Mowing Moles and Mower Debris

MossRoad · Dec 6, 2001

It was beautiful here the last 2 days. sunny and warm. However, tomorrow it is supposed to get colder and snow by Saturday. Good. I saw a guy mowing his lawn yesterday. Lawn mowing in December in Northern Indiana is just wrong! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 MossRoad

jfakerj · Dec 9, 2001

nazud
I just use diazinon on the lawn. The people on both side of me have moles and I don't. I use diazinon and they don't. It seems to work for me. Take away thier food and they don't hang around.

Jerry

MossRoad · Dec 9, 2001

Surprisingly, the moles primary food is not grubs, but earthworms. Also, I would not use diazinon any more. It is being banned for home use as it has been over applied by home owners. I accidentally sprayed it on some young sweet corn once while attempting to kill some ants. The corn shriveled up and died within an afternoon. Anything that powerful scares me.

 MossRoad

Bird · Dec 9, 2001

I've used diazinon for years, and think it's about as safe as any of them if it's properly mixed in the right ratios. But I do not use it (or any other insecticide) on my vegetable garden. However, the distributor I've been buying it from told me a few months ago that they are going to quit making it, just like they did with Dursban. I haven't done any checking yet to see whether he was right.

MossRoad · Dec 9, 2001

Yeah. That sweet corn episode is what convinced me to go organic in the vegatable garden. If you look on the diazinon lable, it lists all kinds of vegatables that it is safe to use on. Sweet corn isn't one of them.

 MossRoad

Bird · Dec 9, 2001

Yeah, anyone who's interested in the future of diazinon might want to read this press release.

Jeff396 · Dec 9, 2001

Ooooookay, anyone got any other methods for getting rid of fire ants?

Jeff

Bird · Dec 10, 2001

Jeff, I currently broadcast Logic once or twice a year on the yard. The rest of the time I treat individual mounds as they appear with diazinon or malathion. However, I suspect Amdro may be about the most popular fire ant insecticide.

Jeff396 · Dec 10, 2001

Thanks, I never tried to treat the whole yard as a preventative. Is this Logic stuff available at a Home Depot or do I have to go someplace special?

Jeff

Bird · Dec 10, 2001

Jeff, I buy it at the local ag chemical distributor. They have it in one pound containers for about $11, but I buy the 3 pound container for $27. It's cornmeal impregnated with the poison and you only spread it at the rate of one pound per acre (they say if you can see it, you're putting it out way too thick), so a little bit goes a long ways. I just use a little hand held broadcast spreader, although you can also mix it with fertilizer if you want to use powered equipment. Of course if you mix it with fertilizer, you don't want to water it and you don't want it to rain for 24 -48 hours after applying it. And an alternative is to just sprinkle a half teaspoonful or less on an individual mound.