ANTS/TERMITS in my compost bed,what to do?!

[baet]

we've got 24, 350-400gal beds of 100% vermicompost.

earlier i was topping off one with compost, pushing compost around and i noticed a little all white-larvae-like-termit!

i dug a hand full out of the top of the bed and there were a dozen or so little bugs, some had wings, others appeared to be just small black ants, some were the all white larvae looking ones. it appears to be a whole colony, i checked some other beds and found nothing.

edit:just did a google search and believe theres some definite termites in there.


but im pretty freaked out, how serious is termits colonizing in a bed?

should i be worried? and what kind of organic remedy could i use to repel the bugs?

because were using compost and 100% organic i dont want to spray anything synthetic or chem that could disrupt the biology of the compost.



i really don't like the idea of a plant growing in a bed with termites. fuck!

 

[baet]

bump

 

[baet]

what about this BORATE-BASED Bora Care Termiticide?

http://www.pestproductsonline.com/p...cticide_and_Fungicide_Concentrate-49-197.html

 

[baet]

anyone

 

[baet]

bump

 

[JOJO420]

Kill em all

Kill em all

Get rid of them ANY way you can. They will RUIN your crop. Had them last year in 1 grow and they cut yield by 50%. They bored into the stems and roots it was disgusting. When i pulled the stumps they were filled like rice with termites, man it was gross. Good luck

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Its a learning experience baet. Let me tell you what is going on in your compost pile. While it has set and composted, litterally thousands of insects have come along and layed thier eggs in your pile.

The fungus nats will hatch in a black cloud and overtake your grow area. Even though they arent harmful, they are a terrible nuisance. Whitefly larvae is abundant and most likely spider mite eggs are present..... but all of those problems can be dealt with.

The biggest and most negative problem you will face is the ever present bettle and deer fly grub worms. They grow to an inch long and survive on roots,(your cannabis). They are hard to kill and you will first notice them when your young plant dies. Dump out the pot and you will find the culprit.

I know everyone yahoo's about organics, but outdoor compost piles are tough business for the cannabis grower.

 

[fishheadbob]

because were using compost and 100% organic i dont want to spray anything synthetic or chem that could disrupt the biology of the compost.
i really don't like the idea of a plant growing in a bed with termites. fuck!

In which case you're fucked. The termites are at home in your compost, just like their less malevolent pals redworms, earthworms, and other nice guys. I'm not organic, but I'm not spray crazy either. Anything I can think of (chemical) which would waste your termites would also do a number on the beneficial guys in your pile.
Even if you were to take your raw compost and heat it up a lot with chicken poo or some other hot manure, the bad guys would probably move right in when things cooled down.
I don't have to deal with termites up here in the tundra, but I spent a lot of time in the tropics where the only effective termite treatments seemed to rely heavily on Dow.

 

[baet]

today we introduced a bunch of predatory nematodes and saturated the bed. there should already be adequate predatory nematodes in the compost from what our friend who made it told us, who owns the soil factory, he found it odd that termites were living in one of our beds.

the beds are around 400 gallon.


JOJO-i can only imagine, that's fucked. like i said supposedly the predatory nematodes are the key, they are microscopic organisms that get inside the termites and destroy them from the inside out.. we'll see.

DS TOKERMD-yeah, sounds lovely ha, older guy/friend I'm growing with tells me the biology of the compost and the nematodes should keep most bad bugs in check, but i have my doubts. predatory nematodes sound key

fishheadbob-yeah, no chem. i never thought termites would be such a serious threat, or i guess i never thought we'd have to deal with them. i was worried about spider mites, powdery mildew a litttle bit, but our clones are clean and come from legit sources. i was worried about a few other things, but these termites...