Re: Mysterious Holes
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Mysterious Holes
- From: "* G* C* <j*@erols.com>
- Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 21:31:15 -0700 (MST)
LMann76543@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 97-02-11 09:30:39 EST, you write:
>
> >If the holes are really only a half to three quarters of an inch in
> >diameter they are too small to be vole holes. Bill William A. Shear
>
> Some folks said they had crickets chewing on their rhizomes last
> spring/summer, I think.
>
> Linda Mann lmann76543@aol.com east Tennessee USA
> going back through all the unanswered questions, trying to catch up with
> Clarence
Linda -- I wasn't on the list for the earlier discussion of crickets,
but can tell you they are they worst pest I have. Borers pale in
comparison. It became a significant problem for me about 3 years ago. I
didn't know what was damaging the rhizomes until I came out with a
flashlight one night and found them munching away. The sign of cricket
damage is a shallow, scooped-out depression, ranging from little
fingernail size to as big as your thumb, usually on top of the rhizome,
but sometimes on the side. This can and does kill some plants. I find
that mothballs repel the critters, with just one or two placed by a
rhizome being enough. That still adds up to a lot of mothballs. Mothball
flakes also work. The only other (and ultimately more effective) way
that I know to combat them is to spray the entire premises, surrounding
lawns, bushes, etc. with Ortho's Outdoor Ant and Cricket Spray
repeatedly. Since the cricket damage is much heavier in my front yard
beds than the back yard ones, I fear that I brought much of the problem
on myself by "beautifying" the front gardens with wood chips a few years
ago, thus providing these pests with perfect cover. If anyone can
suggest other effective means of control, I'd appreciate knowing.
