Author: Matthew Grady

If you woke up tomorrow morning and discovered your roof was leaking what would you do first? Most people would probably get a bucket and place it under the leak and then call someone to fix the problem. Now whom would you call? Would you call a roofer to come fix your roof or would you call a “water control service” to empty and replace the bucket every time it rains? Of course, you’d call the company that could prevent the leak from reoccurring. This same logic can be applied to mice infestations.

When most homeowners realize they have a mouse problem they call a large pest control company to come out to perform a mice-poisoning service. This involves setting up numerous poison stations throughout the house. As the mice enter the house most of them feed from these poison stations and die. The company then returns four times each year to refill the poison stations and hands you a bill each time they visit. Meanwhile nothing is being done to prevent mice from entering your home in the first place. This process goes on forever!

Mouse-Proofing - A More Sensible Approach

What if mice were not able to gain access to your home? If this were the case there wouldn’t be a need to load your house with poison and enter into the perpetual cycle of quarterly visits and invoices from the pest control company.

In recent years mouse proofing has become a more effective, longer lasting and more environmentally responsible alternative to mice poisoning services.

Can My House Be Mouse Proofed?

Not every home is able to be totally mouse proofed. Certain conditions make total mouse proofing impossible. For example, older homes with loose stone foundations are rarely candidates for total mouse prevention. Another condition that prevents total mouse proofing is the presence of an attached garage. Mice will often use the soft gasket on the bottom of the garage door to slip into your garage.

However if your home is less than 15 years old and has a solid concrete foundation there is a very good chance that it can in fact be totally mouse proofed.

Finding A Mouse-Proofing Company

One problem homeowners will face is that very few companies offer mouse-proofing services. I suggest you exhaust all efforts to find a company in your area that does. When you call, ask them if they provide any type of preventative service as opposed to poisons. If you cannot find a company, you should take a shot at it yourself before you enter the poison cycle. Be sure to set numerous mousetraps throughout your home (at least a dozen) and then make an attempt to seal off all gaps and openings in the foundation and even the roof of your home.

Conclusion

For decades homeowners have lived with mice infestations. Most have never been offered a solution other than poison from the pest control industry. This trend is now changing because total mouse proofing is indeed possible and it is gaining popularity.

About the author:

Matthew Grady is Owner of Bat Guys Wildlife Service, a wildlife-removal company serving Massachusetts. Bat Guys is fully licensed to perform wildlife removal and rid your home of mice, bats, raccoons and more. To learn more about mouse proofing visit http://www.batguys.com/services/mice. © 2007, All Rights Reserved

Author: Jonathan Ya’akobi

There can be little doubt that that dealing with pests and disease in the garden is one of the most daunting tasks for the home, non-professional gardener. Actually, as I’ll reveal to you in a moment, it’s not that easy for me either, 23 years of professional experience notwithstanding. As in all aspects of life, one needs knowledge and experience, but above all, the attitude one holds towards a particular matter will determine the outcome, for good or for bad. The pest problem I’m going to share with you now, may not be absolutely specific to your garden in your particular area, but I’m sure you’ll be able to draw conclusions from it.

I live and garden in central Israel, which has a typical east Mediterranean, semi arid climate. At this time of year, (the end of August) moth caterpillars mainly belonging to the genera Prodenia or Spodoptera, are busy chewing at plant leaves, but the principle damage is to lawns, especially those which are either in a weak state, or have recently been planted and therefore have yet to develop a strong root system. The last two years have seen particularly bad infestations.

Interestingly, all the established lawns I maintain remain virtually unaffected, proving to me at least, that pest control is 95% about providing optimal growing conditions for the garden plants. However, turf lawns that I’ve laid in the last month, have all started to brown-off, and there’s no doubt that the culprits are moth caterpillars. I could have avoided this by the simple expedient of spreading a granular pesticide that protects the lawn for some two months. Enough time to see off the caterpillar season, and for the lawns to establish themselves. But I didn’t. Why?

The reason can be traced to my general reluctance to use pesticides. This for the most part, is definitely the right attitude to hold. For it is almost universally accepted today, that pest and disease control is inseparable from sound horticultural practice, and that the garden should be attracting to it as much wild life as possible, in order to create a natural biological balance, while reliance on pesticides destroys that balance. This is the correct policy in the general sense, but not necessarily in EVERY case. So try to avoid being dogmatic and inflexible, however much in the right you think you are!

About the author:

My name is Jonathan Ya’akobi. I’ve been gardening in a professional capacity since 1984. I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden, but now concentrate on building gardens for private home owners. I also teach horticulture to students on training courses. I’d love to share my knowledge and experience with you. So you’re welcome to visit me on http://www.dryclimategardening.com/

Author: Fran Phalin

What’s cream-colored, less than an inch long, and can be found chewing off your home’s foundation with an overall cost of $2 billion in damages each year? Definitely not your friendly neighborhood bug, that’s for sure. Subterranean termites, considered to be the most destructive pest in the United States, are found in every state except Alaska.

Where do they live and what do they eat?

These dehydration-prone termites are attracted to areas with lots of moisture and must live near the soil or other above ground source to survive. Underground colonies of subterranean termites can contain up to 2 million members and are organized within a caste system, ranging from the queen and king termites who are the “colony founders” to the lower classes. Soldier and reproductive termites fall in between and help support the entire system with the former fighting off predators such as ants. Worker termites, the last group, consume wood and provide food for the rest of the termite colony.

Subterranean termites feed on anything that contain wood fiber and cellulose such as paper, cardboard, and plant products. Their primary source of food includes dead trees and brush, but when the land is cleared by human intervention and houses get built, termites will start to attack the building structures. Termites can penetrate buildings through wood that sits on soil and through building tunnels called mud tubes in foundations. They can also enter easily through cracks or openings in foundations.

What kind of damage can they do?

Homeowners are fearful of subterranean termites for good reason - these termites can collapse an entire building completely. A colony of termites can work diligently and chew through fragments of wood with their strong jaws.

Experts report that termites normally take three to eight years to cause any sort of tangible damage, based on feeding patterns. Other sources estimate that under humid and moisture-filled conditions, a termite colony composed of 60,000 workers could potentially consume a one foot of 2 x 4 inch pine in 100 to 150 days.

How can I tell if I have termites?

Since subterranean termites live underground, the best way to look for termites in your home is to watch out for mud tubes protruding from hidden areas, such as wall crevices, baseboards, and sub-flooring. Blistered wood, soil in cracks, and weak or broken structures can also be a sign of subterranean termites. If you see any appearance of termite entry into your home, call a licensed termite inspector to evaluate your termite situation and what can be done.

Anteater Pest and Lawn Services provide a proactive termite program for inspecting termites, termite damage, and mud tubes. Anteater will install monitoring stations around the perimeter of structures to serve as an early warning system.

How do I get rid of termites?

Pest control professionals utilize three different types of treatment that include soil treatments, wood treatments, and baits.

Soil treatments work to decrease the population of termites and protect the structure long-term. This treatment contains liquid termiticide diluted with water to be injected into the soil around the foundation of the home. This treatment can also be used simultaneously with wood treatments and/or baits.

Wood treatments protect wood from termite infestation and reduce the infestation during treatment by painting unfinished wood with liquids like borate materials.

Baits are put into the ground where there are signs of termites. The bait is usually an insect growth regulator (IGR) or a slow release toxic agent. Once termites eat the bait and return to their colony, it becomes manifested in the colony and reduces the termite population there through weakening the entire colony.

How can I prevent termites in the first place?

Prevention methods for termite infestation include reducing the potential for termites to enter your home and should be reviewed by homeowners. Most of the treatments described above utilize chemicals, which can be toxic to animals and even humans.

