is inter to mammals like the boax used in Terro?

The Fipronil will work faster, but not too fast if they've kept the dosage right to let them get back to the colony.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

SpartanIvy posted:

With that many ants you have to wonder how big the colony is. If you keep giving them the poison it should eventually get fed to the queen and kill the whole colony though.

Yeah, unfortunately it's this. Unless you can track down the colony there's not a lot of better options.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

the yeti posted:

Motronic, while I'm thinking about it -- do you have any thoughts on systemic (i.e., injected or root-applied) tree treatments? I'm kinda leery because it seems like it could kill a wide swath of local insect ecology... but also carpenter ants and other wood destroying pests can get hosed.

The only systemic tree product I'm familiar with is Boxer, which is used for (among other things) Emerald Ash Borer. It's an injectable and you need the $400+ Arbor Systems injector to use it.

There aren't any approved systemic treatments for things like, say, spotted lanterfly because the pesticides used are so broad spectrum that they would also kill pollinators. I think that may be the same thing you'd run into when trying to systemically treat a tree for WDI.

I typically use Talstar P or Bifen I/T applied with a sprayer to as much of the tree as I can reasonable reach in situations like yours. I'm hearing that for some applications an IGR like Tekko can help, but those need to be applied at JUST the right time to be effective (so you need to know your target pest(s) lifecycle). IGR are also typically real expensive.

Motronic fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Jul 9, 2021

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

the yeti posted:

That injector looks hardcore and I've gone down the rabbit hole of looking at all the injectables Arbor sells just to kill time, I had no idea there were nutrient and vitality injectables for trees

Yeah, Arbor Systems is good stuff. I killed me to spend that much on the injector but when I did the math it paid for itself halfway through the second year of treatments as compared to getting someone out here to do it for me.

the yeti posted:

Next time I go to Home Depot I'll try to remember to check what the active was in the "granules absorbed into roots" product I'm thinking of (or if I misunderstood how it's used)

Yeah, that sounds like a "root drench" in a granular form. Let me know the active ingredient and I can probably tell you more.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

devicenull posted:

That Arbor injector looks fairly promising - how much of a pain is that to use in practice? I've got a bunch of ash trees w/ EAB next to a stream, so I can't use any root drench products.

Although it looks like the price of the gun has gone up, and it's $645 now!

It's actually really easy to use. Takes a bit of practice and it's not as quick as they'd have you believe in the videos.....sometimes you have to put the dose in slowly to it's taken up in the tree rather than dribbling out. But it's a lot faster and easier than the older systems where you had to drill and pressurize.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

I just did a continuing ed for my license on this. I chose it because I've never done much vertibrate control and figured I should learn something about it.

Bromethalin, Cholecalciferol and Zinc Phosphide are the popular non-anticoagulant ones they discussed. I'm still not a fan. They have less secondary toxicity, but are still harming wildlife. Almost all of the AC and these non-AC rodenticides cause disorientation and sluggishness, making them easy targets for hawks, cats, whatever......so it's going right into these predators.

I've mentioned it before in this thread, but IPM - Integrated Pest Management - is the current best practice methodology for all of these things. For rodents that would mostly be securing/remove trash and other food sources, repair/reinforce entry points and using glue or snap traps to clean up the stragglers.

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

blindjoe posted:

My house is full of silverfish. My wife does not like this.
How do I get rid of them? What would a professional do? I have kids and a dog, so something they can eat/get sick is probably no good.

If you have that many silverfish you've got some severe moisture problems. I'd start there. This includes any leaks/spills/shower/bath issues inside as well as making sure you don't have a lot of leaf or other debris up against the outside of your home. You should also check for where and how they are getting in and repair the damage/recaulk those areas.

Are they only in specific areas or concentrated in some areas? For non-toxic you actually have a really good option: DE (diatomaceous earth). It's a powder so it will make a mess, but you can spread it around where you see them/where they travel and all the have to do it track through it. It will damage the integrity of their exoskeleton and they will dehydrate and die in a matter of days after contact. It is completely nontoxic, but i wouldn't want to breathe a cloud of it.

This is largely what a professional would be likely to do in a home with children and pets. There are other (neurotoxin) control methods that could be used outside but really, the cleaning and repairs are the actual solution there. Anything less is just a short term stop gap.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Motronic
Nov 6, 2009

Duraflex CS looks very interesting. I'm gonna have to ask around about that.

My gut feeling is that yeah, that advice is still valid and I wish there was a better way to deal with ticks than something that also kills pollinators, but your "this is an island, there is plenty of space outside of it" makes sense to me. Garlic spray works great for me, not so much for others, depends on your mosquito breed.

Are you comfortable giving a general area of the world for this cabin? Might help with specific incest type and what's available. I'll be happy to bring this up in my next ag extension pesticide discussions because it's a really good use case and depending on where you are some not-pesticide integrated pest management practices might help a lot but that also gets into site specifics.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply