Flea Control 401

Horticulture Hotline 08/20/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

Continuing from last week’s article about fleas…

Professional pest managers will always do a great job at controlling fleas because they are professionals and they do this for a living.  Since fleas are in so many different life cycles, give the exterminator at least two weeks for their product to work.  As mentioned last week, the flea population are in several different life cycles at any given time. Adult  biting fleas only account for about 2% of the population, the rest are in the egg, larva and pupae stage.  If you help the professional by vacuuming, you will get better results.

When treating fleas, it is good to treat your animal, your house and your yard.  This three-prong attack gives you the best results. 

If you are a “do it yourselfer” there are a few products that can make a difficult job easy. 

Fleas can be controlled by starting with your animal.  There are two products that you can apply directly to you animal that I use. Prefurred One and Petcor work great preventatively and will work once the pet is under attack. At Possum’s we sell several other products that are very effective. I just happen to use these because I have them at my house.

Precor 2625 (new product and very effective on many pest), Ultracide, Precor 2000 or Alpine IGR should be sprayed inside your house.  As mentioned last week, it is important to vacuum your house daily when you are trying to control fleas.  If your vacuum has a bag, you want to remove it and put it in a plastic bag, and put it in the trash can outside after each vacuum.   Ultracide will kill the biting fleas and has a growth regulator that will prevent the treated population from maturing into reproducing, biting adult fleas. EcoVia EC is an effective NOP (National Organics Program) compliant product; however, it doesn’t have the growth regulator.

Since I am cheap and know a little bit about fleas, I usually limit my spraying of the house to a few key areas where my dog hangs out.  Remember from last week, when a dog gets up from a nap and shakes, he is shaking eggs off of his body.  I concentrate my spraying in and around those areas where he usually naps.  A can of spray can last several seasons with this method. As a store owner (Possum’s), tips like these can put you out of business!  

Outside use Lebanon Insect Control in the yard.  Be sure to treat mulched areas because the larvae live in moist wet areas.  This product will knock down the adult flea population.  Lebanon Insect Control will also control chiggers, ticks, chinch bugs, grubs,  fire ants and many other pests. Bug Blaster and Essentria G (organic) will also do a good job.

Nylar (Pivot) is a growth regulator that will prevent the fleas from becoming reproducing adults.  Be sure to spray the Nylar in your beds. Nylar is a great product outside because the sun doesn’t break it down like some growth regulators (Precor). Nylar can be used indoors as well.  Nylar mimics an insect hormone that can be sprayed around mammals, reptiles, birds, you, your pets and children.  Nylar also controls roaches and mosquitoes as a bonus.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Flea Biology 101

Horticulture Hotline 08/13/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

Fleas have been particularly bad this year.  I have been asked a lot about them in the store (Possum’s) and when I have been out and about. Judging from the amount of flea products I’m ordering for the stores, they have been busy with flea situations as well. Fleas are hard to control because they have a wide range of hosts and their life cycles are designed for survival.  Although there are 2400 different species of fleas, the one we are most concerned with is the cat flea. This week I’m going to write about the biology of the cat flea and next week focus more on the control.

The flea that primarily attacks the dog is called the cat flea.  This flea attacks dogs, cats, and several other wild hosts including rodents, rabbits, squirrels, skunks and yes, the opossum!  They will also attack humans as well.  As you treat your yard, your dog, and your house you need to realize that these other animals can re-infest your yard. 

A flea can go from the egg stage to the adult stage in anywhere from a few weeks to several months (even over 1 year).  This life cycle helps ensure their survival.  The flea will wait in the pupae stage, and emerge as an adult when the conditions are favorable for the survival of the adult. Adult biting fleas only account for about 2% of the population, the rest are in the egg, larva and pupae stage.

The flea lays eggs on its host.  These eggs are not attached to the host so they are constantly falling off.  When a dog gets up from a nap and shakes, the dog is shaking the eggs off of his body.  The egg then becomes a larva. 

The larva can live on the dog or larva also live under grass, soil, mulch or other organic matter.  Larva are very susceptible to heat and desiccation so they usually stay in shady moist areas of the yard.  Treating your flower beds is very important.  You may see the adults out in the middle of your yard; however, they are coming from your mulch beds where it is shady and moist. 