The only permanent non-toxic termite treatment is produced by Termistop USA, which uses Flanges and Block outs, a non-chemical solution that prevents termites from entering the home at the service penetrations through the slab. The Termimesh System, composed of stainless steel mesh, creates a “physical barrier” to termite entry when it “keys” into the concrete. By addressing these areas during construction with Termistop Flanges and Block outs, Pest Control Operators reduce the need to apply chemical termiticide within the living space of the building.

Many green building programs around the country emphasize the use of physical barriers and non-chemical termite solutions. Termistop qualifies as a physical barrier in many of these programs, designed to eliminate the need for chemical re-treatments in the interior of the home. Anteater Pest and Lawn are also certified dealers and installers of the Termimesh System.

Prevention is the way to go

The impact that subterranean termites can have on our home is tremendous and can be economically ruinous. Preventing termites should be a priority for concerned homeowners and the permanent non-toxic termite treatment is a great way to prevent termite infestation while serving as an environmentally friendly option.

About the author:

Fran Phalin is a homeowner and freelance writer on things that work. She is based in Austin, Texas.

The proven Termimesh System, produced by Termistop USA and used by Anteater Pest and Lawn, is a proven technology. The system has been reviewed and approved by the Southern Building Code Congress and the Structural Pest Control Board.

Author: Mangesh Chorge

Although synthetic insecticides are proved to be effective in pest control its frequent use causes major problems such as health hazards either by inhalation or ingestion of pesticide or its residue along with the food crop. Due to the public concern over the toxicity & environmental impact of conventional synthetic insecticides a novel kind of mosquito control is necessary. Genetically modified mosquitoes & exploration and utilization of naturally occurring products for combating harmful mosquitoes are the two possible ways to attain this goal. It turns out that analysis of the embryonic development of wild type mosquitoes is important in order to accomplish exogenous DNA injections, phenotypic analysis of mutants and even to define the expression pattern of new genes. However when culicidae species are concerned, morphological information on their developmental biology is limited. Therefore we decided to analyze Aedes aegypti embryonic development.

Further in order to take important step in exploration and utilization of naturally occurring products for combating harmful mosquitoes, we evaluated leaves extract of Annona squamosa for its inhibitory effect on the embryonic development of aedes aegypti mosquito, a most common vector of dengue virus in tropical countries. Dried, powdered leaves of Annona squamosa were macerated in methanol for 24hrs. filtrate is evaporated to dryness. Concentrated extract was tested for its inhibitory effect on egg hatching of Aedes aegypti and compared with water as control and temephos(50%EC) as standard synthetic insecticide. In another experiment, eggs were allowed to exposure of calcium hypochlorite and acetic acid for 30min. to render the egg chorion transparent, without affecting embryo morphological integrity. This enabled observation of embryo development under low power of binocular light microscope.

Embryos at typical major developmental stages were clicked through microscope camera. This work aims at filling a gap on mosquito embryogenisis knowledge, necessary as a toll in further studies directed towards the control of mosquitoes. The extract from the leaves of Annona Squamosa is a good inhibitor of mosquito breeding as it is environmentally safe and non toxic to humans as compared to temephos (50%EC).There is need for studies that will provide the basis for developing more effective prevention strategies, including bioenvironmental factors responsible for mosquito breeding and new mosquito control measures. We hope this study would enable such an approach.

About the author:

Mangesh is a R&D executive. He has a M.Sc. (By research)In Applied Biology from Haffkine Institute For Training, Research & Testing, Parel, Mumbai and a passion to improve the Quality of community health with his nine years experience in Diagnostic Field. He is also pursuing MBA

Author: DianaPesticide Use & Environmental Impact

Thanks to the increasing awareness about environmental issues, groups and individuals have started taking various initiatives to promote more sustainable life styles. Because of the adverse impact they have on the environment, hard pesticides are now being gradually sought to be phased out to make way for more environmentally friendly alternatives, soft pesticides.

