RE: CULT: Crickets--Comet, Vinegar, Mothballs and Garlic

Mike,

First you have my sympathy. One year we had a significant grasshopper
infestation and I was considering digging all 1000 clumps and putting them
in storage in Nevada. Fortunately the birds learned how to catch
grasshoppers. By fall it was impossible to find a grasshopper.

Second, my understanding is that you have your irises planted with the
rhizome exposed. I  plant my rhizomes so they are totally covered. There was
a recent thread about the advantages of planting rhizomes 1 to 2 inches
deep. If you are planting with the rhizomes exposed, try covering them with
1 to 2 inches of soil. It wouldn't hurt on a temporary basis. I would also
experiment with putting   on the cleanser and sevin before covering with
dirt. The dirt cover may keep the other materials in place during the rains.

I wish you luck in this time of trial.

Harold Peters
Beautiful View Iris Garden
2048 Hickok Road
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762
harold@directcon.net <h*@directcon.net>
www.beautiful-view-iris.com


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net]On Behalf Of
Matbeach1@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2004 11:41 AM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: [iris] CULT: Crickets--Comet, Vinegar, Mothballs and Garlic


I am just about at my wit's end with crickets. Everyone I relate this to
thinks that it is funny, that innocent little crickets couldn't be really
causing
that much harm. Some people laugh. I am really distressed and disgusted
because it seems nothing I try is working. I have some specific questions at
the end
of this post, following my explanation of what I've done thus far. If anyone
can reply to those, I'd be grateful.

What I've tried:
I have powdered with Sevin dust, and if it rains overnight the dust is
washed
away, and I have bite marks all over the next morning. I hate reapplying
poison day after day. It just does not seem healthy.

I have used a bait of honey, water, grenadine and vanilla. This attracts
them
and kills some of them (they drown), but this does nothing to keep their
numerous cousins off my plants.

I read that white vinegar repels crickets, so I spread some around the bed.
I
also read that crickets hate mothballs, so I stuck some of those around the
plants. I went out that night with a flashlight, and crickets were
everywhere,
one right on top of Crowned Heads, about to chow down. The smell of the
vinegar and moth balls did more to make me sick than the crickets.

I read here on the archives that sprinkling Comet on the rhizomes worked, so
I did it. The writer said that it would be awfully ugly, and it is. But on
one
of the rhizomes where the Comet isn't covering is a brand new "scoop" mark.
The Comet doesn't repel them; they just will not bite through it.

Every one of my new plants has scoops eaten out of them. Three of my
transplanted rhizomes have been "gutted"--crickets have literally eaten
tunnels
through them. I have never had such a pest problem like this except for
summer 1998
when Japanese beetles were swarming like black clouds devouring everything.

My questions are:

Am I correct that reapplying poison more than once a week (Sevin 10% in this
case) is not good?

Aren't rhizomes supposed to be exposed to the sun? If I cover the rhizome
with a layer of Comet (completely), will this negate the important effects
of the
sun on the plant's growth? Does anyone know what it is about Comet that
repels crickets?

I have used homemade sprays of garlic with success before on some
vegetables.
I am wondering if taking minced bottled pure garlic juice and painting it on
to the rhizomes with a paintbrush might provide a natural deterrent.
However,
pure garlic is strong. Would it burn/harm the iris rhizome to do this?

And, finally, if I must use poison, is there some kind which would not have
to be reapplied again and again due to rain?


I suppose if I have to, I could cover the new plantings with terra cotta
pots
each evening, and uncover them each morning. But there has to be something
better than that solution.

Thank you for your time.

Mike

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