After the larva stage, the flea develops into a pupa.  This pupae stage is what makes the flea so hard to control.  The pupa is made out of a silk like cocoon that protects the flea.  This cocoon is very sticky when first developed and dust and other debris stick to it making it very hard to detect.  If someone moves out of an apartment that had a dog with fleas, the apartment could be closed for months.  When the new tenants open the door and walk in, the adult flea will emerge from the pupae stage and begin biting the person who has entered.  These pupae respond to vibration, so it is good to vacuum when trying to control fleas.  Vacuuming removes fleas and the vibration from the vacuuming brings the flea out of the pupae stage and into the adult stage that is susceptible to control products. 

All these factors make the flea very hard to control.  When using control products there are several different products to use.  Some products are used inside, some outside and some on the animal.  A pest management professional is always a good option when dealing with fleas.

Next week I will write about several different control products.  In the meantime apply Prefurred One, Petcor or Prefurred Plus to your animal, use Precor 2000 inside the house, spread Bug Blaster (or spray EcoVia EC NOP Compliant) in the yard and spray the yard with Nyguard (Growth Regulator). 

Since it takes about two weeks to control fleas, it will also take me two weeks to write about controlling fleas!

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Shrimp Cocktail Anyone?

Horticulture Hotline 08/06/18

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

Until this weekend, I had forgotten the connection between overhead pruning with a pruning saw, pole saw or a chain saw and cigarette smoking. If you are a non-smoker, you know that whatever direction you stand in relation to a smoker, the smoke is going to blow in your face. While I was using a pole saw over the weekend to try to get some more sun and air movement in my yard, I was reminded of no matter what side of the tree you were working on the saw dust was going find its way to your face and eyes! Saw dust in my eyes brought back memories of pruning palms at Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island when I was a young horticulturist.

I was asked the other day while grocery shopping, “I have these insects in my bathroom that have little pinchers, and when you crush them, they smell really bad. What are they and how can I get rid of them?”

When she mentioned the pinchers, I was thinking earwigs.  When she mentioned the foul odor when you crushed them, I knew for sure she was talking about earwigs! 

Earwigs like dead organic matter and moist areas.  If you have recently mulched your beds, sometimes you will see earwigs.  They are considered mainly an outdoor pest.  Earwigs feed on plant material; however, they rarely eat enough to damage plants.   

If you have a pest control company under contract, give them a call and they can get rid of this problem very quickly.  If you would rather do it yourself, the first place to start is to check and be sure you have a 12-24 inch barrier around your house that is free of vegetation and mulch.   Caulk any gaps around pipes, wires, windows, doors or any other area that might be an entry point for the earwig or any other pest (roaches, ants, etc.).  Using yellow bug lights on the outside of your house will attract fewer earwigs and other insects to your house.  Any wood piles, deep pile of leaves, or other areas that stay moist should be removed.  If you have wood for your fire place, you can stack it above ground on metal wood holders, cinder blocks or pallets away from your house.  These are all good practices to help prevent insects and to protect your house.

If these cultural practices do not take care of the problem, you may consider using a control product around the perimeter of your house and any moisture harboring areas (wood pile).  There are many good products (InTice 10 Perimeter NOP Compliant is very good) on the market that would help you control earwigs as well as other insects.

Another similar pest that we have been getting lots of calls at Possum’s about is lawn shrimp. Lawn shrimp like a humid, high moisture area to live and feed. Ground covers like Asiatic Jasmine, Ivy and other moist mulched areas are perfect places for these crustaceans to live. They feed on decaying plant and animal matter. When they enter your house or garage, lawn shrimp are seeking a better life-style; however, they usually die because there is no food for them (decaying plant and animal matter) and the air is too dry. Lawn shrimp also like the moisture from wood piles, flower pots or any other stationary object they can live underneath.

Since lawn shrimp mainly feed on decaying debris, they are more a nuisance than anything else. If you are tired of removing them from your dwelling, you may want to remove their habitats from your entry points to your house. Those nice flower containers next to your entryway may need to go.  Sealing thresholds of doorways will save on your electric bill and help keep these and other uninvited guest outside. Although there are not any chemicals labeled for the control of lawn shrimp (they are a crustacean not an insect), any good perimeter pest control product should hasten their demise as well as help with roaches and other household pests.

There are many Pest Management Professionals that can help you with these and other pests if you would rather leave it up to the professionals.

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.