But pest control, through pesticide use, is often necessary considering the fact that without a measure of control many insects can cause huge damage to crops. Besides, insects can also affect our quality of life in many different ways. These pests, if not effectively controlled would pose grave public health risks and also create significant negative impacts to the economy. The use of pesticides, as a measure to ensure favorable outcomes, in areas related to food production, public health etc. therefore cannot be discounted.

Pest Control in Hydroponics

In hydroponics cultivation pesticide use is discouraged and often not required. This is because hydroponics crops tend to be more healthy and pest resistant as they are grown under controlled conditions under a precisely regulated nutrient regime. Hydroponics systems mostly use natural preventative measures to control pest and parasite infestations. One of these is companion planting which uses a clever strategy to repel pests by growing plants that produce smells disagreeable to the pests. These plants are grown along with the main crop which is intended to be protected.

But not all bugs are put off by the smell, and at times, other means have to be adopted such as biological insect control. Biological insect control uses predator insects to reduce or destroy infestations. The predator insects consume the harmful, crop damaging species and die out or leave the garden. This is a safe, poison free natural method of pest control. Predator insects are bred commercially for such use and have proved extremely beneficial in pest control. These mostly carnivorous insects do not attack vegetation and being extremely voracious, consumes bugs on a massive scale daily.

Infestation Control The best way to keep tabs on infestation, whether in the greenhouse or the grow-room is to carry out physical inspections to check for any pests. This should be done carefully by checking all likely places where pests may be present like leaves, around stems and even the growing medium. If any bugs are detected the next step is to determine the type of insect and the number of plants affected. The strategy to eliminate the pests will depend on the number of bugs and the extent of the infestation.

Proper identification of the type of pest is important as this will determine which predator insect will best get rid of infestation. This can be done with the help of good garden microscopes and standard gardening reference books. Once an infestation is detected and the harmful bug identified, quick release of predatory insects to control the infestation should follow.

It should be noted that the environment has to be maintained to be favorable to the predator insects. Many predatory insects are susceptible to high temperatures; also there should also be an adequate source of water or shelter. The grow room environment will therefore need to be carefully monitored.

Common Predators:

Ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens)

Ladybugs are most effective against aphids. Ladybugs need plenty of water, so place a small dish of water in your garden. This will help keep both the ladybugs and the insects close to your plants. Adult ladybugs are orange and black and feed on aphids, mites, scales, thrips, whiteflies and beneficial insect food.

Aphidius Colemani & A. Matricariae (Aphidius Colemani & A. Matricariae)

These are small black wasp (2-3 mm.) with narrow waist. They have long antennae. They prey on aphids turning them into brown, mummified shells. These predators are most active at temperatures between 18-26C (65-80F).

Praying Mantis (Tenodera Aridifolia Sinensis)

These are large green or brown insects having fine papery wings. They are shipped as egg cases that take 2-8 weeks to hatch.

These general predators prey on aphids, beetles, caterpillars, leafhoppers, hornworms, squash bugs, white flies and several other pests.

Lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea, C. comanche & C.,Rufilabris)

These are general predators that feast on mealybugs, scales, spider mites, thrips, white flies and insect eggs. They are green or brown in color when adults. Lacewings are most active in temperatures 24-28C (75-80F).

Phytoseiulus Persimilis, New Zealand (Phytoseiulus Persimilis)- New Zealand Strain

These are bright orange mites (0.5 mm./1/20 in.), and are very effective against spider mites. They breed twice as fast as spider mite to make short work of any spider mite infestation.

They do not form webs, but move along the plant using webbing to catch spider mite. These predatory insects are most active in temperature ranges 22-35C (72-100F) and 60-80% humidity.

Pesticide Use & Environmental Impact

Know more about indoor grow tents! Visit www.hydrohuts.com

About the author:

Diana An author about indoor gardening and hydroponics.