bewarfe of cheap mulch

received this e-mail
subject: experts warn against spreading termites after storms

if you use mulch around hour house be very careful about buying mulch this year. after the hurricane in new orleans many trees were blown over. these trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to get rid of tons and tns of this mulch to any state of company who will come and haul i away. so it will be showing up in home depot and lowes at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem. formosan termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. new orlenas is one of the few areas in the country where the formosan termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the trees blown down were already bady infested with those termites. these tgermites can eat a house down in no time and there is no good control against them.

experts know the termite was intoduced into quachita parish by being transported in infested railroad ties used for landscaping.

just thought i'd pass it along.

Hi, There has been discussion about this on the other garden site, plus an article about it in the Mpls. paper. It is an internet hoax.

ouch, i had no idea. thanks for the info.

Well, it's still comforting to see when it is labeled "termite free" on the mulch bags, saw some at Home Depot tonight. =)

Sorry, had to edit to say: mentioned this to my DH and he has heard the same thing about the mulch coming from Louisiana on the local San Antonio news. However, Orlando Martinez ("garden guru") on WOAI radio San Antonio Saturday garden show, says it is best to buy locally produced mulch to limit introductions of outside pests and viruses.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2006 10:44 PM

A master gardener friend sent this out to us, regarding this subject. I found it to be interestin reading.



Message #2 – Response Message from Mike Merchant, Entomologist with **Texas** Cooperative* *Extension*


I have conducted a little research today on the subject of this email in

response to some media requests, and thought you all might be

interested. I spoke with Louisiana termite researcher Dr. Gregg

Henderson, Louisiana State University, and he informed me that there is

indeed a quarantine on all wood waste from hurricane devastated areas of

southern Louisiana. The quarantine specifically addresses the concern

about Formosan termite-infested wood products being shipped to new

areas. The state is currently debating how or whether large quantities

of wood material can be treated prior to shipping to overflow landfills

in Mississippi that do not currently have Formosans. However, the

bottom line is that Louisiana neither encourages nor condones the sale

of wood waste in mulch from the hurricane damaged areas.



If anyone is chipping, bagging and selling mulch from southern LA it is

being done under the radar and illegally. The same would be true for

Texas where there are also large quantities of wood from Hurricane

Rita-affected areas that also have Formosan termites.



Part of the email message circulating around the Internet is accurate-at

least the part about Formosan termites being found in damaged trees and

the POTENTIAL for Formosans to be transported in wood mulch. However,

the mulching process is highly destructive to termites and the

likelihood is low of transporting a viable mini-colony of Formosans in

this manner. Having said that, Formosan termites have been known to be

shipped in this manner at least once.



The essence of this email is a hoax, in my opinion. I believe it very

unlikely that the large retailers mentioned would be buying and

distributing termites from illegal sources. A far greater, and better

documented risk is the sale and distribution of recycled railroad ties.



Railroad ties are commonly sold throughout the south for use as

landscape timbers. Unfortunately, despite their creosote treatment,

Formosan termites can easily inhabit the center (untreated) areas of

railroad ties. Texas recently enacted a quarantine for this type of

wood coming from Formosan-infested areas; however we are still in the

process of developing enforcement protocols and I am unaware of whether

inspections and stop-sale orders have yet to be enacted.



Despite the fact that I consider risks of Formosan termite infestations

in mulches to be low, I am recommending that consumers be alert to the

presence of termites in bagged or bulk mulches. A quick dousing of a

garden insecticide labeled for control of ant mounds or other soil

insects will control any termites you observe in newly spread mulch. If

you open a bag and find it infested with termites you might consider

resealing the bag and placing it in a larger black plastic garbage bag

and exposing it to the hot sun for several days. Raising mulch

temperatures to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour or more is generally

sufficient to kill all insect life.



Another way to ensure that you don't introduce unwanted termites into

your landscape is to purchase garden mulch from a reliable, local

source. Many municipalities now produce and sell mulches produced from

city yard trimmings and landscape waste. This should be a safe source

for mulch and is a great way to "close the circle" and encourage

recycling of a valuable resource that would otherwise end up in a

landfill.


For more information about Formosan termites, their Texas range and

potential for destruction, see the website at

http://termites.tamu.edu/formosan.html



..........................

Michael Merchant, PhD, BCE

Urban Entomologist

Texas Cooperative Extension

17360 Coit Road

Dallas, Texas 75252-6599

USA






..................................

WOW I hadn't thought about termites in mulch. We have a new Home Depot here in Cottonwood, AZ. and I planned on buying a LOT of mulch so now should I check labels or just check each bag to be sure there are no termites? If I find any it will be easy to let them get to 120 degrees in the sun here so if I suspect them I will do that procedure.

Good info dog! That's why I buy only cedar mulch. My parents used railroad ties up in Michigan and growing up it was funny, after a few years of these lining the driveway I noticed albino colored bugs, looked like the size of carpenter ants, they would cover the ties in specific spots and they were all over the grass near the backgate. I looooved to get out the Raid and blast them but after that, every year they were there. Turns out they were termites! But we didn't have any other wood around but those and dad ended up taking them up a few years later.

here is another good suggestion for application of any mulch that you get unless its already pulp is to put it through your chipper/shredder before applying it to your yard it is better for the soil and holds more moister as well as it slows down evaporation better. ive been getting xmass tree mulch from the county and its always to course for me and i push it through my shredder and it comes out wonder full, far superior than store bought, if you use pinetree mulch alot, as we do in the south.

Snopes.com has a lengthy article, and they pronounce the termite warning *false*.

Read it here:

Howdy guys ...

Seems that there was another individual, that recently started a very similar thread of warning about mulches .. and I am unable to find it.

The other thread included some valid web links to the LSU AG center .. of which provided pertinent and most valuable info about the quarantine in force.

Could (or, would) .. anyone point it out to me - or, pray tell - has the thread been pulled from the site altogether, and if so .. mite anyone shed some light as to the 'why' associated -?-

- Magpye

Magpye: Go to Snopes.com. The Formosan Termites/mulch warning is FALSE and the #1 of the 15 top urban legends currently being sent around the net. It is not true. When you open Snopes, you will find the 15 top urban legends on the right side of the page. Click on #1 and it will take you to the entire story, some of which is copied below.

Formosan Termites
Claim: E-mail warns that buying mulch from major home improvement stores will spread the Formosan subterranean termite.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected via e-mail, 2006]

If you use mulch around your house be very careful about buying mulch this year. After the hurricane in New Orleans many trees were blown over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in the country were the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and most of the trees blown down were already badly infested with those termites. Now we may have the worst case of transporting a problem to all parts of the country that we have ever had. These termites can eat a house in no time at all and we have no good control against them, so tell your friends that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it came from. *****THIS IS FALSE****** PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE REPORT ON SNOPES.COM