I have been keeping an eye on this pot for 2 days.
Houston we have a Problem!!
I found this under the pot!
Termites,I think?
I have no doubt where they came from,this is the roof of the Hillbilly across the alley,he had them in his roof,and covered the roof with tarps and tarpaper,I am pretty Hot right now.
I have the pot submerged,I hope they can not hold their breath.
I've heard it is terribly difficult to get rid of termites and I don't have a clue where to begin. Wow, I hope you can stop them before it gets any worse!!!!!!! Keep us posted...
Well, yes--termites can hold their breath.
Take the brug out of the pot and hose off the roots. Get an insecticide that will kill termites and spray the roots. Pitch the pot and soil.
Maybe soak the roots in water with B1 before repotting.
Just my opinion.
Oh geez root!! Thats terrible!! I hope they cant hold their breath either! I know nothing about these things except they do alot of damage on wood. Gosh!! I would be upset too!
This Brug is super healthy,I do think I will do as told,it is getting a new pot,Thanks Flicker! I did not know they could hold their breath,I know they are tough.
Not sure why, but I'm not seeing the photos
Ants related to termites ? Ants can live underwater for 14 days ? This is what a big name exterminator claims in their TV commls.
rootdoctor.. I went thru the same thing every year, in our flower pots and everywhere! Right now Termities are everywhere around here. See, where we lives,, there are full of pine trees out of our land and in our land. They are killing the trees! One of our tree just died! Bye to pine tree. I hate that kind of trees. Tired of picking of those pine cones before do the lawnmower cutting. I see termites daily! I find them under flower pots, They are eating the woods! Anyway....
Remove the plant out of the pot and water it to remove those termites and check to make sure all are gone then replant in other new pot and fresh soil. Kill those termties with insecticide.
insectisidal soap on the roots after the dirt is cleaned off to kill remaining termites. then rinse off give a nice soaking and replant.
i had termites get in another pot and had to do this. my neighbors had just had their house treated and the termites ended up in one of my potts with a pussywillow tree. a nice food source. i was mad.
hang in their.
you might want to get someone to check your house just in case. hope not though.
good luck and sorry.
hey you could always take them back to their owner. hehe
Bob get rid of the termites before they get your house. Maybe you should have your house and yard treated. since your neighbor has them you very well could too and not know until the damge is done.
I'm pretty good Donna,I just had this house painted and sealed,I am worried about the garage/potting shed,I keep a good eye out for bugs,I am probably more worried about Cats then termites,eat my garage,thats one thing,but eat my Brugs and it is War!
Wish you much luck Bob.
Thanks Donna,I know this is not going to be easy.
Hey Doc...this might sound crazy, but about 10 years ago when I was at work we had an outbreak of termites. We called the exterminators and they couldn't come for almost a week. Ugh....we had flying critters everywhere. They told us to spray them with hairspray. It causes their wings to stick together and it also suffocates them...KILLING THEM DEAD! And it does work! Good luck getting rid of them!
I pulled the pot out of water this morning,no sign of anything,I am going to clean the roots and repot it later today.
Now I can see the photos.
OUCH! Can't you re-use the pots, after a thorough cleaning with bleach or would eggs live on? I've never had termites (knock on wood) so not sure. I noticed some little black bugs in around the holes of the bottoms of my brug pots the other day. I stuck the pots in soapy water and it seemed to clear it up.
Gee Root, I bet the call from all that new beautiful wood for your deck was too much for them. I wonder if they could smell it being cut.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2004 2:17 PM
Hi Root, when we lived in Dallas, Texas we had a neighbor who installed a swimming pool. We didn't know she had termites in the ground where they dug. We had just purchased our home and had been there about 2 months. I was wallpapering the master bathroom one day and my fingers went clear through the drywall - yuk!!! Termites. I am telling you this so you will know that our house had passed all of the inspections including for termites 2 months before. It only took them 2 weeks from the time they swarmed from our neighbors to our flowerbed which was surrounded by a patio. No wood at all and only the previous owners wood chips around the plants in this dirt planter. They made the little tunnels of dirt like in your first picture up the concrete foundation until they hit paydirt or in this case - wood. Came on up a 2x6 and ate clear through the drywall behind a large 4'x6' mirror over my husbands vanity. Had I not taken the large mirror down and been wallpapering - I don't know how much damage they would have done. The law there was if you had termites you had to notify all of your neighbors and treat for them. I just don't remember what the radius from our home was at the time - I think we told everyone for 2 blocks or so and the elementary school behind our home. I hated to have to have these chemicals used inside as well as outside of our home. One saving grace was they pulled up all the carpeting from the interior walls and drilled 1" holes through the concrete floors and pressure pumped the chemicals into the holes. Refilled the holes with cement and reinstalled the carpeting. Big job. Outside they drilled holes every 12" and did the same thing. We didn't even see an ant for 3 years around our house outside. Powerful stuff and hope never to have to use it up here in Iowa as we have a basement and don't need the chemicals around Ethan. We never used wood chips or wood mulch around our foundations after that episode. By the way - missed seeing you at the roundup and I did not even see one mushroom this year let alone eat one!!! Boo Hoo.