termite treatment and effect on my vegetable

[andreas islinger]

my wife is arranging a termite treatment plan with the company the village here uses in our bangkok settlement. Apparently this company has the piping already installed underground to feed each house...

i have hundreds of vegetables growing in large pots and 4 garden beds, plus a douzen or so seedtrays...

what effect will the spraying have on our food???

i am really concerned because i grow organically to avoid buying sparyed food from the markets...

any ideas/suggestions greatly appreciated...

[Crossy]

The underground stuff won't affect your veggie, the outlets are normally all under the house.

The company that does our place also offers to spray potential surface hotspots, just direct them away from your veggies and all will be fine.

EDIT I've hidden your duplicate topic, let's keep all replies in one place.

[Nigeone]

One thing to ask before starting is what's the active chemical in the application. Usually there's a carrier ie water or white spirit etc and then the actual chemical that does the damage. Lindane is still,used in Thailand although banned in the west as its a nasty chemical. If It was me and it was Lindane there using I would definately stay away. Incidentally I ran a preservation company for many years and Lindane was a no no back in the 90's. Hope that helps. Permethrin is another common chemical in some formulations and you can look that up on the web.

http://npic.orst.edu/index.html

Lindane ...not good !!

http://www.panna.org/resources/specific-pesticides

[peterb17]

Settlement - strange term?

Most insecticides are nerve agents, I would keep them well away from anything destined for consumption , my friends think I am a bit strange- but will not use any sprays .

However if I got termites might change my views.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

i really don't understand why this temite treatment?aren't the houses in your settlement from concrete?

[Inepto Cracy]

@ uptoyoumyfriend, termites eat solid concrete too. I have seen two houses and a restaurant eaten by termites. No one is safe, only regular spraying helps.

[Crossy]

i really don't understand why this temite treatment?aren't the houses in your settlement from concrete?

The house may be concrete, but there is still a lot of wood there for the beasties to munch on.

A mate had a concrete home in Manila, he only discovered his termite problem when the kitchen ceiling collapsed, you really don't want to know how much it cost to fix (the whole house was riddled).

[kamalabob2]

I've had success with the Bangkok Company spraying Fipronil. This is the same active ingredient in the FrontLine I place on our cats. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22606823

[AyG]

If you're concerned about toxic chemicals being sprayed around and inside your house, consider using the Sentricon approach. No spraying, just some bait in the soil outside (and inside if already affected). It's a bit more expensive and takes longer to eradicate an existing infestation, but more environmentally friendly.

http://www.sentricon.com/

It's fairly widely available in Thailand.

[meatboy]

The underground stuff won't affect your veggie, the outlets are normally all under the house.

The company that does our place also offers to spray potential surface hotspots, just direct them away from your veggies and all will be fine.

EDIT I've hidden your duplicate topic, let's keep all replies in one place.

we have ours done every yr.[last month] and the wife made them use a stronger chemical this time,under the house and allround the garden but make sure if you have any pets dont let them in the garden for 24hrs.you will soon know if its working when the takarbs start moving home.

but you still need to treat the garden with termite killer every so often,we use one bought from home pro.about 1200bht.but it was on offer 5litrs.

[allexx]

I've had success with the CCS company in Nacklua, Pattaya. Did the treatment October 1992 and still no termites. Paid 5k for the service.

http://www.ccspestcare.com/eng/service.html

[Mudcrab]

Good chance they will just feed the poison under the house to keep the termites at bay.

Keep kidding yourself that your veggies are "organic" though.

[Mudcrab]

i really don't understand why this temite treatment?aren't the houses in your settlement from concrete?

The house may be concrete, but there is still a lot of wood there for the beasties to munch on.

A mate had a concrete home in Manila, he only discovered his termite problem when the kitchen ceiling collapsed, you really don't want to know how much it cost to fix (the whole house was riddled).

Termites in Oz just love concrete....see it as a challenge apparently. Gotta put a steel barrier between them and any concrete ...not to stop them..but to force em to take a detour so they can be seen.

Edit to add, they are still hard to find and then there is no easy way out.(for our termite friendly posters)...poison is the way to go and out they go...yay Termidor!!

Mind you when I was a kid Dieldrin was all the go...houses 50 years ago didn't have termites........and still don't...or any other living thing.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Mudcrab

[mango66]

we fry them and eat them with the pest free green salat !!

and our body waste we put back in the garden

so the " green " cycle is closed !!

[Mudcrab]

we fry them and eat them with the pest free green salat !!

and our body waste we put back in the garden

so the " green " cycle is closed !!

hopefully then green cycle and the brown cycle have a suitable distance between them!!

[NickJ]

Termites dont eat concrete. They use cracks to get thru.....

[kamalabob2]

I've been using Fipronil termite treatment at my home in Buriram for several years to no ill effect of people or pets.

[AyG]

I've been using Fipronil termite treatment at my home in Buriram for several years to no ill effect of people or pets.

Hmm. From Wikipedia:

"Fipronil is highly toxic for crustaceans, insects and zooplankton, as well as bees, termites, rabbits, the fringe-toed lizard and certain groups of gallinaceous birds. It appears to reduce the longevity and fecundity of female braconid parasitoids. It is also highly toxic to many fish"

"Fipronil is one of the main chemical causes blamed for the spread of colony collapse disorder among bees."

Pleased to hear you haven't apparently harmed your family or pets, but hardly a ringing endorsement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipronil

[topt]

I've been using Fipronil termite treatment at my home in Buriram for several years to no ill effect of people or pets.

Those pictures make them look almost professional - face mask and long rubber gloves! Especially compared to the ones I have seen around here.

Curious how often they do under the house and what the cost is - would they travel to Pattaya.......

[Linzz]

Termites dont eat concrete. They use cracks to get thru.....

My Thai wife believes termites eat concrete...maybe Thai concrete is not so good, who am I to argue

[chiang mai]

Termites cannot eat through concrete:

http://www.orkin.com/ask-the-orkin-man/can-termites-eat-through-concrete/

The trick is to eliminate any natural materials inside the house that termites may wish to eat, man made stuff only.

[meatboy]

I've been using Fipronil termite treatment at my home in Buriram for several years to no ill effect of people or pets.

Those pictures make them look almost professional - face mask and long rubber gloves! Especially compared to the ones I have seen around here.

Curious how often they do under the house and what the cost is - would they travel to Pattaya.......

has the pipework been laid under the whole house?if so our house[large] is treated once a yr.and the whole garden aswell 2,000bht.

does it work?youl soon know when the tackarbs run for their lives.

[sammygood]

never could make the wife understand it is totally useless in a modern concrete house

and he has a uni degree (but that does count for nothing here) and works for an international company

[NickJ]

They can migrate thru the cracks in the concrete but they cannot eat it.....

[Crossy]

never could make the wife understand it is totally useless in a modern concrete house

and he has a uni degree (but that does count for nothing here) and works for an international company

Did you read post #7?

[Naam]

Termites dont eat concrete. They use cracks to get thru.....

they eat through concrete plaster as if it was wood. saw it myself in India. but i don't know whether they actually eat and digest it.